The U.S.-Israel War With Iran: 5 Documentaries & a Podcast Episode Help Explain the Backstory

The U.S. and Israeli bombardment of Iran that began on Feb. 28 has killed a reported 1,000 people in the country, including its supreme leader, and sparked widening conflict across the Middle East as Iran and its proxies retaliate.

With the Trump administration saying the fighting could last for weeks or longer, FRONTLINE’s ongoing reporting is bringing the war’s roots and ramifications into focus — including through a new episode of The FRONTLINE Dispatch podcast and comprehensive documentaries that offer crucial context, two of which are currently being updated.

“We’re now seeing a new Israeli security doctrine in which they’re saying they can’t tolerate either the Iranian threat or the threat of its proxies on its borders or anywhere in its neighborhood,” correspondent James Jacoby says on the podcast, released today. “The United States and Israel are now trying to basically neutralize that threat for good.”

The resulting U.S.-Israeli military campaign, correspondent Sebastian Walker says on the podcast, has set off an “earthquake” across the region. With “all of these proxy forces in the neighboring countries,” he adds, “this is going to have repercussions that nobody really can begin to imagine.”

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Podcast

The Escalating War With Iran

March 6, 2026

On March 10, drawing on new reporting from Jacoby and his team, the documentary Remaking the Middle East: The U.S., Israel and Iran will probe the road to war with Iran, the U.S. and Israeli roles, and the stakes for the region. And on March 31, an updated and expanded version of Strike on Iran: The Nuclear Question will follow Walker as he investigates the status of Iran’s nuclear program in the wake of the new attacks by the U.S. and Israel.

In the meantime, these five currently-streaming FRONTLINE documentaries help explain how Iran, the U.S. and Israel reached this perilous moment.

Strike on Iran: The Nuclear Question (2025)

In June 2025, the U.S. dropped powerful munitions on three key Iranian nuclear facilities. The Trump administration said the strikes, which took place during a 12-day war between Israel and Iran, had “obliterated” the facilities and dealt a significant blow to the country’s nuclear program. Using rare on-the-ground access in Iran and in-depth forensic analysis, FRONTLINE, The Washington Post, Evident Media and Bellingcat conducted an immersive investigation of Iran’s nuclear program in the aftermath of those strikes, interviewed Iran’s chief nuclear negotiator, Ali Larijani, and examined the impact of an Israeli bombing campaign against Iranian nuclear scientists. Watch an updated version of this investigation starting March 31 on PBS and online.

Remaking the Middle East: Israel vs. Iran (2025)

In the wake of Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attacks on Israel and the start of the war in Gaza, confrontations between Israel and Iran escalated from proxy battles to direct strikes and all-out war. This two-hour documentary traced the decades of hostility between two of the region’s most powerful actors, their dueling ambitions for the Middle East — and the U.S. role. It examined Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s long campaign to destroy Iran’s nuclear capabilities and counter its proxy forces, the conflict with the Palestinians, Iran’s support of Hamas and how multiple U.S. presidents have tried to manage the volatile issues at play. Watch an updated version of this documentary starting March 10 on PBS and online.

Inside the Iranian Uprising (2023)

This documentary went inside the uprising that rocked Iran after the death of a young woman, Mahsa Amini, in police custody — and shed light on a regime under significant pressure. The film chronicled the harrowing stories of protesters and examined the lengths to which the theocratic government led by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei went to put down the uprising.

Bitter Rivals: Iran and Saudi Arabia (2018)

This two-part documentary series investigated how a dangerous political rivalry between Iran and Saudi Arabia plunged the Middle East into sectarian war. It featured on-the-ground reporting from inside Iran and Saudi Arabia, as well as Yemen, Iraq, Pakistan, Syria and Lebanon, and examined the U.S. role in supporting the Shah’s regime that the 1979 Islamic Revolution overthrew.

Netanyahu at War (2016)

This documentary detailed the events that defined the worldview of the long-serving Israeli prime minister and propelled his political rise. The film traced his path to power, his vow to keep his country safe from its archenemy, Iran, his combative relationships with multiple U.S. presidents, and the implications in the U.S. and the Middle East.