Iona Cleave

The front page of today's Daily Telegraph: Trump announces 11th-hour Iran truce #TomorrowsPapersToday

In the event of a US ground operation in Iran, all eyes are on Kharg Island, the regime's economic nerve centre. But in the battle for the Strait of Hormuz, another island is likely to be occupying Donald Trump's mind. My report today:

I write in @FT that Iran is playing the long game. In war, geography matters as much as technology. Iran commands the entire northern shore of the Gulf, looming large over energy fields on its southern shore and all that passes through its waters. Its Houthi allies are perched at the entrance to the Red Sea and along the passage to the Suez Canal; Iran is thus perfectly positioned to squeeze the global economy from both sides of the Arabian Peninsula. Those in command of Iran today are veterans of asymmetric wars in Iraq and Syria. They are now applying the same strategy to fighting the US on the battlefield of the global economy. Drones, short-range missiles and mines setting tankers and ports on fire can have the same effect IEDs had in Iraq, only with greater impact — disrupting global supply chains and sending oil prices higher. Iran could sustain its counteroffensive more easily and for far longer. Furthermore, a ceasefire alone will not lift the shadow of risk that Iran has imposed over the Gulf, which is now experiencing its nightmare scenario. That is why Iranian leaders are saying they will not accept a ceasefire until Washington fully grasps the global economic cost of waging this war. Businesses, investors and tourists may not return to the Gulf states if they assume that war could resume again. Unless the US is prepared to invade Iran to remove the Islamic republic’s leaders and then stay there to ensure stability and security, confidence in the Gulf will only return if the US and Iran arrive at a durable ceasefire. Iran says it will only accept a ceasefire with international guarantees for its sovereignty, which would probably mean a direct role for Russia and China. It may also demand compensation for war damages and a verifiable ceasefire in Lebanon. The US would then have to agree to some form of the nuclear deal it left on the table in Geneva in February and commit to lifting sanctions. Iran’s leaders entered this war with the goal of ensuring it will be the last one. Either it breaks them or radically changes the country’s circumstances. They are betting on surviving long enough and squeezing the global economy hard enough to realise that goal. Read full article ft.com/content/93b7b6…

Happy to share the latest. My views on the current battlefield dynamics and where the war stands in 2026. foreignaffairs.com/russia/ukraine…

ICE agents patrol the streets of US cities with military-grade weaponry. But less visible is the agency’s expanding arsenal of surveillance technologies. My report looks inside its technology war chest that is larger and more opaque than ever before telegraph.co.uk/us/news/2026/0…

I spent so long in a mocked-up inbox of Epstein’s emails this week that I tried to send a message from his account — this is the result, a long read on how he built his two networks, teenage girls and Nobel judges (gift link) telegraph.co.uk/gift/2394571a6…

I wrote about Raha Bahloulipour, one of the thousands of Iranians massacred by the regime last month. Her Letterboxd diary and online accounts allowed me to peer into her world.

My report yesterday, including an interview with Al-Hol's camp commander, who described the scenes of chaos inside, with Islamic State-affiliated detainees 'shooting, burning and looting'. 'Many escaped' between the withdrawal of Kurdish forces and the arrival of the Syrian army

"TRUMP: HELP IS ON THE WAY" @Akhtar_Makoii / @CleaveIona for @Telegraph Full Story: t.ly/55rOZ #DonaldTrump has told protesters in #Iran that "help is on its way" as he considers strikes on the #IslamicRepublic. #DailyTelegraph #TomorrowsPapersToday #IBPAPERS

Maduro's capture brought mixed reactions among Cubans, many want regime change - but not one forced on them by Washington, fearful of a Trump-led takeover A look into what happens next as Trump admin sets its sights on the beleaguered Caribbean nation: telegraph.co.uk/world-news/202…

My report on the shadow war being waged behind enemy lines to derail Putin’s war effort & what will happen if Ukraine is forced to cede land under Trump's peace deal “We will become an invisible army. We aren’t waiting for peace – we are preparing for liberation" @atesh_eng

16 sanctioned oil tankers fled Venezuela in defiance of a US navy blockade of the country The ships, laden with crude and fuel oil, left the country’s waters in 'dark mode' and were spoofing their locations to appear in the Baltic Sea and Nigeria telegraph.co.uk/world-news/202…

"HORROR ON NEW YEAR'S EVE" @CleaveIona / @SEJHudson for @Telegraph Full Story: t.ly/kl71O A fire tore through #LeConstellation (a #SkiResort) killing at least 40 people and injuring 115 in #CransMontana, #Switzerland. #DailyTelegraph #TomorrowsPapersToday #IBPAPERS

CIA taught Ukraine how to target Achilles heel of Putin’s oil refineries telegraph.co.uk/world-news/202…

The @MoD_Estonia has installed its first concrete bunker, designed to withstand a direct hit by Russian artillery. The @Telegraph was given a first look inside what will be a network of 600 fortified structures to defend Nato’s eastern flank from Moscow: telegraph.co.uk/world-news/202…

Anti-graft agents have raided the office of Zelensky’s closest political ally Yermak, who leads Kyiv’s negotiating team, as part of a $100m corruption scandal It has become the most challenging test of Zelensky’s leadership's since Russia's 2022 invasion telegraph.co.uk/world-news/202…

Vladimir Putin goes after his own war cheerleaders: my report in the @Telegraph Analysts had warned the Kremlin’s tolerance would soon run out its Z-bloggers – that time might be now. “Once this machinery of repression starts, it cannot stop,” @vkaramurza telegraph.co.uk/world-news/202…

“We are losing Pokrovsk,” came the warning call of a Ukrainian MP on Tuesday morning. Kyiv's military, however, insists the fighting is far from over. The latest on the frontline city bearing the brunt of Russia's onslaught in eastern Ukraine: telegraph.co.uk/world-news/202…

With all eyes on Pokrovsk, worrying developments are taking place further north in the besieged city of Kupiansk, including increasing reports of war crimes committed against its remaining civilians. My report here:

We will return to rebuild Strip, say Gazan students given UK scholarships Was a real pleasure to meet such incredible people who - against all odds - made it to safety to study telegraph.co.uk/world-news/202…