As war in the Middle East rages on, the world's superpowers are making diplomatic representations to end it, and contingencies to protect their economies from the knock-on effects, namely oil and natural gas prices.

China, which buys oil from Iran, would rather the conflict hadn’t begun and would like to see it concluded, according to Irish Times Beijing correspondent Denis Staunton. However its reliance on foreign oil is small in comparison to other nations.

On today's podcast Hugh is joined by Denis and Political Editor Pat Leahy who says European governments, including Ireland, have a much greater problem with the volatility of the energy markets.

The Irish government was one of the few incumbent European governments that was re-elected after the volatility brought on by the war in Ukraine. How will European politicians handle the Iran war challenge?

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