Iran: The Latest

Is the US-Iran war about to restart amid escalating tensions in the Strait of Hormuz?
Donald Trump has launched Project Freedom - a US Navy mission to break the Iranian blockade imposed since the beginning of the war. However, while the White House has framed the escort of neutral vessels as a “humanitarian gesture”, Tehran sees it as an escalation. Iran has fired missiles and drones at ships and an oil port in the UAE, and today says it is “just getting started”.

Roland Oliphant and chief foreign affairs commentator David Blair discuss the latest updates and why both sides are now likely locked in a downward spiral, putting us “one step” away from renewed all-out fighting.

Plus, former US Navy submariner Bryan Clark, director of the Center for Defense Concepts and Technology at the Hudson Institute, explains why America must put more force into the Strait of Hormuz if it wants to win against a patient enemy like Iran. He also talks through Iran’s remaining naval capabilities, from midget subs to fast boats.

Highlights
Why Trump’s Project Freedom will fail without more force
An ex-US Navy submariner on what it will take to reopen the Strait of Hormuz

CONTRIBUTORS:

Roland Oliphant, co-host and chief foreign affairs analyst @RolandOliphant
David Blair, chief foreign affairs commentator @davidblairdt
Bryan Clark, senior fellow Hudson Institute @clarkdefense

CONTENT REFERENCED:
Trump has finally realised he must seize the Strait of Hormuz
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/05/04/trump-finally-realised-seize-the-strait-of-hormuz/

Producer: Peter Shevlin
Executive Producers: Venetia Rainey & Louisa Wells

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► GET THE LATEST HEADLINES: Find all our latest Iran coverage here: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/iran-war/
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Within living memory, Tehran ruled an oil-rich great power brimming with intellectuals inspired by British democracy. So how did it become an impoverished rogue state at war with the West?

In this special Bank Holiday edition, Ali Ansari, professor of Iranian history at the University of St Andrews, takes Roland Oliphant through Iran's tumultuous modern era: from the 1906 Constitutional Revolution and the 1953 coup, to the 1979 ousting of the shah and the 2026 US assassination of Ali Khamenei.

From the blunders of the unlikely "midwife" of the modern Iranian state - Great Britain - to the catastrophic decisions of successive Supreme Leaders after the founding of the Islamic Republic, he charts the course that shaped the country Donald Trump is fighting today.

How do the myths overshadow the facts of the CIA's 1953 coup and the Iran-Iraq war? Why is the regime so obsessed with enriching uranium and fighting Israel and America? And is the UK guilty of betraying Iranian dreams of democracy?

Plus, how the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company brought association football to Tehran.

Highlights
Oil, revolution and ayatollahs: how Iran went from great power to rogue state
Professor Ali Ansari explains 20th-century Iranian history

CONTRIBUTORS:

Roland Oliphant, co-host and chief foreign affairs analyst @RolandOliphant
Ali Ansari, professor University of St Andrews @aa51_ansari

CONTENT REFERENCED:

Part 1: ‘Iran thinks it’s still a great power’: Why the regime won’t surrender
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2026/04/03/why-the-iranian-regime-wont-surrender-ali-ansari/

Producer: Max Bower
Executive Producers: Venetia Rainey & Louisa Wells

► Sign up to our most popular newsletter, From the Editor. Look forward to receiving free-thinking comment and the day's biggest stories, every morning. telegraph.co.uk/fromtheeditor

► EMAIL US: Contact the team on [email protected]

► GET THE LATEST HEADLINES: Find all our latest Iran coverage here: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/iran-war/
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Donald Trump faces a critical decision as the Iran war drifts into a stalemate: double down on military force or hope the US blockade will break the deadlock.
Amid a deadline today for Trump to get Congress’ approval for further military operations under the War Powers Act, new reports suggest the Pentagon has requested the deployment of America’s Dark Eagle hypersonic missiles to the Middle East. Venetia Rainey and Roland Oliphant discuss the latest updates from the region.
Plus, what is Russia’s role in the Iran war? Behnam Ben Taleblu, senior director of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies’s Iran program, explains how Moscow has supported Tehran and is using it as a “pawn” in the broader fight against the West. He also analyses the significance of the viral Iranian Lego propaganda videos and Mojtaba Khamanei’s latest statement.

Highlights
US 'could deploy hypersonic missiles' to Middle East
How Russia is supporting Iran to fight the West

CONTRIBUTORS:

Venetia Rainey, co-host @venetiarainey
Roland Oliphant, co-host and chief foreign affairs analyst @RolandOliphant
Behnam Ben Taleblu, Foundation for Defense of Democracies @therealBehnamBT

CONTENT REFERENCED:

US asks to move Dark Eagle hypersonic missiles towards Iran
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2026/04/30/us-asks-to-move-dark-eagle-hypersonic-missiles-towards-iran/

1,000 targets a day in Iran: How AI is accelerating war
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/05/01/1000-targets-day-how-ai-accelerating-america-iran-war/

Maven: the AI system helping the US bomb Iran
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NdHYDGHN5rQ

Producer: Peter Shevlin
Executive Producers: Venetia Rainey & Louisa Wells

► Sign up to our most popular newsletter, From the Editor. Look forward to receiving free-thinking comment and the day's biggest stories, every morning. telegraph.co.uk/fromtheeditor
► EMAIL US: Contact the team on [email protected]
► GET THE LATEST HEADLINES: Find all our latest Iran coverage here: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/iran-war/
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The UK is in shock after an Iran-linked Islamist group claimed yet another attack on Jews in London.

In the wake of the Golders Green stabbing attack, national security editor Rozina Sabur looks at what we know about the shadowy online group known as Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamia (HAYI) and its links to the Iranian regime.

Plus, as Donald Trump weighs whether to take further military action against Iran or in the Strait of Hormuz, Samuel Olsen, chief analyst at risk and intelligence firm Sibylline, explains that the conflict has further indebted the US to China. Why? Beijing’s near-total dominance of the supply chain of rare earths and critical minerals, which every bit of modern military kit requires. Trump’s upcoming visit to Beijing to meet Xi Jinping is likely to centre on this issue - as well as Taiwan.

Elsewhere, Venetia Rainey and Sophia Yan analyse what we learned from Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth’s first under-oath testimony on the war and why the ceasefire seems to be holding everywhere apart from Iraq.

Highlights
Why the US cannot rearm post-Iran war without China
Rozina Sabur on the Iran-linked group claiming to be behind the Golders Green attack

CONTRIBUTORS:

Venetia Rainey, co-host @venetiarainey
Sophia Yan, senior foreign correspondent @sophia_yan
Samuel Olsen, chief analyst Sibylline @samolsenx

CONTENT REFERENCED:

Project Vault: Trump’s battle to break China’s critical mineral stranglehold
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/02/09/project-vault-trumps-battle-to-break-chinas-mineral-strangl/

China just proved it can cripple the US military in days. Now Trump is furious
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/10/20/china-just-proved-it-can-cripple-the-us-military-in-days-no/

The Iranian sleeper cell bringing terror to Europe
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2026/03/23/iranian-sleeper-cell-islamic-movement-companions-synagogue/

Producer: Peter Shevlin
Executive Producers: Venetia Rainey & Louisa Wells

► Sign up to our most popular newsletter, From the Editor. Look forward to receiving free-thinking comment and the day's biggest stories, every morning. telegraph.co.uk/fromtheeditor
► EMAIL US: Contact the team on [email protected]
► GET THE LATEST HEADLINES: Find all our latest Iran coverage here: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/iran-war/

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From the Strait of Hormuz to Lebanon, the Iran war has seen the West’s foes adopt asymmetric warfare with growing efficacy.

Fresh off the boat from the Omani side of the Strait, Adrian Blomfield joins Venetia Rainey and Roland Oliphant. He explains how being out on the busy, misty and historic waterway helped him to understand why it is almost impossible for the US to counter Iran’s so-called “mosquito” fleet of fast boats.

Meanwhile, Jerusalem correspondent Henry Bodkin discusses the growing threat posed by Hezbollah as it adopts Ukrainian drone tactics to fight Israeli troops in southern Lebanon. He talks through a particularly worrying video showing the terror group flying a fibre-optic first-person view (FPV) drone at a medivac helicopter.

Plus, Venetia and Roland run through the latest updates from today, including Donald Trump’s new threat to Iran and bad signs from the Iranian economy.

Highlights:
Adrian Blomfield on his trip to the Strait of Hormuz
Henry Bodkin on the growing threat posed by Hezbollah as it adopts Ukrainian drone tactics

CONTRIBUTORS:

Venetia Rainey, co-host @venetiarainey
Roland Oliphant, co-host and chief foreign affairs analyst @RolandOliphant
Adrian Blomfield, senior foreign correspondent @adrianblomfield
Henry Bodkin, Jerusalem correspondent @HenryBodkin

CONTENT REFERENCED:

Hezbollah attacks Israeli military helicopter with fibre optic drones
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2026/04/28/hezbollah-attack-israeli-idf-helicopter-fibre-optic-drones/

Adrian Blomfield: Here in the Strait, Iran’s mosquito fleet renders Trump blockade futile
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2026/04/28/strait-of-hormuz-irans-mosquito-fleet-winning-blockade/

Akhtar Makoii: Iran’s cost of living is out of control as Trump’s blockade takes hold
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2026/04/29/irans-cost-of-living-trump-blockade/

Producer: Peter Shevlin
Executive Producers: Venetia Rainey & Louisa Wells

► Sign up to our most popular newsletter, From the Editor. Look forward to receiving free-thinking comment and the day's biggest stories, every morning. telegraph.co.uk/fromtheeditor
► EMAIL US: Contact the team on [email protected]
► GET THE LATEST HEADLINES: Find all our latest Iran coverage here: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/iran-war/
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.