Episode
Iran’s hardliners will not listen to anyone - even China’s Xi Jinping
- Podcast
- Iran: The Latest
- Published
- May 13, 2026
- Duration seconds
- 1977
- Processing state
not_requested- Canonical source
- https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/05/13/irans-hardliners-will-not-listen-to-anyone/
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Summary
Weeks of American and Israeli airstrikes inflicted grievous losses on Iran’s military. Or so we thought. Now, US intelligence assessments suggest that Iran retains 70 percent of the missiles and launch vehicles it had before the war - including most of the sites threatening the Strait of Hormuz. Holly Dagres joins Roland Oliphant and Sophia Yan to unpack the implications. She also explains why Iran’s hardliners are unlikely to listen to China’s leader Xi Jinping, have stepped up execution of opponents and alleged spies at home, and are nose-diving the economy with a crippling internet black out. This is the latest from Donald Trump’s war against Iran – which will overshadow his summit later this week with Xi. Highlights Iran retains 70 percent of its missile arsenal Why Tehran's hardliners will resist pressure from China CONTRIBUTORS: Roland Oliphant, co-host and chief foreign affairs analyst @RolandOliphant Sophia Yan, senior foreign correspondent, @sophia_yan Holly Dagres, Washington Institute, @hdagres 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.