Iran: The Latest

Is the US about to invade Iran?  Warship USS Tripoli has arrived in the Middle East with thousands of fresh troops, and the USS Boxer is not far behind - but Iran has vowed to “rain fire” on any American troops who set foot on its territory. Meanwhile, Trump is said to be considering taking Kharg Island and has been claiming regime change has already happened.  Venetia Rainey and Roland...

Iran’s blockade of the Strait of Hormuz has already pushed up oil prices. But is a bigger global economic disruption yet to come? And how long will it last? The Telegraph’s World Economy Editor Ambrose Evans-Pritchard joins Roland Oliphant to explain why the Iran conflict is sending shock waves around the world - and not just in the oil market.  From fertiliser to helium to sulphur, the block...

Will Israel’s assassination of the IRGC’s naval chief lead to the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz? Hosts Roland Oliphant and Venetia Rainey analyse the latest news from the Iran war, from the killing of navy commander Alireza Tangsiri to Donald Trump’s claim that Tehran is “begging” for a deal.  With thousands of US troops en route to the Middle East, the stakes are high. Among them are the...

Donald Trump has set out a 15-point Iran peace plan, but is he serious about ending the war? With news that another 2,000 elite American troops are en route to the Middle East, Tehran has its doubts - particularly as they’ve been here twice before with Trump.  The Telegraph’s senior foreign correspondent Sophia Yan joins Venetia Rainey to talk through how realistic the proposal is and how it’...

After four weeks of war with Iran, is Donald Trump calling it quits?  The US president claims he is in advanced talks with a highly placed regime insider on a peace deal that would end Iran’s nuclear ambitions, reopen the strait of Hormuz, and give the country’s leadership a reason to make up with the rest of the Middle East.  Pakistan and Egypt say they have brokered a meeting between U...

Could US Marines seize Kharg Island and reopen the Strait of Hormuz? President Donald Trump has U-turned on his threat to bomb Iranian energy infrastructure after announcing a five-day moratorium and peace talks underway. But the Strait of Hormuz problem remains.  Iraq veteran, Ohio State University military historian and former US Colonel Peter Mansoor joins Venetia Rainey and Roland Oliphan...

Thousands of US Marines and sailors are heading towards Iran - does this mean boots on the ground?  Venetia Rainey is joined by Reuters global defence commentator Peter Apps to discuss the war three weeks in, how to open the Strait of Hormuz and whether as part of it, Trump will order troops to take Kharg Island.  They also discuss whether this counts as a world war and why this conflict...

Has Israel gone rogue with the attack on Iran’s South Pars gas field? The bombing triggered a furious response from Tehran and led to a further escalation in the energy crisis caused by the US and Israeli war with Iran. President Donald Trump says the US did not know about it but Israeli officials say it was coordinated. The Telegraph’s Jerusalem correspondent Henry Bodkin joins Venetia Rainey and...

When an Iranian primary school was bombed on the first day of the war, killing dozens of children instantly, it spawned a cycle of denials, conspiracy theories and online speculation.  Nearly three weeks on, it’s clear that an American Tomahawk missile was responsible for the deadliest attack of the conflict so far. The Telegraph’s chief foreign affairs analyst Roland Oliphant and OSINT exper...

Ali Larijani, Iran’s security chief, is believed to have been assassinated today by Israel in what could be a huge blow to the Iranian regime. Roland Oliphant is joined by Akhtar Makoii to explain who Larijani was and why his death could be more significant for Tehran than Khamenei’s amid the ongoing US war. Plus, Roland speaks to opposition figure Ali Safavi, part of the Foreign Affairs Committee...

No one knew how Iran’s new supreme leader survived the 30 bombs dropped on his father’s compound. Until now.  The Telegraph’s foreign correspondent Akhtar Makoii has obtained exclusive audio from an IRGC meeting that explains how Mojtaba Khamenei escaped the deadly US-Israeli strikes that killed his father, wife, sister, and other relatives on the first day of the Iran war. It also sheds new...

From Iran’s perspective, this war is going according to plan. Even though America and Israel have dominated the battlefield, the regime has not collapsed, the Strait of Hormuz has been blocked, and the entire region is under pressure. Yet major questions remain over how many missiles they have left and how long they can stop major protests from erupting once again on the streets.  Roland Olip...

Does the US war with Iran make strategic sense? No, says Britain’s foremost military expert and strategist, Sir Lawrence Freedman. Talking to Roland Oliphant and Venetia Rainey on The Telegraph’s Iran: The Latest podcast, Sir Lawrence shares his damning verdict of Donald Trump’s military operation against the Iranian regime: no proper preparation and no thinking through the risks. They also discus...

How do Iranians inside Iran feel about Trump’s war? With no independent reporting allowed, an internet blackout in place and harsh punishments for anyone who speaks out against the regime, it’s hard to tell. But there are some voices getting out - and some are happy about the American-Israeli attack. Sahar Zand, an Iranian-British investigative journalist based in London, shares messages from Iran...

Is this what the start of World War Three looks like? On the 11th day of the US-Israeli war with Iran, Roland looks at how the conflict is broadening well beyond Iran’s borders. President Donald Trump has hinted the war is nearly over, but ACLED CEO Clionadh Raleigh says it is dangerously close to dragging in Russia and China given they have already openly backed Iran. She also talks through what...

Could Iran’s new leader be worse than the old one? On the 10th day of the US-Israeli war with Iran, Roland looks at why IRGC-favourite Mojtaba Khamenei has been chosen as the new supreme leader to take over from his assassinated father and what it means for the regime. Plus, Venetia gets a view from the Gulf about the growing oil crisis, fears over dwindling interceptor missile stocks and how the...

It’s the seventh day of the US-Israeli war with Iran and Secretary of War Pete Hegseth has said America is about to dramatically increase the amount of firepower over the country as the military campaign moves into the next phase. On today’s episode, Venetia takes a step back and looks at what has been achieved so far over one week of war. She is joined by Col. Simon Diggins, a former British Army...

On the sixth day of the US-Israeli war with Iran, the Strait of Hormuz is remains effectively closed to shipping, despite the US Navy crippling Iran’s surface fleet - including by torpedoing a Frigate off Sri Lanka.  On today’s episode of Iran: the Latest, Roland Oliphant speaks to former Royal Navy commander Tom Sharpe about how Western militaries have prepared for years for a big war with I...

In the wake of an attack on a British military base in Cyprus, the UK has said it will send an extra warship to the region. Does this make Britain militarily involved in America and Israel’s war against Iran? Or was that already true after Prime Minister Keir Starmer allowed Donald Trump to use British bases? Venetia and Roland discuss Europe’s growing involvement in the conflict and the countries...

Battle Lines is now Iran: The Latest! Roland and Venetia are going to be covering the new conflict every day for the weeks to come, bringing you the best of The Telegraph’s reporting from around the world and exclusive interviews with world-class experts in military strategy, diplomacy, and the Middle East. On today’s episode, Venetia and Roland look at America’s devastating attacks on Iran’s offi...

Iran's leader Ayatollah Khamenei was killed in an Israeli and US strike on Saturday morning, kicking off a major war that has since expanded to the entire Middle East. On day three of the conflict, Venetia and Roland run through the big updates, including the UK’s involvement, the ongoing death toll and how Iran is striking back on key targets in the region.  They also talk to former Israeli...

The US and Israel have launched what President Donald Trump has described as "major combat operations" to try to bring about the end of the Iranian regime. In this bonus episode, Roland and Venetia look at what we know so far - from Trump’s speech to strikes across the Middle East - and what might happen next, while Henry Bodkin, The Telegraph’s Jerusalem correspondent, reports from on the ground...

For sixty years Washington and Havana have been having a geopolitical tango fuelled by obsession and ideology. The island nation of Cuba has been a socialist splinter in the finger of the Florida coastline, its regime infecting the region.  Now, with the toppling of Nicolás Maduro and Venezuelan oil tightly controlled by the US, Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel could be next. To get into the...

Drugs and gangs have created an explosion in HIV cases in Fiji. This week on Battle Lines: Global Health Security, Arthur Scott-Geddes is joined by Sarah Newey, The Telegraph’s correspondent in Bangkok who recently travelled to Fiji, and Dr Jason Mitchell, the head of the country’s HIV task force. On the archipelago known as the gateway to the Pacific, Chinese triads, Mexican cartels, and Australi...

The British Indian Ocean Territory, AKA the Chagos Islands is home to the American super-base of Diego Garcia. Located on the largest island in the archipelago and home to the joint UK/US military base since the 1970s. The Chagos handover to Mauritius has been controversial from the outset and shifting signals from Donald Trump have left the Starmer government open to a political backlash. Has the...