ABC News Daily

Donald Trump wanted regime change in Iran and to personally choose who the next leader would be. 

Instead, Iran’s top clerics chose Mojtaba Khamenei to succeed his father, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, after he was killed in US-Israeli strikes.

Today, Barbara Slavin, a distinguished fellow at the Stimson Centre on what this appointment means for the war.

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Barbara Slavin, distinguished fellow at the Stimson Centre in Washington D.C.

Can you believe the construction of a high speed rail network could start in just two years? 

Scepticism is not unwarranted because we’ve been talking about fast train travel for decades, but it’s never happened because it basically costs too much.  

Today, Joe Langley, an urban planner who worked on the Gillard government’s study of high speed rail and who is a member of the advocacy body the Australian High Speed Rail Association. 

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Joe Langley, urban planner and member of the Australian High Speed Rail Association

One of Donald Trump’s stated reasons for going to war with Iran is to destroy the nuclear threat he says it poses.  

But by starting the conflict has he made the world less safe? 

There are concerns around what happens to Iran’s enriched nuclear material and the lessons other countries will take from Iran’s being hit while remaining at the threshold short of getting a bomb.

Today, Kelsey Davenport from the Arms Control Association on why it could all lead to more nuclear weapons around the world.

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Kelsey Davenport, Director for Nonproliferation Policy at the Arms Control Association

It’s been less than a week since the war in Iran began but it’s already having an economic impact here.

Oil and gas prices are rising and that has the Reserve Bank worried about inflation and analysts warn that could mean more interest rate hikes. 

Today, chief business correspondent Ian Verrender on why we’re so economically vulnerable to a conflict so far away and what we can expect in the weeks ahead.  

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Ian Verrender, ABC chief business correspondent

The Iran war is expanding and already having ripple effects across the globe.

How long will it last? US President Donald Trump says a month or longer, “whatever it takes”.

Today, we speak to Rana Dadpour who fled the brutal Iranian regime in 2012 and founded the group Australian United Solidarity for Iran.

We also speak with international relations expert Rajan Menon about why this could be a long war. 

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Rana Dadpour, founder of Australian United Solidarity for Iran

Rajan Menon, professor emeritus of international relations at the City College of New York and a senior research fellow at the Saltzman Institute at Columbia University

Donald Trump says the war with Iran will continue until all his goals are achieved and he’s warned more US troops are likely to die.

But if one of the aims is regime change in Iran, can the US president achieve that without troops on the ground? 

The war is escalating in the region with Israel beginning strikes on the Iran-linked militant group Hezbollah in Lebanon’s capital Beirut, after it launched missiles towards Israel. 

Today, Hussein Ibish from the Arab Gulf States Institute on why the war is unlikely to go as Trump planned and the nightmare scenarios. 

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Hussein Ibish, senior resident scholar at the Arab Gulf States Institute

For weeks Donald Trump threatened Iran with military strikes and on Saturday morning in Iran the bombing by US and Israeli forces began.

He says Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has been killed.

In a social media video, the US president urged the Iranian people to rise up and topple the regime.

Iran has responded by targeting Israel and US military bases across the region with drones and missiles, hitting targets in Kuwait, Bahrain, the UAE and Qatar. 

Today, Nate Swanson, Iran expert at the Atlantic Council on what could come next. 

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Nate Swanson, senior fellow and director of the Iran Strategy Project at the Atlantic Council

They tried to stop it happening, but Bill and Hillary Clinton had no choice in the end but to testify or face jail time.  

The political power couple is being hauled before a US congressional investigation into late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Today, David Smith from the United States Studies Centre at Sydney University on what we can expect from their depositions.   

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David Smith, associate professor at the United States Studies Centre at the University of Sydney

US President Donald Trump spent almost two hours outlining what he believes to be a myriad of achievements on the economy and immigration. 

It’s the longest State of the Union address ever recorded.  

But has the US president convinced voters that his first year in office has been a raging success and can he turn his tanking popularity around before the mid-term elections in November.  

Today, Emma Shortis, a US politics expert at the progressive think tank, the Australia Institute, on Trump’s State of the Union address.  

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Emma Shortis, Director of the Australia Institute's International & Security Affairs Program

The possible return home of a group of so-called ‘ISIS brides’ from Syria has caused a political storm.

But why? Given similar groups of women and children have been returned in the past by both the Albanese and Morrison governments? 

Today, Adam Harvey, reporter for the ABC’s 7.30 program, joins us to discuss his 2019 reporting as a foreign correspondent on the ground in the Syrian camp where the Australians were living. 

He spoke with some of the Australian women at the time. 

Adam also looks at the current debate and what happens if the group is successful in getting home. 

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Adam Harvey, 7.30 reporter