Drone team: Russia’s plan to arm Iran

The Intelligence from The Economist · May 8, 2026 · 27m

The Kremlin planned to provide Iran with unjammable drones, plus training in how to use them, according to leaked documents seen exclusively by The Economist. Meanwhile there are nearly 20,000 merchant seamen stranded in the Gulf. And a tribute to Craig Venter, dark horse of the Human Genome Project.

Watch extended clips from Economist Insider here.

Guests and host:

Shashank Joshi, defence editor

Joshua Spencer, Asia news editor

Geoffrey Carr, senior editor, science and technology

Rosie Blau, co-host of “The Intelligence”

Jason Palmer, co-host of “The Intelligence”

Topics covered:

Iran war…