Iran: The Latest

Eighty years on from Victory over Japan day in 1945, the contribution of British and Commonwealth soldiers in a brutal battle against the Imperial Japanese armed forces is often overlooked. The fact that the dropping of two atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki saved the lives of many in prisoner of war camps is even less discussed.  Featuring voicenotes from readers whose family fought in A...

As US President Donald Trump and Russia's Vladimir Putin get ready to meet in Alaska, there has been lots of talk about what Washington, Moscow and even Europe want from the historic summit. But what about Ukrainians? What do they want? To find out, Roland speaks to former Ukrainian defence minister and chairman of the Center for Defence Strategies Andriy Zagorodnyuk and veteran frontline sol...

Australia holds a unique position in global geopolitics - on the other side of the world but still very much a 'Western' country. To that end, Roland Oliphant speaks with former Australian Defence Minister Christopher Pyne about the delicate balancing act his country faces in dealing with an increasingly sharp-elbowed China; and whether President Trump will stand by the AUKUS nuclear submarine pac...

Nuclear weapons are back.  This week, Moscow announced that it would no longer abide by the once hugely significant Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty. Last week, President Donald Trump announced that he had moved nuclear submarines towards Russia. From growing stockpiles in China and North Korea, to growing cooperation between the UK and France, the direction of travel is clear.&...

Amid growing international outrage over an unfolding famine in Gaza, lack of aid supplies and the high death toll in the ongoing war, Israel is increasingly isolated on the world stage.  Last week, several of Israel's major Western allies - the UK, France and Canada - set out a timetable for recognising a Palestinian state. In the following days, an apparently emboldened Hamas and Palestinian...

Will China invade Taiwan? If so, when and what signs should we look for that will show it is imminent? How exactly could Beijing seize the island? And what would the US do in response? These questions have been at the core of Indo-Pacific security concerns for decades, but in recent years, the threat has become more tangible - and the questions more urgent.  In the final episode of this three...

China’s military is not a real army - it’s the armed wing of the Chinese Communist Party. Ideology is paramount and corruption is endemic.  Plus, the People’s Liberation Army hasn’t fought a war since 1979. Xi Jinping calls it “the peace disease”.  In episode two of this three-part series, Venetia Rainey looks at the PLA’s weaknesses and how the Chinese president Xi is trying to fix them...

Dive into the strengths and weaknesses of China’s military and its remarkable transformation over the last few decades from obsolete to world-class in a new special series on Battle Lines. How significant is China’s military buildup? What does Xi Jinping’s ongoing purge mean for the People’s Liberation Army? And how likely is an invasion of Taiwan in the next few years? As the US pivots to th...

What exactly is going on inside the Gaza strip? Amid growing reports of children starving to death and fears of full-blown famine, the international community appears to be becoming more critical of Israel. Roland Oliphant hears from a UNICEF staffer with recent on the ground experience in Gaza about why mass starvation is setting in - but is still avoidable. Tess Ingram shares the latest from the...

Amid growing speculation around China’s invasion of Taiwan, the island nation has held its largest ever military exercises.  Fresh from reporting on live fire drills off the Taiwanese coast, The Telegraph’s Asia correspondent Allegra Mendelson shares the latest on Indo-Pacific tensions with Roland Oliphant. Also, Roland speaks to Neal Urwitz, close friend of the US Under Secretary of Defense...

Donald Trump—never one to shy away from controversy—has done another dramatic U-turn. After flatly refusing to send any more Patriot missiles to Ukraine, he’s now decided to send them anyway. So what’s changed? And why do these missiles matter so much? Let’s cut through the noise. Are Patriot missiles genuinely game-changers on the battlefield, or are they just a powerful symbol in modern warfare?...

General Sir Patrick Sanders has a stark warning: Britain must prepare for war with Russia within five years and start building bunkers and better air defences. Speaking exclusively to our Defence Editor Danielle Sheridan, the former head of the British army points to the Nordic countries and says we need to start taking a leaf out of their book. He also discusses why an Iron Dome couldn’t work in...

US President Donald Trump has called out Vladimir Putin's "bullshit" and appears to be getting ready to back major US sanctions against Russia. Could this be the end of Trump's soft spot for the Russian dictator?  Venetia chats to veteran army officer and chemical and nuclear weapons expert Hamish de Bretton-Gordon about what might happen next and why we can't trust either Trump or Putin.&nbs...

As Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meets American President Donald Trump to try to hash out a Gaza ceasefire and hostage deal, a new Middle East is emerging from the ashes of years of war. Iran's nuclear programme has been bombed, Syria's new leader is re-establishing diplomatic relations with the West, and the Gulf is considering normalising relations with Israel.  Roland talks to...

Last week, the Pentagon unveiled a jaw-dropping $47.3 billion plan to supercharge its fleet with 19 brand-new battleships. That’s right— nineteen . Up from a paltry five last year. And let’s not kid ourselves: this isn’t just about flexing maritime muscle, it’s a direct message to China—loud and clear. Enter Commander Tom Sharpe, a man who’s not only been there and done it, but practically wrote t...

In this bonus episode, something a bit different: a special dispatch from the Swedish island that has become a Nato bulwark against Russian aggression in the Baltic Sea. Although all troops were removed in 2005, Gotland Island has since been remilitarised and is now home to the Swedish Armed Forces’ newest outfit: the Gotland Regiment. The troops are charged with protecting this hugely strate...

For several weeks, two Chinese aircraft carrier battle groups have been conducting unprecedented drills in the Western Pacific, sailing further from Beijing than ever before. What message is China trying to send to the world and what can we learn about its Navy’s capabilities? Venetia chats to RUSI's Philip Shetler‑Jones, who specialises in Indo-Pacific security. Plus, a rare journey through Gaza...

This week in Trumpland: Trump bombed Iran on Saturday, declared its nuclear programme "obliterated" by Sunday, shrugged off Iranian missile strikes on Monday, and by Tuesday had single-handedly forced a ceasefire between Iran and Israel—only for it to nearly collapse hours later. Then, as if that wasn’t enough, he turned up at the NATO summit in The Hague and strong-armed allies into a staggering...

The United States has just pulled off one of the most audacious bombing campaigns of the 21st century — attacking Iran’s nuclear sites in a stunning show of military might. The Pentagon is calling it a surgical strike. Donald Trump? He’s calling it a “obliteration.” Either way, it’s one hell of a moment in global history. But this didn't come out of nowhere. This is part of a full-blown war that s...

Israel and Iran are trading missiles. A hospital’s been hit. Thirty injured. Israel’s fired back — hard — targeting Iran’s nuclear sites. Inside Iran? Chaos. Power’s out. Hackers hijack state TV, urging revolt. And Donald Trump? He’s green-lit Pentagon war plans — but is holding fire. For now. We’ve got The Telegraph’s best on the ground: Sophia Yan in Beirut, Paul Nuki in Tel Aviv, and David Blai...

In a bumper, bonus edition of Battle Lines, we are talking to Iranians themselves, those both inside and outside the country, pro and anti regime, to get a sense of how the nation is responding to these missile strikes, what the war could mean for both the regime and ordinary people, and what comes next. Emotions on the ground and among the diaspora are running high, and the stakes are even h...

It’s day four of Israel’s relentless bombing campaign against Iran, and the death toll is spiralling. Iran says 224 of its citizens are dead. Israel reports 24 lives lost and over 500 injured in a barrage of Iranian retaliatory strikes. And this war is only just getting started. The Israeli airstrikes have gone far beyond nuclear sites. Government buildings, intelligence headquarters, the ministri...

This episode was recorded before the strikes on Iran — a major development we’ll be discussing in detail in Monday’s episode. Los Angeles has descended into chaos. A wave of ICE immigration raids has sparked mass protests, violent clashes with police, and nights of looting, fires, and fear. Now, President Trump has overridden Governor Gavin Newsom using a little-known legal loophole to send in the...

On today’s episode, we confront the brutal realities of two of the world’s most controversial flashpoints. First, our man on the ground, Jerusalem correspondent Henry Bodkin, joins Israeli troops in Gaza for a rare and eye-opening embed. He takes us inside the tunnel where Hamas leader Mohammed Sinwar was allegedly hiding before an Israeli airstrike on May 13th — one that struck the entrance of th...

Lord George Robertson, former Nato Secretary General and lead author of the UK's new Strategic Defence Review, talks to Roland about what it will take for Britain to be warfighting ready.  His message is a vital clarion call for the British government and general public to wake up to the very real threat posed by Russia and the scale of change that needs to be undertaken: "This is n...