Iraq: The Final Judgement - Hans Blix claims Tony Blair 'did not represent reality' of invasion

Prior to next week's publication of John Chilcot's long-delayed inquiry into why Britain went to war with Iraq, a few questions may be answered before the much-anticipated verdict in a gripping BBC documentary.

Wednesday night's (29 June) Panorama – Iraq: The Final Judgement – will perhaps unravel the mystery and provide an element of closure as journalist and film-maker Jane Corbin returns to Iraq and speaks to parents about the loss of their children in the war, as well as the general who led British troops into battle.

The hour-long programme may reignite some painful memories just 13 years on from when the British Parliament approved for the invasion of Iraq – provided by the elected members of the British House of Commons to Tony Blair's government on the eve of the 2003 invasion of Iraq in a series of two votes on 18 March 2003.

In the documentary, former UN inspector Hans Blix is interviewed along with former Labour minister Claire Short, who resigned as international development secretary in protest of the war in 2003.

Blix claims that Blair "did not represent the reality" ahead of the 2003 invasion, adding, "Many people bring themselves to believe something that they want to believe," before adding: "I think Blair had a feeling that this was an evil regime and that it was a moral thing to do away with it.

"And I don't think that's an evil thought, but I think it was a presumptuous thought that the UK and the US alone should do that," he continued.

Chilcot's inquiry was set up in 2009 by then-prime minister Gordon Brown following the majority of the British troops withdrawal that year. The British presence in Iraq – known as Operation Telic – amassed to 179 deaths of service personnel.

Watch Panorama - Iraq: The Final Judgement on Wednesday at 9pm on BBC1.