The US military is secretly helping ships circumvent Iran’s stranglehold on the Strait of Hormuz along a new route hugging the Omani coast.

Bryan Clark, a former US Navy officer and senior fellow at the Hudson Institute, looks at whether this is a solution to the Hormuz crisis that has plagued Donald Trump and the rest of the world since the war began.

Plus, Hezbollah accuses Lebanon of “surrendering” after agreeing a deal with Israel. Venetia Rainey and Sophia Yan discuss the latest news, including the significance of the US House passing a war powers resolution to curb further American military activity and the death of British MI6 boss Sir Alex Younger.

Highlights

• The secret US operation evading Iran’s Strait of Hormuz blockade
• Israel and Lebanon to use “pilot zones” to push out Hezbollah

CONTRIBUTORS:

Venetia Rainey, co-host and executive producer @venetiarainey

Sophia Yan, co-host and senior foreign correspondent @sophia_yan

CONTENT REFERENCED:

Sir Alex Younger, long-serving head of MI6 who shaped the service for a ‘fourth generation of espionage’

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/obituaries/2026/06/03/sir-alex-younger-mi6-secret-intelligence-service-edward-sno/

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-06-03/us-looks-to-unblock-hormuz-with-quiet-version-of-project-freedom

The Economist: A former spy chief’s take on intelligence and the Iran war

https://www.economist.com/insider/inside-defence/a-former-spy-chiefs-take-on-intelligence-and-the-iran-war

Producer: Peter Shevlin

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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Iran has pulled out of peace talks to end the war with the US, accusing Israel of breaking the ceasefire by ordering strikes on Beirut.

Roland Oliphant and Venetia Rainey discuss the latest news, which comes after a series of military escalations over the weekend, including more tit-for-tat bombing between the US and Iran in the Strait of Hormuz. Meanwhile in Lebanon, the Israeli army scored a symbolic and strategic victory by capturing Beaufort Castle as part of its expanding offensive in the country’s south, amid fierce fighting with Hezbollah.

Plus, how did Iran become a corrupt mafia state? Iranian journalists Yeganeh Torbati (New York Times) and Bozorgmehr Sharafedin (Iran International) have written a new book on the subject, Stolen Revolution, and join the show to explain why the war is likely to make things even worse.

Highlights

• Iran quits US talks after Israel orders Beirut strikes
• Plus: how Iran became a corrupt mafia state

CONTRIBUTORS:

Roland Oliphant, co-host and chief foreign affairs analyst @RolandOliphant

Venetia Rainey, co-host and executive producer @venetiarainey

Yeganeh Torbati, journalist and author of Stolen Revolution @yjtorbati

Bozorgmehr Sharafedin, journalist and author of Stolen Revolution @bozorgmehr

CONTENT REFERENCED:

Kasra Aarabi and Saeid Golkar: The West is ignoring the dangerous new partnership reshaping Iran from within

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/05/29/shadowy-new-hardline-alliance-reshaping-irans-regime/

Producer: Max Bower

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 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 says the US is lifting its blockade of Iranian ports and boats in the Strait of Hormuz - does this mean a peace deal is imminent?

Plus, Iran famously has two militaries: a regular army, and the IRGC. But Tehran also has a third force: its network of foreign militias in Iraq, Lebanon and Yemen. They played a key role in the recent war - and no outsider knows them better than Elizabeth Tsurkov. In 2023, while on a research trip to Iraq, the Russian-Israeli PhD student was kidnapped for nearly three years by Kataib Hezbollah, the most powerful of Iran’s Iraqi proxy militias.

Still recovering from the ordeal, she takes Sophia Yan and Roland Oliphant inside the group - and why she was surprised to learn that many of her kidnappers were “idiots”. Plus, she explains how they sustain Iran’s shadow economy, dominate politics in their host counties, and double up as fronts for massive embezzlement schemes.

Highlights

• Donald Trump lifts US naval blockade on Iran
• Elizabeth Tsurkov on being kidnapped by “idiot” Iranian militias in Iraq

CONTRIBUTORS:

Sophia Yan, senior foreign correspondent, @sophia_yan

Roland Oliphant, co-host and chief foreign affairs analyst @RolandOliphant

Elizabeth Tsurkov, fellow at the New Lines Institute @LizHurra

CONTENT REFERENCED:

Elizabeth Tsurkov: I Was Kidnapped by Idiots

https://www.theatlantic.com/international/2026/01/kidnapped-baghdad/685470/

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 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.