Iran: The Latest

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 intelligence official and Iran expert Danny Citrinowicz about how poorly defined the war's goals are and why we aren't seeing any cracks in the regime yet.

Plus, The Telegraph’s David Blair on the significance of Khamenei's assassination and Trump's conflicting messaging.

Read Iran war, day three: Everything you need to know: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2026/03/02/iran-war-day-three-everything-you-need-to-know/

Read David Blair on why Trump’s incoherence on Iran maximises the risk of failure: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/02/28/trump-is-taking-a-monumental-risk-on-iran/

Read Roland Oliphant on the eight-month plot that led to Trump’s attack on Iran: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2026/02/28/donald-trump-attack-iran-israel-how-it-came-to-this/

Producer: Peter Shevlin
Executive Producer: Louisa Wells

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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 in Israel amid air raid sirens around the country.

Plus, Roland speaks to Jonathan Hackett, a 20-year US Marine Corps veteran and special operations capabilities specialist, as well as the author of Iran's Shadow Weapons: Covert Action, Intelligence Operations and Unconventional Warfare. Their conversation - which was recorded shortly before the attack began - covers how Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was offered an escape route but refused to take it, the state of the IRGC and why regime change in Iran will be so difficult.

Producer: Peter Shevlin
Executive Producer: Louisa Wells

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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 finer details of the US’s new found dominance in the Caribbean, Venetia is joined by The Telegraph’s foreign reporter, Lily Shanagher.

Plus, former national security advisor John Bolton, voices the need for regime change in Venezuela, Iran and Cuba. Coining the phrase ‘Troika of Tyranny' in 2018, Bolton has had Cuba in his sights for many years as a rogue state. So what should happen next in the region? John Bolton lays bare the truth about Trump’s decision making and the need for swift action.

Producer: Peter Shevlin
Executive Producer: Louisa Wells

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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 Australian biker gangs are all involved in a booming methamphetamine trade.

The result is that an island paradise is now home to the fastest-growing HIV epidemic on earth.

Read Sarah’s dispatch from Fiji:
The island paradise with the world’s fastest growing HIV epidemic
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/global-health/science-and-disease/fiji-island-paradise-with-the-worlds-fastest-growing-HIV-epidemic/

Producer: Sophie O'Sullivan
Executive Producer: Louisa Wells
Studio Operator: Meghan Searle

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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 special relationship turned toxic over these islands? And should the sovereignty transfer be stopped? To discuss, Roland turns to Ben Judah who has worked for the previous foreign secretary and Chief Foreign Affairs Commentator, David Blair.

Producer: Peter Shevlin
Executive Producer: Louisa Wells

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