Exclusive: Why Iran's new leader survived & how to reopen the Strait of Hormuz

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 of the National Council of Resistance of Iran. The NCRI is essentially Iran’s anti-monarchy opposition group and is led by the highly controversial People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (MEK) - previously designated as terrorists. MEK supporter Safavi argues that an armed uprising rather than a war is needed to overthrow the Islamic Republic. He also discusses the MEK’s chequered history, the Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi, and the enormous divisions among Iranian diaspora opposition groups. CONTRIBUTORS:Roland Oliphant, co-host and chief foreign affairs analyst @RolandOliphantAkhtar Makoii, foreign correspondentAli Safavi, National Council of Resistance of Iran @amsafaviCONTENT REFERENCED:Larijani’s death is more significant than that of supreme leaderhttps://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2026/03/17/ali-larijani-killing-hits-iran-more-than-ayatollah-death/Producer: Sophie O'SullivanExecutive Producer: 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.

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 light on why he was chosen as Ali Khamenei’s successor. Plus: how do you reopen the Strait of Hormuz and what can the UK really do to help Donald Trump? Jack Watling, senior research fellow for Land Warfare at the Royal United Services Institute, joins Roland Oliphant and Venetia Rainey to discuss the military options and why even they might not be enough. They also talk about how China might be looking to take advantage of this conflict and the impact of the Iran war on Indo-Pacific security. Watling’s new book, Statecraft: The New Rules of Power in a Divided World, is out this week and is published by Macmillan. CONTRIBUTORS:Roland Oliphant, co-host and chief foreign affairs analyst @RolandOliphantVenetia Rainey, co-host @venetiaraineyAkhtar Makoii, foreign correspondent @akhtar_makoiiJack Watling, senior research fellow RUSI @Jack_WatlingCONTENT REFERENCED:Mojtaba Khamenei escaped death by seconds, leaked audio revealshttps://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2026/03/16/exclusive-mojtaba-khamenei-escaped-death-leaked-audio/Trump wants Britain to send a warship to the Gulf. Starmer has sent eight sailorshttps://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/03/15/trump-wants-starmer-warship-gulf-sent-eight-sailors/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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 Oliphant is joined by The Telegraph’s chief foreign affairs commentator David Blair and foreign correspondent Akhtar Makoii to discuss the conflict so far and answer listeners’ questions. Plus, Jonathan Hackett, a former Marine Corps interrogator, counterintelligence agent, and special operations intelligence officer, returns to give his assessment of the past two weeks, discuss the Israeli covert ops taking place on the ground, and look at where things might go from here. CONTRIBUTORS:Roland Oliphant, co-host and chief foreign affairs analyst @RolandOliphantDavid Blair, chief foreign affairs commentator @davidblairdtAkhtar Makoii, foreign correspondent @akhtar_makoiiJonathan HackettCONTENT REFERENCED:Mojtaba Khamenei has called for Iranian unity – but he may not be alivehttps://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2026/03/13/mojtaba-khamenei-uniting-iran-against-trump-may-not-alive/David Blair: Iran’s leaders have every reason to believe they’re succeedinghttps://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/03/12/irans-leaders-every-reason-believe-succeeding/Producer: Sophie O'SullivanExecutive Producer: 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.

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 discuss the global oil crisis in the Strait of Hormuz, Israel’s attacks on Hezbollah in Lebanon, lessons (or not) from the Iraq war, and the impact on the Russia-Ukraine conflict.Sir Lawrence is the emeritus professor of war studies at King’s College London and has spent half a century looking at wars, national security and defence doctrine. He is new book, On Strategists and Strategy, is a collection of essays covering the Iraq war, the importance of tactics and nuclear deterrence.CONTRIBUTORS:Roland Oliphant, Chief Foreign Affairs Analyst and co-host @RolandOliphantVenetia Rainey, co-host @venetiaraineySir Lawrence Freedman, emeritus professor of war studies King's College London @LawDavFCONTENT REFERENCED:A girls’ school in Iran was blown up. Here’s what locals say happenedhttps://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2026/03/10/girls-school-iran-blown-up-locals-say-happened/The evidence that shows a US missile hit an Iranian girls’ schoolhttps://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2026/03/10/evidence-shows-us-missile-hit-iranian-girls-school/Con Coughlin: Putin has been the Iran war’s big winnerhttps://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/03/12/putin-iran-war-big-winner/Tom Sharpe: The Strait of Hormuz has been opened by force before, and it can be againhttps://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/03/12/strait-hormuz-us-navy-escort-tanker-war-iran-force-open/Producer: Peter ShevlinExecutive Producer: 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.

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 Iranians in the country who have been speaking to her.Plus, The Telegraph’s Global Health Security Editor Paul Nuki joins from Beirut to talk about the latest in Israel’s escalating war against Hezbollah and the death, damage and disruption it’s causing on the ground. CONTRIBUTORS:Venetia Rainey, co-host @venetiaraineyArthur Scott-Geddes, co-host @ascottgeddes Sahar Zand, journalist @SaharZandProducer: Peter ShevlinExecutive Producer: 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/CONTENT REFERENCED:How Iran’s ‘horizontal warfare’ could trap Trump in another Vietnamhttps://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2026/03/10/iran-horizontal-warfare-trap-trump-another-vietnam/UN claims 700,000 displaced in Lebanon after Israeli bombingshttps://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2026/03/10/un-claims-700000-displaced-in-lebanon-after-israeli-bombing/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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 the data says about this conflict so far, from the high intensity of the military campaign to the surprisingly low casualty rates. Plus, Senior Foreign Correspondent Sophia Yan reports from the Iraqi side of the Iranian border where she has been speaking to Iranian Kurdish separatist leaders who say they have thousands of fighters ready to go. Trump has flip-flopped over whether he would support the separatist groups as a proxy ground force in the US-Israel war against Iran. But they say America cannot topple Tehran’s regime without their help.CONTRIBUTORS:Roland Oliphant, Chief Foreign Affairs Analyst and co-host @RolandOliphantSophia Yan, Senior Foreign Correspondent @sophiayanClionadh Raleigh, ACLED CEO, @cliona_raleighCONTENT REFERENCED:Trump needs us to win war, says Kurdish opposition commanderhttps://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2026/03/08/kurdish-militia-leader-trump-needs-us-to-win-iran-war/Kurds desperate to invade Iran... if they get Trump’s jetshttps://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2026/03/08/kurds-desperate-invade-iran-cover-trump-jets/Producer: Peter ShevlinExecutive Producer: 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.

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 war is dragging in countries there.CONTRIBUTORS:Venetia Rainey, co-host @venetiaraineyRoland Oliphant, Chief Foreign Affairs Commentator and co-host @RolandOliphantSascha Bruchmann, IISS Research Fellow for Defence and Military AnalysisCONTENT REFERENCED:David Blair: New supreme leader shows folly of Trump’s warhttps://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2026/03/09/new-iran-supreme-leader-folly-trump-iran-war/Iran has already made its first big miscalculation of the warhttps://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/03/09/iran-first-big-miscalculation-war/Iran war, day ten: Everything you need to knowhttps://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2026/03/09/iran-war-day-ten-everything-you-need-to-know/Producer: Peter ShevlinExecutive Producer: 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.

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 Officer who has served in the Middle East, and Matthew Savill, director of military sciences at the Royal United Services Institute.They discuss how much progress America has made with its stated objectives, whether Iran is running out of missiles or holding them back, the Shahed drone problem, what’s left of the Iranian navy and why regime change still seems a distant prospect for now.Plus, two arguments for and against the UK becoming militarily involved - is it Keir Starmer’s moral duty or does Britain have nothing relevant to offer?Read Iran war, day seven: Everything you need to know: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2026/03/06/iran-war-day-seven-everything-you-need-to-know/Read Trump to use British bases for ‘surge’ in Iran attacks: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2026/03/06/trump-to-use-british-bases-for-surge-in-iran-attacks/Producer: Sophie O'SullivanExecutive Producer: 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/fromtheeditorContact us with feedback or ideas:@venetiarainey@RolandOliphant Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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 Iran; why Iranian maritime forces are equally well prepared; and the cruel necessities of submarine warfare.And Nicholas Hopton, a former British ambassador to Iran, explains the three conditions necessary for a regime collapse - and why none of them have yet been met. Read: The US submarine which torpedoed the Iranian frigate will soon be flying the Jolly Roger, by Tom Sharpe: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/03/05/us-submarine-torpedo-iranian-warship-jolly-roger/Read: Will America betray the Kurds again? by Owen Matthews: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/03/05/will-america-betray-kurds-again/Producer: Peter ShevlinExecutive Producer: 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/fromtheeditorContact us with feedback or ideas:@venetiarainey@RolandOliphant Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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 that are resisting. Iranian-British journalist Nazenin Ansari talks about why she is pro-regime change but doesn’t want this war, the brutality of the IRGC, and how Khamenei’s son Mojtaba would be just more of the same if picked as his successor. Plus, senior foreign correspondent Sophia Yan sends a dispatch from the Turkish-Iranian border where she has been speaking to fleeing Iranians, and Dr Hanan Balkhy, WHO’s Regional Director for the Eastern Mediterranean, explains how the UN’s health body prepared for the conflict. Read Sophia Yan’s analysis of why China is unfazed by the war: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2026/03/04/why-china-is-unfazed-by-donald-trump-epic-fury/Read Tom Cotterill on why this could be the Royal Navy’s biggest humiliation: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/03/03/is-this-the-royal-navys-biggest-humiliation/Read our visual journalism deep dive on how Trump sank the Iranian navy: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2026/03/03/how-trump-sank-iranian-navy/Producer: Peter ShevlinExecutive Producer: 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/fromtheeditorContact us with feedback or ideas:@venetiarainey@RolandOliphant Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.