No amount of diplomacy is going to stop Iran from launching its missiles and drones

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s demise was the story of a death foretold. The late supreme leader and his inner circle had long known they could be assassinated by their American or Israeli enemies. So they made elaborate preparations for that moment, devising a plan for Iran’s regime to run on autopilot and survive its own decapitation. Read our Chief Foreign Affairs Commentator, David Blair's full column here: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/03/01/the-islamic-republic-is-in-survival-mode/ ► Sign up to the Telegraph's free new daily newsletter, From the Editor, bringing you the latest news, features and analysis from the Telegraph newsroom: www.telegraph.co.uk/customer/secure/newsletter/from-the-editor/?WT.mc_id=tmgoff_youtube_telegraphmain ► Get the latest headlines: www.telegraph.co.uk?WT.mc_id=tmgoff_youtube_telegraphmain ► Stay ahead with a Telegraph digital subscription: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/customer/subscription/store?WT.mc_id=tmgoff_youtube_telegraphmain https://www.telegraph.co.uk/ and https://www.youtube.com/telegraph are websites of The Telegraph, the UK's best-selling quality daily newspaper providing news and analysis on UK and world events, business, sport, lifestyle and culture.