Iran warns Trump: ‘We’ll take war global if you bomb us again’

Iran has threatened to spread the war beyond the Middle East if Donald Trump starts bombing the country again. Is it an empty threat or should we be worried? Jonathan Hackett, a former US Marine Corps interrogator and special operations intelligence officer, joins the podcast again to discuss the state of Iran’s military capabilities, their Mosaic Doctrine and what next for the war with Venetia Rainey, Sophia Yan and Roland Oliphant. They also discuss reports today that the US wanted to install former president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in Ali Khamenei’s place, news of secret Israeli bases in the Iraqi desert, and the shady Iran-linked group known as HAYI behind a series of attacks on Jews in London. Plus, as Vladimir Putin visits Xi Jinping in China, Sophia looks at how the energy crisis caused by the war has boosted Moscow by forcing the UK and US to drop sanctions on Russian oil, and Venetia looks at JD Vance’s latest comments on peace deal talks. Highlights Iran warns Trump: ‘We’ll take war global if you bomb us again’ A US Marine on Iran’s terror war against the West CONTRIBUTORS: Venetia Rainey, co-host and executive producer @venetiarainey Roland Oliphant, co-host and chief foreign affairs analyst @RolandOliphant Sophia Yan, co-host and senior foreign correspondent @sophia_yan Jonathan Hackett, former US Marine Corps @jonathanhackett CONTENT REFERENCED: Akhtar Makoii: Iran’s plan to strike back in second round of war https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2026/05/19/iran-plan-strike-back-second-round-war/ Badenoch: PM’s sanctions U-turn will fund killing of Ukrainian soldiers https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2026/05/20/starmer-eases-sanctions-on-russian-oil/ 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 #Trump #MiddleEast #IsraelIran #IranWar #DonaldTrump #Putin #XiJinping #Russia #China #UkraineWar #JDVance #WorldNews #Geopolitics #MilitaryAnalysis #USPolitics #IranMilitary #Israel #LondonNews #Podcast