In Episode 10 of the Syria Podcast, Mike Robinson is joined by Vanessa Beeley and, for her first appearance on UK Column, Myriam Charabaty. The discussion ranges across Iran, Lebanon, and the wider region, beginning with the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz and Donald Trump's increasingly erratic statements on Iran.
Both guests argue that the so-called ceasefires with Iran and Lebanon are not ceasefires at all, but operational pauses used by the United States and Israel to regroup after failing to achieve their stated military objectives. Myriam sets out why a second round of confrontation is likely to be heavier than the first, including the possible use of tactical or biological weapons on a limited scale, while ruling out any meaningful ground invasion of Iran itself.
The conversation also covers Iran's continued drone production, the attrition facing US forces across the region, the political pressures on Lebanon's government over normalisation with Israel, and the positioning of Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Turkey, the UAE, Kuwait, and Bahrain as the conflict develops. Vanessa and Myriam argue that the survival of the resistance axis is itself the measure of victory, and that American power in West Asia is now visibly failing.
