Significant date when Iran could respond to Israel and urgent warning over Britain's air power

Chris Hughes speaks to several experts about the looming threat of all-out war and how our own government needs to act now to protect Britain

Hello and welcome to Hostile World with Chris Hughes, a weekly newsletter about the world of defence and geopolitics. You can subscribe here and follow me on Twitter @defencechris. Thank you!

Iranians attend a funeral ceremony held for Hamas political chief Ismail Haniyeh, who was assassinated on August 1 in Tehran

This week we look at the ‘rapidly worsening’ security threat to Europe and how the UK’s latest Security and Defence Review (SDR) will arrive not a moment too soon.

One key expert is warning “direct conflict with Russia before the end of the 2020s is a serious risk” and underlines the importance of the UK’s combat air defences.

The crisis in the Middle East cannot detract from Ukraine’s struggle to beat back the Russia offensive and Britain, along with the rest of NATO, faces some tough financial moves.

The so-called SDR will be out by next year and is Labour’s massive overhaul of our defence sector, with plans to improve it after years of highly-questionable Tory cuts.

And there is also the nail-biting wait to see what Iran will do in revenge for Israeli Mossad’s assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran.

Added to the tension is the appointment of arch and ruthless strategist Yahya Sinwar as the new head of Hamas, who happens to be the architect of the October 7 attack on Israel.