Iran: The Latest

Donald Trump says the US is lifting its blockade of Iranian ports and boats in the Strait of Hormuz - does this mean a peace deal is imminent?

Plus, Iran famously has two militaries: a regular army, and the IRGC. But Tehran also has a third force: its network of foreign militias in Iraq, Lebanon and Yemen. They played a key role in the recent war - and no outsider knows them better than Elizabeth Tsurkov. In 2023, while on a research trip to Iraq, the Russian-Israeli PhD student was kidnapped for nearly three years by Kataib Hezbollah, the most powerful of Iran’s Iraqi proxy militias.

Still recovering from the ordeal, she takes Sophia Yan and Roland Oliphant inside the group - and why she was surprised to learn that many of her kidnappers were “idiots”. Plus, she explains how they sustain Iran’s shadow economy, dominate politics in their host counties, and double up as fronts for massive embezzlement schemes.

Highlights
Donald Trump lifts US naval blockade on Iran
Elizabeth Tsurkov on being kidnapped by “idiot” Iranian militias in Iraq

CONTRIBUTORS:

Sophia Yan, senior foreign correspondent, @sophia_yan
Roland Oliphant, co-host and chief foreign affairs analyst @RolandOliphant
Elizabeth Tsurkov, fellow at the New Lines Institute @LizHurra

CONTENT REFERENCED:

Elizabeth Tsurkov: I Was Kidnapped by Idiots
https://www.theatlantic.com/international/2026/01/kidnapped-baghdad/685470/

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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The United States has for the first time accused Iran of breaching the ceasefire, after Tehran fired a ballistic missile at Kuwait in response to the Americans hitting southern Iran.

Washington brushed off previous exchanges of fire as ceasefire compliant, so does the change in rhetoric herald a return to all-out war? The Telegraph’s Lottie Tiplady-Bishop explains why domestic developments in America means Donald Trump is more confident and feeling less pressure to secure a peace deal.

Plus, Alp Toker, the founder of Netblocks, explains what we learned from Iran’s record-setting Internet blackout and what it means for other authoritarian regimes around the world.

Highlights
‘Ceasefire violated’: US fury after Iran targets Kuwait base
‘The most intense game of chicken ever’

CONTRIBUTORS:

Roland Oliphant, co-host and chief foreign affairs analyst @RolandOliphant
Lottie Tiplady-Bishop, associate US News Editor @lottietipbishop
Alp Toker, Netblocks founder @atoker

CONTENT REFERENCED:

Trump: We’re not satisfied with Iran deal
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2026/05/27/iran-war-us-peace-deal-trump-strait-hormuz-latest-lebanon/

US military hits Iranian control centre in fresh strikes
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2026/05/28/us-military-strikes-southern-iran-peace-deal/

Terror and trauma under the world’s longest internet blackout
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2026/05/27/iran-relief-internet-restoration-weeks-war/

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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Iran appears increasingly confident that it will secure a favourable end to the war with the US.

From demanding $24bn in frozen assets to publishing what they say is a draft peace deal to restoring the Internet after nearly 90 days, Tehran seems to feel victory both at home and abroad is within its grasp. Foreign correspondent Akhtar Makoii joins Roland Oliphant and Venetia Rainey to discuss the latest news from inside Iran, as well as the significance of one of the country’s biggest exports: pistachios.

Plus, as Israel launches a deadly new phase in its campaign against Hezbollah, UNIFIL spokesperson Kandice Ardiel joins from Beirut to share her insights on what it’s like working as a peacekeeper in southern Lebanon caught between the two longtime enemies.

Highlights
Iran demands $24bn to sign US peace deal - will Trump accept?
'They think the war is over': Why Iran is restoring internet access

CONTRIBUTORS:

Venetia Rainey, co-host and executive producer @venetiarainey
Roland Oliphant, co-host and chief foreign affairs analyst @RolandOliphant
Akhtar Makoii, foreign correspondent @akhtar_makoii
Kandice Ardiel, UNIFIL spokesperson @hikandice

CONTENT REFERENCED:

Iran will sign peace deal only if US releases $24bn of frozen assets
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2026/05/26/iran-peace-deal-us-release-24bn-frozen-assets/

The $24bn cost of Trump’s capitulation on Iran
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/us/news/2026/05/26/trump-us-iran-capitulation/

Akhtar Makoii: Iran’s hardliners are sabotaging their own government’s peace talks
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2026/05/26/iran-hardliners-sabotaging-peace-talks/

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 US says it has bombed Iranian mine-laying ships in the Strait of Hormuz and a missile launch site in southern Iran. Tehran says it has downed American drones. Is the war about to restart?

Former Royal Navy officer Tom Sharpe explains what we know about the latest tit-for-tat military activity today and why the timing is unusual. He also gives an inside look at the threat posed by Iran’s newly deployed “ship-smashing” Ghadir mini-submarines, known as the “dolphins of the Persian Gulf”.

Plus, Venetia Rainey and Sophia Yan discuss why the signs suggest peace talks are set to continue for now. While Chief foreign affairs commentator David Blair analyses what Donald Trump could get out of a deal - and why he’s making more and more concessions to the Iranian regime each passing week, including over its nuclear programme.

Highlights
Clashes in Hormuz as US ‘blows up’ Iranian mine-laying ships
Why Donald Trump is chasing a ‘quick and incomplete deal’

CONTRIBUTORS:

Venetia Rainey, co-host and executive producer @venetiarainey
Sophia Yan, co-host and senior foreign correspondent @sophia_yan
David Blair, chief foreign affairs commentator @davidblairdt
Tom Sharpe, ex-Royal Navy officer @TomSharpe134

CONTENT REFERENCED:

US strikes on Iran threaten fragile ceasefire
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2026/05/26/us-strikes-on-iran-threaten-fragile-ceasefire-war/

David Blair: Trump’s latest gambit on Iran is a smokescreen
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/05/26/trump-latest-gambit-iran-smokescreen/

Tom Sharpe: Iran’s ship-smasher mini subs are loose in Hormuz. I’ve been up against them before
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/05/18/iran-irin-irgcn-mini-submarines-torpedoes-strait-hormuz/

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.

In this special bank holiday episode, we’re taking a break from looking at the US-Iran war and focusing instead on tanks.

Since it first appeared on the Somme battlefield, the tank has dominated and defined modern warfare. It has been such a successful concept that its distinctive silhouette - two tracks, a turret and a gun - has barely changed in a hundred years. But can it survive in the century of the drone? Or will the venerable tank go the way of the armoured knight before it?

Hamish de Bretton Gordon, a former commander of the Royal Tank Regiment and the author of a new book on the subject, Tank Command, takes Roland Oliphant through the history of armoured warfare. They discuss why the tank has long been the ultimate instrument of battlefield shock action from World War 1 to the Arab-Israeli war to Ukraine today. Hamish argues that in 100 years from now, armies will still be fielding - and fighting against - tanks.

Plus, Hamish shares what it’s like to command a Challenger, his ultimate "petrol-head" tank from history, and the definitive Hollywood film every enthusiast needs to watch.

Highlights
Why the lessons of tank development are still hugely relevant today
What it’s like to command a Challenger

CONTRIBUTORS:
Roland Oliphant, co-host and chief foreign affairs analyst @RolandOliphant
Hamish de Bretton-Gordon, former tank commander @HamishDBG

CONTENT REFERENCED:
Hamish de Bretton-Gordon’s new book Tank Command is out June 4: https://linktr.ee/TankCommand

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/
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.