Iran: The Latest

As Chinese leader Xi Jinping concludes his three-day state visit to Washington, Beijing’s incremental support of Tehran threatens to undermine Donald Trump’s pressure campaign. On today’s episode of Iran: the Latest, host Sophia Yan speaks with China military expert Meia Nouwens to break down Beijing’s strategic calculus in the Middle East, how China benefits from the US getting bogged down in a r...

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian took to the UN stage in mourning attire to deliver a defiant message to Washington: Tehran will “never bow or bend the knee” to US bullying. On today’s episode of Iran: the Latest, Roland Oliphant speaks to US Correspondent Iona Cleave, who is based in New York, reporting on the ongoing UN General Assembly. Iona shares her insight into what the atmosphere is lik...

Donald Trump has told reporters at the UN General Assembly he faces a critical decision: strike a deal with Tehran or "annihilate the Islamic Republic," while Masoud Pezeshkian insists Iran’s nuclear program will proceed. On today’s episode of Iran: The Latest Sophia Yan and Roland Oliphant examine the escalating military picture across the Red Sea and the high-stakes diplomacy in New Yo...

Donald Trump told the UN General Assembly that he is deciding between a fresh agreement with Iran and driving the regime “into hell”, after Tehran reportedly offered a seven-day deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz if the US lifts its blockade. On today’s episode of Iran: the Latest, Venetia Rainey looks at apparent growing momentum towards a deal as world leaders from across the Middle East gather...

A Houthi ballistic missile struck an Aramco jet-fuel depot near Riyadh’s international airport, a major escalation in the war between Yemen’s Iran-backed militants and Saudi Arabia.   On today’s episode of Iran: the Latest , Venetia Rainey speaks to Bahraini analyst Ahmed Khuzaie about Turkey and Pakistan’s vows of military support for Saudi Arabia under the Mecca Defence Pact after Dona...

Donald Trump has once again threatened to "annihilate" the Iranian regime, saying he faces a major decision on how to proceed with the Iran war but will consult with his Gulf allies at the UN General Assembly next week first.  On today’s episode of Iran: the Latest , Roland Oliphant speaks to former Royal Navy commander Tom Sharpe about whether Trump will execute his strike threat given Washi...

A landmark Pentagon report has exposed the devastating cost of the Iran war for the US military: 59 aircraft damaged or destroyed, bases struck across the Middle East, and critical missile stockpiles depleted for up to 5 years. On today’s episode of Iran: the Latest, Venetia Rainey speaks to former Defense and State Department insider Kori Schake, now a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Ins...

Saudi Arabia claimed that Yemen’s Houthis tried to attack the holy city of Mecca, and the Iran-backed militia claims to have shot down a Saudi F-15 fighter jet over Yemen, as fighting by the Red Sea continues.  On today’s episode of Iran: The Latest, Roland Oliphant speaks with Maziar Bahari, editor of IranWire, to dive into the bleak daily reality inside Iran. They discuss how regime corrupt...

Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthis and Saudi Arabia have exchanged further strikes, amid signs that Tehran is ramping up the war against Riyadh to compensate for a stalemate in the Strait of Hormuz.  On today’s episode of Iran: The Latest, Venetia Rainey speaks with Arabist and Yemen expert Dr. Elisabeth Kendall (mistress of Girton College) to explain why the Houthis and Iraqi militias are part of a...

A strike from militants in Iraq has knocked out Saudi Arabia’s vital East-West oil pipeline, as Donald Trump reveals Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels called him asking the US not to get militarily involved.  On today’s episode of Iran: The Latest, Roland Oliphant talks to chief foreign affairs commentator David Blair to break down how Saudi Arabia has been left in a tricky place amid a lack...

Donald Trump has admitted the US-Iran war will last beyond the November midterm elections - some think it will last well into 2029 - with Republicans now facing the possibility of losing the House and the Senate as oil prices surge towards $110/barrel. On today’s bonus episode of Iran: the Latest, Venetia Rainey chats to Washington correspondents Connor Stringer and Benedict Smith about Trump’s sp...

“The inability or unwillingness of the Trump administration to connect the dots on what is going on, from the Persian Gulf to the Red Sea, is a reflection of the lack of really good deep strategic thinking.” On today’s episode of Iran: the Latest , Venetia Rainey is joined once again by former Commanding General of US Army Europe, Gen Ben Hodges, to discuss the US-Iran war as it nears the 200-day...

The Iran-backed Houthis have seized the strategic Red Sea port city of al-Mokha - apparently at the direction of the IRGC - as fighting in Yemen and Saudi Arabia escalates.   On today’s episode of Iran: the Latest, Sophia Yan speaks to Jerusalem correspondent Henry Bodkin about the pressure the war is putting on the Bab al-Mandeb and Strait of Hormuz as oil prices pass the $100/barrel th...

Iran claims to capture an advanced US Navy submarine drone in the Strait of Hormuz. How significant is it? On today’s episode of Iran: the Latest , Roland Oliphant talks to Nikolay Kozhanov, former attaché at the Russian embassy in Tehran and now at the Gulf Studies Center of Qatar University, about the escalating US-Iran missile attacks and how Moscow is helping Tehran. He explains that Iran will...

Iran claims to have targeted US warships with a new ballistic missile for the first time in the war and has warned that its new military doctrine involves pre-emptive strikes.   On today’s episode of Iran: the Latest, Venetia Rainey speaks to journalist and author David Patrikarakos about the signal the IRGC is sending Donald Trump by revealing the use of its upgraded Qassem Basir missil...

The US Navy struck three Iranian vessels, sinking one and disabling two, after fresh attacks by Tehran on American warships near the Strait of Hormuz. On today’s episode of Iran: the Latest, Roland Oliphant and Venetia Rainey discuss news of the escalating battle for the Strait of Hormuz, which has become the epicentre of the US-Iran war. Donald Trump’s administration insists millions of barrels o...

Donald Trump’s approval rating has plummeted to a record low as the military and economic toll of the US-Iran war collides with the upcoming 2026 midterm elections - and the pressure is on.  On today’s episode of Iran: the Latest , Venetia Rainey speaks to US correspondents Ben Smith and Poppy Wood to examine how the conflict in the Middle East is threatening Trump’s control of Congress and d...

US Vice President JD Vance has said there will be an investigation into a deadly strike on a wedding in southern Iran after an American precision-guided glide bomb appears increasingly likely to have been the culprit. On today’s episode of Iran: the Latest, Venetia Rainey speaks to former naval officer Bryan Clark about how accurate the bombs are and what might have gone wrong. They also discuss t...

What’s it like to be taken hostage by the Iranian regime and imprisoned for months on end in Evin, Tehran’s most notorious prison, amid an unprecedented war with the US and Israel? On today’s episode of Iran: the Latest , Roland Oliphant speaks to Joe Bennett, son of Lindsay Foreman, who has been detained since January 2025 with her husband Craig Foreman while on a round-the-world motorcycle tour....

Donald Trump has ordered the deadliest attacks against Iranian targets since July, striking IRGC air defense systems, radars, telecommunications - and reportedly a wedding party.  On today’s episode of Iran: the Latest, Venetia Rainey and Roland Oliphant look at the fresh round of deadly escalating violence, including Iran’s retaliatory missile and drone barrage targeting US positions in Jord...

For the first time in over a month, fighting has erupted in the Strait of Hormuz after US forces struck Iranian sea mine-equipped rocket launchers on Larak Island. Iran retaliated by targeting US bases in Jordan, prompting Donald Trump to vow to hit Iran “hard”.   On today's episode of Iran: The Latest, Venetia Rainey and Roland Oliphant unpack the details of the violence and why Trump h...

"Israel is in a situation of kind of spectacular military virtuosity, but also strategic impoverishment. You cannot kill everybody."  On today’s bank holiday bonus episode of Iran: the Latest , Venetia Rainey speaks to historian Simon Sebag-Montefiore to get a historian’s view of the US-Israel-Iran war. Simon argues that Donald Trump’s biggest mistake was not stopping after 2025’s Operation M...

Six months into the Iran conflict, the war has devolved into an economic ‘quagmire’ as the US shifts strategy from kinetic strikes to prolonged blockade tactics under "Operation Economic Outcast".  On today’s episode of Iran: The Latest, Henry Bodkin speaks with Chief Washington Correspondent Connor Stringer to discuss why Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth could be in the firing line for a post-...

On today’s episode of Iran: The Latest, Sophia Yan is joined by Middle East scholar Vali Nasr to assess the state of the conflict as it hits the six-month mark. They discuss why Washington’s security umbrella in the Gulf is collapsing, how US naval exhaustion is forcing warships to retreat to Asia, and why China stands to emerge as the ultimate winner of the war. Plus, why Israel and Turkey could...

As the US-Iran war approaches the six-month mark, CIA Director John Ratcliffe makes a secret eight-hour flight to Moscow to meet with Russian officials.  On today’s episode of Iran: The Latest, Roland Oliphant and senior foreign correspondent Adrian Blomfield analyze whether Donald Trump offering Vladimir Putin a trade-off on Ukraine to sever Moscow’s backing of Tehran, or issuing a direct in...