Iran: The Latest

The military stand-off between the US and Iran has escalated again after Donald Trump ordered a seven-hour bombing campaign targeting Iranian missile barracks, coastal radar sites, and naval bases. The inevitable Iranian response targeting its Gulf neighbours was met with rare daytime strikes by American forces.
On today’s episode of Iran: the Latest, Roland Oliphant sits down with Tim Mak and Jacqueline Cole from the Iran War Dispatches Substack to discuss the significance of what each side is hitting and how the Pentagon is adapting its tactics against asymmetric Iranian warfare. They also discuss whether Trump’s brutal threat to destroy Iran's power plants and bridges will bring Tehran to the negotiating table.
Plus, worrying signs that Iran is becoming more militarised and why Jackie and Tim went to Armenia to find out what ordinary Iranians think of the war.

Highlights

US strikes Iran twice in 24 hours after Shahed attacks hit Gulf states
Trump’s ultimatum to Iran: ‘Negotiate or we destroy your infrastructure’

CONTRIBUTORS:
Roland Oliphant, co-host and chief foreign affairs analyst @RolandOliphant
Tim Mak, founder Iran War Dispatches @timkmak
Jacqueline Cole, journalist Iran War Dispatches @jacmcole

WATCH US ON YOUTUBE: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLJnf_DDTfIVAif-vifC6F2aoPB8GIw6dk

CONTENT REFERENCED:
Trump’s three options to solve his Iran problem
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/us/news/2026/07/09/trump-three-options-return-war

Trump U-turns on Hormuz toll after one day
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/us/news/2026/07/14/trump-hormuz-toll-uturn-one-day/

Even Iran’s children’s authors are losing hope
https://www.iranwar.news/p/even-irans-childrens-authors-are

Iran War Dispatches: https://www.iranwar.news/

The Telegraph Podcast Publisher of the Year 2026 - Publisher Podcast Awards 2026
ITL Nominated Podcast of the Year - Society of Editors News Podcasts Awards 2026

Producer: Peter Shevlin
Video Producer: Max Bower
Researcher and Social Producer: Anna Hindmarsh
Studio Operator: Andy Watson
Executive Producer: Venetia Rainey

► 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 battlelines@telegraph.co.uk
► GET THE LATEST HEADLINES: Find all our latest Iran coverage here: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/iran-war/
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Donald Trump has reimposed the US’s naval blockade on Iran and, for the third night in a row, launched a brutal five-hour blitz hitting Iran’s coastal defences. In retaliation, the IRGC has struck back, killing one and injuring several onboard two oil supertankers in the Strait of Hormuz and targeting critical American assets in Bahrain, Jordan and Kuwait.

On today’s episode of Iran: the Latest, Venetia Rainey and Roland Oliphant run through the latest updates from the region as the war escalates.
Plus, why hasn’t Israel rejoined the US war with Iran? Sima Shine, former head of research and evaluation at Mossad and Iran expert at Israel’s Institute for National Security Studies, explains why she thinks Donald Trump has put a break on Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu participating in the latest round of fighting.

She also discusses the explosive news about Israel’s Operation Puss in Boots, a yearslong, multi-pronged effort to overthrow the Iranian regime and install the most unlikely of candidates, arch Israeli enemy former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Highlights
Trump’s five-hour blitz triggers Iran war escalation
Ex-Mossad chief on why Israel is out of Iran war

CONTRIBUTORS:
Roland Oliphant, co-host and chief foreign affairs analyst @RolandOliphant
Venetia Rainey, co-host and executive producer @venetiarainey
Sima Shine, director of the Iran and the Shiite Axis Research Program at INSS @INSSIsrael

WATCH US ON YOUTUBE: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLJnf_DDTfIVAif-vifC6F2aoPB8GIw6dk

CONTENT REFERENCED:
US attacks Iran using kamikaze drone boats for first time
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2026/07/13/us-attack-iran-kamikaze-drone-boats-hormuz-war/

Inside the Mossad Plot to Install Israel's Arch-enemy Ahmadinejad as Iran's Leader
https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/israel-security/2026-07-13/ty-article-magazine/.premium/inside-the-mossad-plot-to-install-ahamadinijad-as-irans-leader/0000019f-5b28-de66-a5bf-5b7b3bbd0000

ITL Best News and Analysis Podcast - Publisher Podcast Awards 2026
The Telegraph Podcast Publisher of the Year 2026 - Publisher Podcast Awards 2026
ITL Nominated Podcast of the Year - Society of Editors News Podcasts Awards 2026

Producer: Max Bower
Video Producer: Peter Shevlin
Researcher and Social Producer: Anna Hindmarsh
Studio Operator: Andy Watson
Executive Producer: Venetia Rainey

► 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 battlelines@telegraph.co.uk
► GET THE LATEST HEADLINES: Find all our latest Iran coverage here: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/iran-war/

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The US-Iran ceasefire is in crisis following a violent weekend of escalation. From the IRGC damaging a ship in the Strait of Hormuz so badly that the crew had to abandon it, to President Donald Trump declaring he "bombed the hell out of them" after striking dozens of targets, the war appears to be back on in all but name. Now, Trump has reimposed the US naval blockade and announced a toll.

On today’s episode of Iran: the Latest, Venetia Rainey and Roland Oliphant break down a frantic weekend of military action, including the US deploying one-way attack sea drones for the first time and the collapse of Omani negotiations to reopen the Hormuz waterway.

Plus, the damage done by Iran repeatedly launching missile and drone strikes against US airbases across the Gulf and Jordan is growing. King’s College London security expert Dr. Andreas Krieg unpacks how China and Russia are actively backing Iran's underground missile infrastructure to bleed Western interceptor stocks and distract the US from the Indo-Pacific.

Highlights
Trump reimposes Strait of Hormuz blockade and attacks Iran with sea drones
Iran attacks on American bases across Middle East ‘leave US in the dark’

CONTRIBUTORS:
Venetia Rainey, co-host and executive producer @venetiarainey
Roland Oliphant, co-host and chief foreign affairs analyst @RolandOliphant
Andreas Krieg, King’s College London and Institute of Middle Eastern Studies @andreas_krieg

WATCH US ON YOUTUBE: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLJnf_DDTfIVAif-vifC6F2aoPB8GIw6dk

CONTENT REFERENCED:

Telegraph View: The Iranian regime continues to sow chaos
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/2026/07/13/the-iranian-regime-continues-to-sow-chaos/

Iran bombs US supply lines in fight for Strait of Hormuz
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2026/07/12/iran-aims-to-cripple-us-navy-supply-in-major-air-strikes/

Starmer proscribes Iran’s IRGC
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/07/13/keir-starmer-proscribes-irans-islamic-revolutionary-guards/

ITL Best News and Analysis Podcast - Publisher Podcast Awards 2026
The Telegraph Podcast Publisher of the Year 2026 - Publisher Podcast Awards 2026
ITL Nominated Podcast of the Year - Society of Editors News Podcasts Awards 2026

Producer: Max Bower
Video Producer: Peter Shevlin
Researcher and Social Producer: Anna Hindmarsh
Studio Operator: Andy Watson
Executive Producer: Venetia Rainey

► 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 battlelines@telegraph.co.uk
► 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.

Four months after he was assassinated by Israeli and US airstrikes on the first day of the Iran war, former Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei has been buried in an elaborate funeral.

But who was he behind all the mythology and pomp? How did he shape modern Iran into the impoverished, rogue nation it is today? And what does his life tell us about what his son Mojtaba Khamenei will be like as Iran’s new leader?

Venetia Rainey speaks to Ali Ansari, professor of Iranian History and director of the Institute for Iranian Studies at the University of St Andrews, about Khamenei’s legacy and backstory. Ali lays out how this fake ayatollah was corrupted by absolute power, how he allied with the IRGC to steal the state's wealth, and why his "princeling" son Mojtaba is even weaker.

Highlights
‘Bitter, weak and corrupted’: how Ali Khamenei ruined Iran
Ali Ansari on his backstory and what his son Mojtaba will be like

CONTRIBUTORS:
Venetia Rainey, co-host and executive producer @venetiarainey
Ali Ansari, professor University of St Andrews @aa51_ansari

WATCH US ON YOUTUBE: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLJnf_DDTfIVAif-vifC6F2aoPB8GIw6dk

Producer: Peter Shevlin
Researcher and Social Producer: Anna Hindmarsh
Studio Operator: Andy Watson
Executive Producer: Venetia Rainey
► 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 battlelines@telegraph.co.uk
► 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.

The burst of strikes between Iran and the US has died down but the Strait of Hormuz has seized up, with shipping coming to an almost complete standstill on the southern non-Iranian route. On today’s episode of Iran: the Latest, Venetia Rainey and Roland Oliphant discuss how this is exactly what Tehran wants.

Meanwhile, Israel has revealed that Donald Trump is the subject of a “new and specific” assassination plot by Iran, and Ali Khamenei has finally been buried - with his son Mojtaba Khamenei still nowhere to be seen.

Plus, what does this week’s Nato summit in Ankara, Turkey tell us about the future of the alliance and the trans-Atlantic security relationship? Rachel Ellehuus, director-general of the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI), gives her analysis of Trump’s Greenland comments, how Ukraine was the real winner, and why America's aggressive global force posture review is a "protection racket".

Highlights
Iran’s Trump ‘assassination plot’ revealed as Strait of Hormuz closes up
RUSI chief Rachel Ellehuus on Trump, the Nato summit and Greenland

CONTRIBUTORS:
Venetia Rainey, co-host and executive producer @venetiarainey
Roland Oliphant, co-host and chief foreign analyst @rolandoliphant
Rachel Ellehuus, RUSI director-general @rach_ellehuus

WATCH US ON YOUTUBE: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLJnf_DDTfIVAif-vifC6F2aoPB8GIw6dk

CONTENT REFERENCED:
What I saw behind the scenes at Nato’s tumultuous summit

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/07/09/behind-the-scenes-nato-turkey-summit/

Trump ‘forced to use old Air Force One over security fears’
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/us/news/2026/07/09/trump-forced-to-use-old-air-force-one-over-security-fears/

Millions block streets for Khamenei burial
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2026/07/09/iran-us-war-latest-news-strikes-strait-of-hormuz-nato/

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