Iran: The Latest

With Iran peace talks deadlocked, US military attention appears to be turning to another longtime enemy: Cuba.

This week, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio declared Cuba a threat to US security. Indictments have been issued against its elderly former president Raúl Castro. Claims about a Cuban drone stockpile aimed at the US have been leaked to the press. The USS Nimitz aircraft carrier has been deployed to the Caribbean. A blockade has been in place for months, leading to mass blackouts.

Carlos Solar, RUSI’s senior research fellow for Latin American security, joins Roland Oliphant to examine whether the United States is creating a pretext for an attack on Cuba. They discuss why things are escalating in the Caribbean and what an attack on the country might look like. Plus, how it is all connected to the war in Iran.

Highlights
First Venezuela, then Iran. Is Cuba next on Trump’s hit list?
How the Iran war is pushing Cuba’s regime over the edge

CONTRIBUTORS:

Roland Oliphant, co-host and chief foreign affairs analyst @RolandOliphant
Carlos Solar, RUSI Latin American Security senior fellow @CSolar

CONTENT REFERENCED:

Trump: deploying aircraft carrier to Caribbean is not meant to intimidate Cuba

Rubio: Cuba is a national security threat

Cuba is dark, desperate and still deluded

Producer: Max Bower
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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Oil flows will not return to normal until the second half of next year - even if the Strait of Hormuz opens now.

That’s the grim prognosis of the UAE’s most senior oil executive. But even if it does open, Iran is implementing a system of tolls that will have long-term implications, both in the Middle East and further afield. International economic editor Hans van Leeuwen tells Roland Oliphant how the ongoing crisis in the Strait of Hormuz is transforming shipping all over the world.

Hans also looks at why India’s leader Narendra Modi is in Europe at the moment trying to drum up deals amid fears the Iran war could impact his country’s superpower trajectory.

Meanwhile, Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu clash over whether to restart active hostilities, Pakistan’s army chief heads to Tehran to coax the regime towards a peace deal, and Iran says it will not give up its Uranium.

Highlights
How Iran’s Strait of Hormuz toll could spread worldwide
Why the Iran war is throwing India off its superpower trajectory

CONTRIBUTORS:

Roland Oliphant, co-host and chief foreign affairs analyst @RolandOliphant
Hans van Leeuwen, international economics editor @hansvan333

CONTENT REFERENCED:

How Trump trampled on Modi’s dream of an Indian superpower
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2026/05/20/how-trump-trampled-on-modis-dream-of-an-indian-superpower/

Iran weaponised world trade and others are following suit
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2026/05/19/iran-weaponised-world-trade-and-others-are-following-suit/

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 has threatened to spread the war beyond the Middle East if Donald Trump starts bombing the country again. Is it an empty threat or should we be worried?

Jonathan Hackett, a former US Marine Corps interrogator and special operations intelligence officer, joins the podcast again to discuss the state of Iran’s military capabilities, their Mosaic Doctrine and what next for the war with Venetia Rainey, Sophia Yan and Roland Oliphant.

They also discuss reports today that the US wanted to install former president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in Ali Khamenei’s place, news of secret Israeli bases in the Iraqi desert, and the shady Iran-linked group known as HAYI behind a series of attacks on Jews in London.

Plus, as Vladimir Putin visits Xi Jinping in China, Sophia looks at how the energy crisis caused by the war has boosted Moscow by forcing the UK and US to drop sanctions on Russian oil, and Venetia looks at JD Vance’s latest comments on peace deal talks.

Highlights
Iran warns Trump: ‘We’ll take war global if you bomb us again’
A US Marine on Iran’s terror war against the West

CONTRIBUTORS:

Venetia Rainey, co-host and executive producer @venetiarainey
Roland Oliphant, co-host and chief foreign affairs analyst @RolandOliphant
Sophia Yan, co-host and senior foreign correspondent @sophia_yan
Jonathan Hackett, former US Marine Corps @jonathanhackett

CONTENT REFERENCED:

Akhtar Makoii: Iran’s plan to strike back in second round of war
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2026/05/19/iran-plan-strike-back-second-round-war/

Badenoch: PM’s sanctions U-turn will fund killing of Ukrainian soldiers
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2026/05/20/starmer-eases-sanctions-on-russian-oil/

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.

Donald Trump has postponed his “scheduled” attack on Iran for now, but who is winning the online war between the two countries?

America’s military has pumped out videos of air strikes and missile attacks, often spliced in with video game footage and overlaid with high octane music for maximum effect. Meanwhile, Iranian activists have created slick Lego animation videos set to hip hop music. Venetia Rainey chats to information warfare specialist Tal Hagin about which is cutting through more.

They also discuss the rise in AI-driven misinformation, anti-Semitism and desensitisation during the Iran war, from the deadly Minab school attack to Benjamin Netanyahu’s “extra” finger and rumoured death.

Plus, how can Israel deal with the growing Hezbollah drone threat? Lieutenant Colonel Sarit Zehavi, founder of the Alma Center, explains what it’s like living in northern Israel at the moment and why a bigger war with Lebanon would be needed to root out the terror group.

Highlights
America’s Call of Duty vs Iran’s Lego videos: who is winning the online war?
Why Israel wants to go deeper into Lebanon to root out Hezbollah

CONTRIBUTORS:

Venetia Rainey, co-host and executive producer @venetiarainey
Tal Hagin, information warfare analyst @talhagin
Lt Col. Sarit Zehavi, founder Alma Center @ZehaviAlma

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.

Executions have soared inside Iran, with new Amnesty data today showing more than 2,000 people were given the death penalty in 2025.

Roland Oliphant speaks to Iranian journalist in exile Maryam Mazrooei about the “bloodthirsty” regime’s latest tactic to scare citizens into silence amid the war with the US and Israel. She also explains why the mood inside the country is increasingly dark amid a growing economic disaster, with mass layoffs and no internet.

Plus, the UK has fitted new laser-guided missiles to its Typhoon jets on patrol in the Gulf. Venetia Rainey talks to acting defence editor Tom Cotterill about how they have been designed to talk on Iranian Shahed drones and why they were developed so fast.

Tom also talks about his recent trip to the Falklands, where locals dismissed rumours that the US may drop its backing for British sovereignty over the Islands as punishment for not joining Donald Trump’s war against Iran.

Highlights
Gulf gets new laser-guided missiles to help smash Iranian drones
‘Bloodthirsty’ Iran regime executions hit all-time high as economy freefalls

CONTRIBUTORS:

Venetia Rainey, co-host and executive producer @venetiarainey
Roland Oliphant, co-host and chief foreign affairs analyst @RolandOliphant
Tom Cotterill, acting defence editor @TomCotterillX
Maryam Mazrooie, journalist @MaryammazrooeiS

CONTENT REFERENCED:

Trump: There won’t be anything left of Iran if it refuses peace deal
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2026/05/17/trump-wont-be-anything-left-of-iran-if-refuses-peace-deal/

Typhoon jets equipped with cheaper missiles to fend off Iranian attacks
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/05/17/typhoon-jets-new-missiles-iran-attacks/

Tom Cotterill: Trump is using us as a pawn, says Falklands chief
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2026/05/10/falkland-islands-trump-is-using-us-as-a-pawn/

David Blair: Iran’s regime is confident of victory. It may be overplaying its hand
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/05/17/irans-regime-confident-of-victory-it-may-overplaying-hand/

Amnesty: Executions surge to highest recorded figure in 44 years
https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2026/05/executions-surge-highest-recorded-figure-44-years/

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.