‘Strategically appalling’: Britain’s greatest military expert on Trump’s Iran war

Does the US war with Iran make strategic sense? No, says Britain’s foremost military expert and strategist, Sir Lawrence Freedman.

Talking to Roland Oliphant and Venetia Rainey on The Telegraph’s Iran: The Latest podcast, Sir Lawrence shares his damning verdict of Donald Trump’s military operation against the Iranian regime: no proper preparation and no thinking through the risks.

They also discuss the global oil crisis in the Strait of Hormuz, Israel’s attacks on Hezbollah in Lebanon, lessons (or not) from the Iraq war, and the impact on the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

Sir Lawrence is the emeritus professor of war studies at King’s College London and has spent half a century looking at wars, national security and defence doctrine. He is new book, On Strategists and Strategy, is a collection of essays covering the Iraq war, the importance of tactics and nuclear deterrence.

CONTRIBUTORS:

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

Venetia Rainey, co-host @venetiarainey

Sir Lawrence Freedman, emeritus professor of war studies King's College London @LawDavF

CONTENT REFERENCED:

A girls’ school in Iran was blown up. Here’s what locals say happened

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2026/03/10/girls-school-iran-blown-up-locals-say-happened/

The evidence that shows a US missile hit an Iranian girls’ school

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2026/03/10/evidence-shows-us-missile-hit-iranian-girls-school/

Con Coughlin: Putin has been the Iran war’s big winner

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/03/12/putin-iran-war-big-winner/

Tom Sharpe: The Strait of Hormuz has been opened by force before, and it can be again

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/03/12/strait-hormuz-us-navy-escort-tanker-war-iran-force-open/

Producer: Peter Shevlin

Executive Producer: Louisa Wells

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