{"podcast":{"title":"Iran: The Latest","slug":"iran-the-latest-6656846","podcast_index_feed_id":6656846,"rss_url":"https://feeds.acast.com/public/shows/6583019ebbd71a00175001c8","website_url":"https://www.telegraph.co.uk/iran--the-latest/","image_url":"https://assets.pippa.io/shows/6583019ebbd71a00175001c8/1772473555635-cba7af84-d6d4-4f86-919d-4324a711e2a4.jpeg","author":"Louisa Wells","episode_count":354,"summary":"Iran: The Latest is The Telegraph’s defence, security and foreign affairs news podcast providing deep-dive analysis on the ongoing conflict between the US, Israel and Iran. Veteran foreign correspondents Roland Oliphant and Venetia Rainey bring you the latest updates from The Telegraph’s award-winning journalists, plus exclusive interviews with world-class experts in military strategy, international relations, and Middle East policy. From attacks on the Gulf to Hezbollah in Lebanon to the Houthis in Yemen to the threat of nuclear escalation, stay informed with the best of The Telegraph’s Middle East coverage in one place. As the geopolitical landscape shifts, subscribe for essential updates on the security shifts defining our global future. Every Wednesday on Battle Lines: Global Health Security they’re joined by Arthur Scott-Geddes to look at the intersection between health and security, from bioweapons to warzone diseases to frontline medicine. You can watch these episodes here . Battle Lines, a defence podcast with a wider scope and created by David Knowles, previously lived on this feed. Don’t forget to follow and leave a review to stay updated on the latest in global conflict…","last_synced_at":"2026-07-21T06:20:06.077420+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/iran-the-latest-6656846"},"episode":{"title":"Trump lifts Hormuz naval blockade & inside Iran’s ‘idiot’ proxy army","slug":"trump-lifts-hormuz-naval-blockade-inside-iran-s-idiot-proxy-army","published_at":"2026-05-29T16:54:52+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/iran-the-latest-6656846/trump-lifts-hormuz-naval-blockade-inside-iran-s-idiot-proxy-army","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/iran-the-latest-6656846","url":"https://shows.acast.com/battle-lines-israel-gaza/episodes/trump-lifts-hormuz-naval-blockade-inside-irans-idiot-proxy-a","audio_url":"https://sphinx.acast.com/p/open/s/6583019ebbd71a00175001c8/e/6a19c4dc7296106df5310b17/media.mp3","summary":"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…","meta_description":"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…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":2839,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/iran-the-latest-6656846/episodes/trump-lifts-hormuz-naval-blockade-inside-iran-s-idiot-proxy-army/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/iran-the-latest-6656846/trump-lifts-hormuz-naval-blockade-inside-iran-s-idiot-proxy-army.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}