Iran: Neither war nor Peace, Ukraine’s Lifeline, Starmer: “Just a Scratch”?
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Issued on: 24/04/2026 - 20:22
48:22 min Share Play (49:28 min) From the show
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2 min
In a week where a stalemate appears to have developed after nearly two months of asymmetric conflict between the US and Iran, President Trump’s Truth Social posts have swung between belligerent maximalism and breezy deal-making—one minute suggesting a within-reach deal, and that Iranian forces would personally help their enemy confiscate what he called its “nuclear dust” and move it to America.
The next moment, threats of nationwide annihilation. “No more Mr. Nice Guy,” he warned.
Meanwhile, hopes for direct talks in Pakistan came and went, with a no-show on both sides. Iran’s regime-aligned media released a new propaganda video entitled Goodbye Oil, an ominous—but now familiar—Lego-style cartoon warning, threatening to devastate the Gulf States if Washington resumed its strikes.
President Trump resumed the ceasefire hours before it was due to expire, and it is no longer time-stamped.
Meanwhile, in the Arabian Sea, a de facto double blockade continues—no longer just a war of words—with U.S. forces firing on an Iranian-linked vessel before seizing control of it, while Iranian boats attacked three merchant ships and escorted them to the Iranian coast.
It has been a week in which Lebanon accused Israel of a war crime, a so-called triple-tap strike that led to the killing of a journalist and seriously wounded another.
Amal Khalil, a reporter with the country’s pro-Hezbollah newspaper Al Akhbar, and photojournalist Zeinab Faraj had fled their car in southern Lebanon after an Israeli drone struck a vehicle on the road in front of them. They took shelter in a nearby house, which was then reportedly bombed by an Israeli fighter jet. Lebanese officials allege that the IDF then blocked paramedics in the rescue effort by using stun grenades and directing gunfire at the ambulances rushing to help. Israel has denied obstructing the rescue and says it does not target journalists. This comes as Israeli and Lebanese officials met for a second round of ceasefire talks at the White House, aimed at expanding Israel’s ten-day truce with Hezbollah, which has led to a three-week extension.
It has been a week the British PM can be relieved to have made it through, still standing. Sir Keir Starmer, the man who vowed to “Steer Calmer” waters in the UK after what he called the chaos, cronyism, scandal, and sleaze of the Conservatives, is now mired in the same issues on his own doorstep. Questions have arisen over the lengths he went to in ensuring that Peter Mandelson was chosen as US ambassador, despite his questionable ties to the convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein. Concerns remain over why checks and balances were so disregarded in the rush to place a wily operator in President Trump’s orbit. An exclusive in The Guardian last week revealed that Mandelson had not been cleared by the UK’s security vetting process. Keir Starmer blamed and sacked a Foreign Office civil servant, Sir Ollie Robins, for not informing him. Only Sir Ollie said it was not his job to do so.
Produced by Gavin Lee, Antonia Cimini, Daniel Whittington, Alessandro Xenos.
By:
Gavin LEE
Video by:
Gavin LEE
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