What an Ayatollah Means

Could Iran’s new leader be worse than the old one? On the 10th day of the US-Israeli war with Iran, Roland looks at why IRGC-favourite Mojtaba Khamenei has been chosen as the new supreme leader to take over from his assassinated father and what it means for the regime.

Plus, Venetia gets a view from the Gulf about the growing oil crisis, fears over dwindling interceptor missile stocks and how the war is dragging in countries there.

CONTRIBUTORS:

Venetia Rainey, co-host @venetiarainey

Roland Oliphant, Chief Foreign Affairs Commentator and co-host @RolandOliphant

Sascha Bruchmann, IISS Research Fellow for Defence and Military Analysis

CONTENT REFERENCED:

David Blair: New supreme leader shows folly of Trump’s war

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2026/03/09/new-iran-supreme-leader-folly-trump-iran-war/

Iran has already made its first big miscalculation of the war

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/03/09/iran-first-big-miscalculation-war/

Iran war, day ten: Everything you need to know

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2026/03/09/iran-war-day-ten-everything-you-need-to-know/

Producer: Peter Shevlin

Executive Producer: 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.