Iran War Escalates, Kurds Stay Out, Global Shipping Crisis
Israel struck Tehran's oil facilities as Iran named a new supreme leader, the hardline son of the Ayatollah Israel killed on day one, and a senior Israeli military official tells NPR the war needs three more weeks.
President Trump reversed course on Kurdish fighters entering Iran, and Iraq's Kurdish deputy prime minister tells NPR in his first interview with western media since the war began that the Kurds will not be part of the fight and are not guns for hire.
And the war is strangling the Strait of Hormuz, where hundreds of tankers and container ships are now stranded, raising fears of a global energy crisis.
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Today’s episode of Up First was edited by Hannah Block, Tina Kraja, James Hider, Mohamad ElBardicy and HJ Mai.
It was produced by Ziad Buchh and Ben Abrams.
Our director is Christopher Thomas.
We get engineering support from Neisha Heinis. Our technical director is Carleigh Strange.
(0:00) Introduction
(01:55) Iran War Escalates
(5:17) Kurds Stay Out
(10:52) Global Shipping Crisis
See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.
NPR Privacy Policy
President Trump reversed course on Kurdish fighters entering Iran, and Iraq's Kurdish deputy prime minister tells NPR in his first interview with western media since the war began that the Kurds will not be part of the fight and are not guns for hire.
And the war is strangling the Strait of Hormuz, where hundreds of tankers and container ships are now stranded, raising fears of a global energy crisis.
Want more analysis of the most important news of the day, plus a little fun? Subscribe to the Up First newsletter.
Today’s episode of Up First was edited by Hannah Block, Tina Kraja, James Hider, Mohamad ElBardicy and HJ Mai.
It was produced by Ziad Buchh and Ben Abrams.
Our director is Christopher Thomas.
We get engineering support from Neisha Heinis. Our technical director is Carleigh Strange.
(0:00) Introduction
(01:55) Iran War Escalates
(5:17) Kurds Stay Out
(10:52) Global Shipping Crisis
See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.
NPR Privacy Policy
2026-03-09
14 min
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