Jawad Iqbal is a broadcaster and ex-television news executive. Jawad is a former Visiting Senior Fellow in the Institute of Global Affairs at the LSE
Lindsay and Craig Foreman, the British couple imprisoned in Iran on spying charges, have issued a desperate plea for help, saying they feel abandoned by the UK. The pair want the Prime Minister, Sir Keir Starmer, to ‘step up’, describing how they feel ‘let down, alone and completely frustrated’. It was reckless, and simply asking
Iran’s most powerful leaders are being picked off one by one by Israeli and American military strikes. The latest scalp claimed by Israel is Ali Larjani, Iran’s security chief, and widely believed to be the most powerful figure in the present Iranian leadership. The reported killing comes just days after Larjani went on a public walkabout in Tehran,
Sir Keir Starmer wants everyone to know how sorry, really sorry, he is for giving Lord Mandelson the job of Ambassador to the United States. On a visit to Belfast yesterday, the Prime Minister issued his latest and perhaps most abject mea culpa so far. It came just hours after the publication of embarrassing government
Iran threatened harsh retaliation in the wake of the American-Israeli attacks that killed the country’s supreme leader and many of its senior commanders. Its response consisted of a barrage of missiles aimed at Israel. So far, so predictable. Yet, at the same time, Tehran chose to direct its firepower at neighbouring Gulf states, countries that
President Donald Trump was crystal clear at the start of the military action against Iran that it was all about regime change. The United States, in co-ordination with Israel, would do its bit by targeting Iran’s leadership and command structure – but it was up to ordinary Iranians to rise up and finish the job.
More than 13 people may have taken their own lives as a result of the Post Office Horizon IT scandal. These are the first findings from the public inquiry into what has been called the worst miscarriage of justice in UK history. Sir Wyn Williams, chairman of the inquiry, said that a further 59 victims
India’s Hindu nationalist rulers are waging war on the English language. They like to claim it is the language of colonial subjugation. Amit Shah, the home minister and a powerful ally of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has predicted that the day is coming when Indians who speak English will feel ‘ashamed’ to do so. In his
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader, has made his first public comments since the ceasefire with Israel took hold. Khamenei, who has ultimate authority over all major decisions in the country, has not been seen or heard from in more than a week. His pre-recorded speech, aired on state television, is meant to put an end
Mark Rutte, the Nato secretary-general, has two jobs. The first is to lead the 32-member alliance at a time of unprecedented threat and challenges. His other equally significant task is to keep America, and in particular President Donald Trump, on side. Rutte’s ability to sweet talk Trump is one of the reasons why he got
It is a fair bet that Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s ‘so-called supreme leader’ in the words of president Trump, didn’t expect it to end like this. Holed up in a bunker somewhere in Tehran, exchanging messages with a small and ever-diminishing group of allies, and impotently raging against the West, namely America and Israel. Khamenei is no
Iran’s crumbling regime is fighting a war to the death on two fronts. The first and foremost is the conflict with Israel. It is safe to say that the Israelis – so far at least – are winning comfortably. The other conflict is the fight the mullahs are waging against their own people. The outcome of that
Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) are champions of Europe for the first time in their history. They demolished Inter Milan 5-0 in the Champions League Final in Munich. Football clubs have become the playthings of autocratic nation states with bottomless pockets Forget the Premier League and the sporting abomination that is the revamped Fifa Club World Cup.
No one seriously expected Emma Raducanu to beat Iga Swiatek in her second round match at the French Open. Swiatek, a four-time champion in Paris, is nicknamed the ‘Queen of Clay’, having won 37 of her 39 matches at Roland Garros. Even so, few will have anticipated the scale of the drubbing that took place.
This time last year Britain’s top cyber spy warned that China represents an ‘epoch-defining challenge’. Anne Keast-Butler, the director of GCHQ, accused China of defying international norms and said that the country was the agency’s ‘top priority’. Beijing has been blamed for a string of cyber attacks on British institutions, including hacking the Ministry of
Should football fans be allowed to have a pint in the stands during a game? Luke Charters, the Labour MP for York Outer, certainly thinks so, and is calling for trials to see what impact lifting the ban on booze in the stands might have. ‘The days of hooliganism are gone’, he said. ‘Fans of
India and Pakistan – two nuclear armed states – have a history of fighting wars. Tensions have been growing between the two nations after last month’s deadly terror attack in the Indian-administered part of Kashmir, with the drum beat of a deadly military confrontation growing louder by the day. On Tuesday night, India an attack
Britain and India have struck a landmark free trade deal, the biggest agreement of its kind since Brexit. It will see tariffs slashed on cosmetics and medical devices and could potentially boost growth by up to £5 billion a year. This deal has been three years in the making and follows intensive negotiations in recent
What will it take for Labour and the Tories to realise how bad their situation is? Reform’s by-election victory in Runcorn and Helsby is symbolic of a much wider success, with support for Westminster’s two traditional parties falling through the floor. Britain’s traditional two-party electoral system has morphed into a multi-party system because voters are
The new boss of the National Theatre has a big job on her hands. The combination of Covid, funding cuts and rising costs has left it struggling financially. Audiences remain stubbornly below pre-pandemic levels, with plenty of theatregoers complaining about high ticket prices for mediocre productions. Bubbling away is the eternal question of the National’s role
Liz Truss, the shortest-serving prime minister in British history, refuses to go away quietly. Her latest barnstorming idea is to launch her very own ‘uncensorable’ social media platform to counter the mainstream media and protect free speech in Britain. Truss told a cryptocurrency conference, held in Bedford, that the platform would launch this summer. Honestly,
