“The region changed following the Islamic Revolution, and clearly, the West had no idea.” — Javad Mansouri, former commander, Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps

As the first American and Israeli missiles hit Iran on February 28, 2026, U.S. government officials argued that this was not the start of war. Instead, it was just the next stage in a conflict that started with the 1979 Islamic Revolution that toppled the American and Israeli-backed regime of the Shah, and made the U.S. and Israel sworn enemies of the new Islamic state.

THE MARCH TO WAR is a unique three-part series that looks at the deep roots of the “infinite roller-coaster” of conflict that has ensnared Israel and Iran and drawn in the United States. Was open war inevitable, the series asks? And could the escalation have been stopped?

The series tells the story through the voices of those that shaped it: politicians (including former U.S. Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta and Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu), military commanders, intelligence chiefs and ambassadors, from all sides, along with political scientists and historians.

CHAPTER 1: BROKEN DREAMS
In the 1970s, Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi saw himself as a modern Cyrus. Like the ancient Persian king he would preside over an empire and return Iran to its ancient glory. But the Shah, installed and backed by the United States, was also a ruthless dictator presiding over an authoritarian state that brutalized its own citizens. This episode retraces the military and civilian co-operation among Israelis, Americans, and Iranians — Israel built dams and advised the Iranian secret police, the U.S. supplied arms and encouraged the Iranian nuclear industry. Neither country was prepared for the Islamic Revolution, that would lead to a dramatic realignment of regional power.

CHAPTER 2: THE FIRST BATTLE
Was the 1982 invasion of Lebanon by Israel the first battle in the Israeli-Iranian war? While Iran had previously funded the PLO, by the early 1980s it was training and funding Hezbollah, which could serve as its proxy in southern Lebanon. This episode looks at Iran’s strategy, the rise of Hezbollah, and the profound impact of its signature tactic — suicide bombing — as well as at the Israeli embrace of targeted assassinations, and their deadly consequences.

CHAPTER 3: DIPLOMACY SUBVERTED
Israeli and American attempts to slow Iranian nuclear research seem out of a James Bond movie — with cyber-attacks, assassinations, and military strikes. But this episode goes beyond the headlines to look at the many missteps and blunders that also led to war. After quietly co-operating with the United States during the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, Iran hoped to open the door to normalizing relations. But insiders detail how efforts at negotiations were repeatedly derailed. And Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu makes clear that his worldview has no place for peace with Iran.

The current conflict was not inevitable. THE MARCH TO WAR reveals the ambitions (of states and men), misunderstandings, and ideology that led to decisions, repeated over decades, that created a regional tinderbox, and consistently undermined attempts at de-escalation. Even until today.