Mixed messages from Trump leave more questions over war's end

We’ve been hearing contradictory messages from the US president about when the war against Iran might end. Trump says the US is considering “winding down” operations, but adds that he does not want a ceasefire. He also criticises Nato allies for not helping to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. A former senior Nato commander discusses the alliance’s relationship with Washington.

Also in today’s programme: calls for an investigation into Pakistan’s attack on a drug rehabilitation centre in Kabul; and why the number of Covid-19 deaths in the US has been severely underestimated. Plus, two doctor brothers help treat Iranian victims of the war from their homes in California.

Presenter Celia Hatton is joined by Sanam Naraghi Anderlini, executive director of ICAN, a Washington-based women’s rights and peacebuilding organisation, and Philip Coggan, a London-based financial journalist and author.

(Photo: US President Donald Trump steps from Air Force One upon his arrival in West Palm Beach, Florida. 20 March 2026. Credit: Kevin Lamarque/ Reuters)