Q&A: What we know (and don't know) about Trump's Iran talks

March 26, 2026·32 min·3 clips

Who is left for Trump to negotiate with in Iran after so many leaders have been assassinated?

The format is deliberately plain. Manveen Rana and Luke Jones set this up as a listener Q&A about Iran, possible negotiations, and where the war now stands. The first question goes straight to power. If not the supreme leader, Hugh Smith asks, who can actually negotiate with Trump? The answer stays messy. The hosts point to conflicting reports about talks, a 15 point plan, and the possibility that no real negotiations are happening. Then the map gets awkward. The discussion moves to Karg Island and the Strait of Hormuz, where one proposed route seems stuck inside the blockade it is supposed to solve. Missiles bring the sharper anxiety. Eamon asks how long Iran can hold out against US and Israeli attacks. Andrew asks how many missiles are left and whether they can reach the UK. The episode refuses a fake clean number. Iran's missile fire appears to be slowing, and some read that as a sign that stocks are running low. Maybe. American and Israeli strikes have hit launch sites and reserves, but usable weapons still depend on whether Iran can get them into the air. The bleaker possibility is endurance. The Iranians warned that any war would be long, so a slower tempo may be strategy, not simple exhaustion. After the first shock-and-awe phase, the conflict may be shifting into a pace built to last. The ending stays unresolved. Even the hosts' dry joke about swapping recipes next month sits beside the point they keep making: nobody expects this to settle quickly.

As heard by us

A sober, clear briefing on Iran, missile stocks, and how little certainty the moment allows.

The discussion treats Iran less as a simple diplomatic test than as a problem of authority, capacity, and timing. Manveen Rana and Luke Jones keep circling back to who can speak for whom, what can still be shifted, and how much of the negotiation talk still has any force.

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Why you'd press play

When you want the Iran Q&A sorted into what the hosts can say, what stays uncertain, and what may still unfold.

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