The end of the ceasefire in Iran...or not?
The Story
The Times
3.9 • 1.6K Ratings
🗓️ 6 May 2026
⏱️ 30 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
This episode was recorded before the latest announcement from President Trump pausing 'Project Freedom'.
Earlier this week President Trump launched his latest move in the Iran war... 'Project Freedom' was designed to get ships through the Strait of Hormuz under US military escort. But Iran said the plan meant the US was breaking the ceasefire and the two countries began trading missiles again. The UAE’s been hit too, at a time when it's increasingly turning to Israel for help. So how will the new allegiances being formed in fire reshape the region? Where are negotiations up to? And is there any hope of peace?
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Guest: Michael Stephens, consultant and senior associate fellow at the Royal United Services Institute and fellow at RAND Europe.
Host: Manveen Rana.
Producers: Olivia Case and Sophie McNulty.
We want to hear from you - email: thestory@thetimes.com
Read more: Iran war latest: Hegseth says ceasefire holds but US ‘locked and loaded’
Further listening: Is political violence America’s new normal?
Clips: Fox, Hugh Hewitt / YouTube.
Photo: Getty Images.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | From The Times and the Sunday Times, this is the story. |
| 0:06.1 | I'm Manvine Rana. |
| 0:09.7 | If you're wondering what is happening in the war in the Middle East, you're not alone. |
| 0:16.4 | In the American corner, this was Donald Trump on Friday in Florida, talking to America's largest |
| 0:23.4 | retirement community about the war in Iran. |
| 0:26.8 | Look, we're winning so big. We're winning again. Their Air Force is gone. Their ships are gone. |
| 0:35.8 | If that sounded like the war was already won, President Trump soon changed his tune, in screaming headlines just two days later. President Trump announcing a new operation, this is Project Freedom, that will allow some of the ships that have been stuck in the Strait of Hormuz to be safely escorted out of that waterway. |
| 0:56.7 | Project Freedom, a whole new turn in the war. |
| 1:01.0 | The U.S. military promised 15,000 service personnel |
| 1:04.7 | were being used to support President Trump's attempt |
| 1:07.7 | to break the deadlock in the straight of Hormuz. |
| 1:11.7 | But will it work? |
| 1:13.7 | In an interview on Monday, President Trump didn't always seem convinced. |
| 1:19.3 | We'll see what happens. |
| 1:20.5 | Well, let's see what happens. |
| 1:22.6 | But I think we'll see what happens. |
| 1:25.9 | So we'll see what happens. |
| 1:27.4 | Iran, meanwhile, have called Project Freedom, Project Deadlock, and claim it's broken the terms |
| 1:34.0 | of the ceasefire. |
| 1:35.8 | With fresh Iranian attacks taking aim at the UAE, is the ceasefire over? |
| 1:42.4 | What role is the UAE now playing in this regional war? |
| 1:47.3 | And, as things stand, is there any hope for peace? |
... |
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