Gulf gets laser-guided missiles to fight drones & Iran executions soar

Executions have soared inside Iran, with new Amnesty data today showing more than 2,000 people were given the death penalty in 2025. Roland Oliphant speaks to Iranian journalist in exile Maryam Mazrooei about the “bloodthirsty” regime’s latest tactic to scare citizens into silence amid the war with the US and Israel. She also explains why the mood inside the country is increasingly dark amid a growing economic disaster, with mass layoffs and no internet. Plus, the UK has fitted new laser-guided missiles to its Typhoon jets on patrol in the Gulf. Venetia Rainey talks to acting defence editor Tom Cotterill about how they have been designed to talk on Iranian Shahed drones and why they were developed so fast. Tom also talks about his recent trip to the Falklands, where locals dismissed rumours that the US may drop its backing for British sovereignty over the Islands as punishment for not joining Donald Trump’s war against Iran. Highlights Gulf gets new laser-guided missiles to help smash Iranian drones ‘Bloodthirsty’ Iran regime executions hit all-time high as economy freefalls CONTRIBUTORS: Venetia Rainey, co-host and executive producer @venetiarainey Roland Oliphant, co-host and chief foreign affairs analyst @RolandOliphant Tom Cotterill, acting defence editor @TomCotterillX Maryam Mazrooie, journalist @MaryammazrooeiS CONTENT REFERENCED: Trump: There won’t be anything left of Iran if it refuses peace deal https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2026/05/17/trump-wont-be-anything-left-of-iran-if-refuses-peace-deal/ Typhoon jets equipped with cheaper missiles to fend off Iranian attacks https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/05/17/typhoon-jets-new-missiles-iran-attacks/ Tom Cotterill: Trump is using us as a pawn, says Falklands chief https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2026/05/10/falkland-islands-trump-is-using-us-as-a-pawn/ David Blair: Iran’s regime is confident of victory. It may be overplaying its hand https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/05/17/irans-regime-confident-of-victory-it-may-overplaying-hand/ Amnesty: Executions surge to highest recorded figure in 44 years https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2026/05/executions-surge-highest-recorded-figure-44-years/ Producer: Peter Shevlin Executive Producers: Venetia Rainey & Louisa Wells ► Sign up to the Telegraph's free new daily newsletter, From the Editor, bringing you the latest news, features and analysis from the Telegraph newsroom: www.telegraph.co.uk/customer/secure/newsletter/from-the-editor/?WT.mc_id=tmgoff_youtube_telegraphmain ► Get the latest headlines: www.telegraph.co.uk?WT.mc_id=tmgoff_youtube_telegraphmain ► Stay ahead with a Telegraph digital subscription: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/customer/subscription/store?WT.mc_id=tmgoff_youtube_telegraphmain https://www.telegraph.co.uk/ and https://www.youtube.com/telegraph are websites of The Telegraph, the UK's best-selling quality daily newspaper providing news and analysis on UK and world events, business, sport, lifestyle and culture. #Iran #IranExecutions #DeathPenalty #AmnestyInternational #MiddleEast #IranNews #IsraelIran #USIran #RolandOliphant #MaryamMazrooei #HumanRights #IranProtests #ShahedDrones #UKDefence #TyphoonJets #LaserGuidedMissiles #Falklands #DonaldTrump #Geopolitics #WorldNews #DefenceNews #BBCPodcast #CurrentAffairs #MilitaryNews #Podcast