Why has the coronavirus hit Iran so hard?

We ask whether US sanctions or Tehran are to blame for exacerbating COVID-19 and discuss Brazil's approach to the virus.

COVID-19: Iran's government 'didn't botch the response'

According to official figures, at least six people die every hour in Iran from COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus. The Islamic republic has become one of the world's coronavirus epicentres, with the death toll surpassing 3,000 this week and cases topping 50,000.

As the virus spreads in Iran, the government has been criticised for its response to the crisis, particularly how it handled the situation in Qom, now the country's worst-hit city where the outbreak began. It has also been accused of playing down the number of cases. 

Are the US and Iran on the path to war?

We debate tensions between Washington and Tehran with a former Iranian diplomat and a retired US general.

In this episode of UpFront, we debate tensions between the United States and Iran with former Iranian diplomat Seyed Hossein Mousavian and former US Brigadier General Mark Kimmitt.

And in a special interview, we ask UN Special Rapporteur Agnes Callamard about her investigation into the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi and her report that suggests Mohammed bin Salman hacked the mobile phone of billionaire Jeff Bezos.

Iran: From patriotism to protests

How the downing of a passenger aircraft flipped the narrative in Iran. Plus, the reporting of race in Portuguese media.

From mourning Soleimani to protesting against the regime

When a US drone strike killed Iran's most important military figure, General Qassem Soleimani, two weeks ago, it provided Tehran with an opening to rally the Iranian people to back their Islamic leaders against the United States.

For a few days, that seemed to be the case.

Then a passenger plane was shot down over Tehran, and Iran's leaders chose to lie to the public, before finally admitting three days later that they had taken the plane down by mistake.

What is behind Trump's call to turn NATO into 'NATO plus ME'?

The US president asked NATO to become 'much more involved in the Middle East'. So what's next for the military alliance?

After the assassination of Iranian General Qassem Soleimani in early January, US President Donald Trump said that a string of accomplishments had "changed our strategic priorities," paving the way for US forces in the region to withdraw.

"We can come home, or largely come home, and use NATO," he said, describing the Middle East as "a big source of problems."

Washington, as the biggest player in NATO, can sway the mission of the alliance. NATO's mandate has evolved over the past 70 years from confronting the USSR to fighting alongside the United States in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Counting the cost of US military bases around the world

How much does the US spend on its military bases around the world? Plus, the meat industry and the French digital tax.

There are 200,000 US troops stationed at hundreds of bases in countries and territories outside of the US. Despite President Donald Trump's promises to remove US troops from the Middle East, the number of troops in the region has increased.

Since 9/11, American taxpayers have spent $6.4 trillion on wars and military action in the Middle East and Asia, according to the Watson Institute of International and Public Affairs at Brown University. And according to US central command, there are between 60,000 and 70,000 US troops in the Middle East.

US versus Iran: Tension over the airwaves

Media in the US and Iran are vastly different but when it comes to war they both stumble. Plus, Rio's media collectives.

US versus Iran: Covering Soleimani's assassination

A little more than a week ago, most Americans had never even heard of the name Qassem Soleimani. Now, Iran's top military leader, assassinated in a US drone strike, has been cast as the "world's number one bad guy".

And that is not Donald Trump talking; those are the words of US news network CNBC.

This story - and some of the coverage coming out of Washington - harkens back to 2003, the Iraq war. Too much airtime given to the hawks prowling news studios. Not enough scrutiny of their motives, or the legality of a possible war.