Two weeks in: A US Marine on Iran’s plan to win

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
@RolandOliphant


David Blair, chief foreign affairs commentator @davidblairdt


Akhtar Makoii, foreign correspondent @akhtar_makoii


Jonathan Hackett


CONTENT REFERENCED:


Mojtaba Khamenei has called for Iranian unity – but he may not be
alive


https://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
succeeding


https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/03/12/irans-leaders-every-reason-believe-succeeding/


Producer: Sophie O'Sullivan


Executive Producer: Louisa Wells


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