To understand Operation Epic Fury you have to go back seventy-three years. Back to a CIA officer with a suitcase full of cash in Tehran. Back to the coup that toppled Iran's democratically elected Prime Minister Mohammad Mosadek in 1953 and handed his oil fields back to the West. Back to the revolution of 1979, the hostage crisis, the Iran-Iraq war, the Beirut bombing, Iran-Contra, September 11th, the axis of evil speech, the secret nuclear facilities at Nuh-tawnz and Arak, Stuxnet, the assassinations of Iranian nuclear scientists, the JCPOA, Trump's withdrawal from the nuclear deal, maximum pressure, the shadow war between Iran and Israel, and the moment American intelligence confirmed Iran was two weeks away from a nuclear weapon.

This bonus episode covers the full seventy-three year history of the United States and Iran in a single factual and neutral briefing. No spin. No agenda. Just the history that every listener needs to understand why the bombs fell on February 28th, 2026.

If you have ever asked why Iran and America hate each other, this is the episode for you.

Iran US history explained, Operation Epic Fury context, 1953 CIA coup Iran, Iran nuclear program history, JCPOA explained, Iran hostage crisis 1979, Iran Iraq war, Khomeini revolution, Trump Iran deal, Iran war background, Middle East history podcast, breaking news podcast, geopolitics, daily news podcast.

Iran War Day 7. Trump declares he will personally choose Iran's next Supreme Leader. Iran threatens to strike Israel's Dimona nuclear facility. Kurdish forces mass at Iran's border. The Assembly of Experts bombed while electing a new Supreme Leader.

Operation Epic Fury entered its seventh day on Thursday March 5th 2026 with President Trump making the most explosive statement of the entire US Iran war. Trump told reporters the United States will choose Iran's next Supreme Leader alongside Iran, that frontrunner Mojtaba Khamenei is unacceptable, and that the entire operation was triggered because American intelligence confirmed Iran was just two weeks away from building a nuclear weapon. The IAEA had discovered hidden highly enriched uranium in Iran just one day before Operation Epic Fury began.

Iran's missile attacks across the Middle East have dropped by ninety percent. CENTCOM Commander Admiral Brad Cooper confirmed Iran's navy has been wiped out and Iran's missile production facilities are being systematically demolished. The total financial cost of the US Iran war has now crossed five billion dollars — approximately one billion dollars every single day.

Iran threatened to strike Israel's Dimona nuclear reactor if the United States and Israel pursue regime change in Tehran. A senior Iranian cleric called for Trump's blood in a Friday sermon broadcast on Iranian state television. Kurdish forces are massing at Iran's northern border preparing a possible ground incursion into Iran — the first ground force to enter Iranian territory since the Iran Iraq war of the nineteen eighties. The Assembly of Experts was bombed by Israel while its members were in session electing a new Supreme Leader. A NATO member's air defenses fired on an Iranian ballistic missile over Turkish airspace. China deployed a special envoy to begin Middle East mediation. And beneath all the public defiance from Tehran, Iran's own intelligence operatives secretly reached out to the CIA about ending the US Iran war.

War powers resolutions in both the House and Senate failed, giving Trump full Congressional acquiescence to continue Operation Epic Fury indefinitely.

Daily coverage of the US Iran war, Operation Epic Fury, Iran nuclear program, Iran retaliation, Middle East conflict 2026, Trump Iran policy, Israel Iran war, Khamenei successor, Iran regime change, breaking news podcast.

Day six of Operation Epic Fury and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth stood at the Pentagon podium and delivered one of the most striking military statements in recent American history. America is winning — decisively, devastatingly, and without mercy. The Iranian Air Force is no more. Built for nineteen ninety-six. Destroyed in twenty twenty-six. Twenty Iranian vessels have been sunk. Two thousand strikes have been carried out inside Iran — double the pace of Shock and Awe in Iraq in two thousand and three.

The death toll inside Iran has crossed one thousand and forty-five confirmed dead. The Iranian Navy frigate IRIS Dena was torpedoed and sunk by a United States submarine off the coast of Sri Lanka — the first torpedo attack by an American sub since the Second World War. The CIA is actively arming Kurdish rebel groups inside Iran. Spain was threatened with trade sanctions and reversed its refusal to allow use of its bases within twenty-four hours. France deployed the aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle. Greece deployed F-16s to Cyprus. Israel launched a ground incursion into southern Lebanon. Lebanon's government formally called on Hezbollah to disarm. And Iran's state television announced a new Supreme Leader is close to being chosen.

This is day six of the US-Iran war. New episodes every day. Subscribe so you never miss an update.

Operation Epic Fury day six, Iranian Air Force destroyed, IRIS Dena sunk, US submarine torpedo, Iran death toll 1000, Pete Hegseth winning, CIA Kurdish rebels Iran, Spain US bases, Charles de Gaulle Middle East, Lebanon disarm Hezbollah, Iran new Supreme Leader, US Iran war 2026, breaking news podcast, geopolitics daily news.

Day five of Operation Epic Fury and the single most consequential development of the entire conflict so far has arrived. Iran has formally closed the Strait of Hormuz, cutting off one fifth of the world's daily oil supply. Trump has ordered the United States Navy to reopen it by force. Brent crude has surged above ninety dollars a barrel. QatarEnergy has halted liquefied natural gas production. Iraq has been forced to stop oil exports entirely.

The death toll inside Iran has risen to seven hundred and eighty-seven. The Minab school airstrike death toll has climbed to one hundred and sixty-eight children. A UNESCO World Heritage Site in Tehran has been damaged. The United States Embassy in Riyadh was struck by Iranian drones. Hezbollah has declared open war. Secretary of State Marco Rubio warned the hardest hits on Iran are yet to come. Trump refused to rule out ground troops. And behind closed doors, Steve Witkoff revealed exactly why the Geneva nuclear talks collapsed days before the bombs fell.

This is day five of the US-Iran war. New episodes every day. Subscribe so you never miss an update.

Operation Epic Fury, Strait of Hormuz closed 2026, US Navy Hormuz, oil price ninety dollars, Iran death toll, Minab school airstrike, Hezbollah open war, UNESCO Tehran bombed, US Embassy Riyadh struck, Marco Rubio Iran, Iran war day five, Middle East war 2026, breaking news podcast, geopolitics daily news.

It is day four of Operation Epic Fury and the scale of this conflict is now without modern precedent. The United States has confirmed more than one thousand targets inside Iran have been struck using over twenty different weapons systems — the most comprehensive application of American military force since the invasion of Iraq in 2003. Six American service members are now dead, three more than yesterday, including three pilots killed in a friendly fire incident over Kuwait. The financial cost has already exceeded one point four billion dollars and is climbing by hundreds of millions every day.

Inside Iran, the race to choose a new Supreme Leader is underway with no clear frontrunner. The temporary three-person leadership council is deeply divided. Iran's own Foreign Minister admitted that military units are firing at targets without central command approval. Oil is trading above eighty-five dollars a barrel. The Strait of Hormuz remains effectively closed. A commercial oil tanker was struck in international waters. And behind closed doors, back-channel negotiations continue through Oman even as the bombs keep falling.

This is day four of the US-Iran war. New episodes every day. Subscribe so you never miss an update.

Operation Epic Fury, US Iran war 2026, Iran new Supreme Leader, Iran succession crisis, Strait of Hormuz closed, oil price surge, US military cost Iran war, Iran nuclear program destroyed, Iran retaliation, Middle East war 2026, six Americans killed, friendly fire Kuwait, Iran negotiations Oman, breaking news podcast, geopolitics daily news.

It is day three of Operation Epic Fury and the conflict has dramatically widened. Hezbollah has entered the war, firing rockets into northern Israel for the first time since the November 2024 ceasefire, and Israel has responded by bombing Beirut. A British military base at RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus was struck by a drone in what would be the first attack on British sovereign territory since the Second World War. United States Air Force B-2 Spirit stealth bombers conducted overnight strikes against Iran's most deeply buried nuclear facilities. The total death toll inside Iran has reached five hundred and fifty-five confirmed dead. Global oil markets surged toward ninety dollars a barrel as the Strait of Hormuz effectively closed to commercial shipping. Stock markets tumbled. At least fourteen thousand flights remain disrupted across the region. Iran's Foreign Minister admitted some military units may be operating without central command authority. And behind closed doors, back-channel negotiations are reportedly underway through Oman even as the bombs continue to fall.

This is day three of the US-Iran war. New episodes every day. Subscribe so you never miss an update.

Operation Epic Fury, Hezbollah war 2026, B-2 bombers Iran, Beirut bombing 2026, RAF Akrotiri attack, Strait of Hormuz closed, oil price surge 2026, US Iran war, Iran nuclear sites, Iran retaliation, Middle East war 2026, Iran death toll, Minab school airstrike, global markets Iran war, breaking news podcast, geopolitics daily news.

On March 1st, 2026, the world woke up to news that changed everything. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was dead, killed in the opening hours of Operation Epic Fury. In this episode we cover the full picture of day two. The confirmed death of Khamenei and forty senior Iranian commanders including the Chief of Staff, the Defense Minister, and the head of Iran's covert nuclear weapons programme. The sinking of an Iranian warship in the Gulf of Oman. Iran's retaliatory campaign, Operation True Promise 4, which launched over seven hundred missiles and drones across the region targeting Israel, Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait, Oman, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE. Three American service members killed. The one hundred and forty-eight children killed in the Minab school airstrike. Celebrations and gunfire on the streets of Iran. And the political earthquake in Washington as Congress prepares a war powers vote.

This is day two of the US-Iran war. New episodes every day. Subscribe so you never miss an update.

Khamenei dead, Operation Epic Fury, US Iran war 2026, Iran nuclear program, Iran missile strikes, Trump Iran, Israel Iran war, Middle East conflict 2026, Iran retaliation, Operation True Promise 4, Minab school airstrike, USS Abraham Lincoln, Iran war day two, breaking news podcast, geopolitics, daily news podcast.

On February 28th, 2026, the United States and Israel launched Operation Epic Fury, a massive coordinated military offensive against Iran. President Trump announced major combat operations in an eight-minute video, declaring that the United States would destroy Iran's missile capabilities, annihilate its navy, and eliminate its nuclear program once and for all.

In this episode we cover everything from day one. Where the strikes hit. Which Iranian cities experienced explosions. What happened to Supreme Leader Khamenei. How Iran fired back with dozens of ballistic missiles targeting Israel, Bahrain, Qatar, and United States military bases across the Middle East. The political earthquake in Washington as Congress debated whether Trump had the legal authority to launch the operation. And the global reaction from the United Kingdom, Australia, Qatar, and Iran's exiled royal family.

This is where the story begins. Episode one of Epic Fury, your daily briefing on the US-Iran war.

New episodes every day. Subscribe so you never miss an update.

Operation Epic Fury, US Iran war 2026, Iran nuclear program, Iran missile strikes, Trump Iran, Israel Iran war, Tehran bombing, Khamenei, Middle East conflict 2026, World War 3, US military news, Iran retaliation, breaking news podcast, geopolitics, daily news podcast.

Day eight of Operation Epic Fury and President Trump posted four words that defined the entire second week of this war. Make Iran Great Again. In the same breath he demanded unconditional surrender from Tehran, promised to personally help select Iran's next Supreme Leader, and declared there will be no deal of any kind until Iran can no longer fight.

Iran said it will never capitulate. Its security chief threatened to kill and capture thousands of American troops if they set foot on Iranian soil. Its deputy foreign minister warned European nations they will become legitimate targets if they join the conflict. And Iran launched its twenty-third wave of strikes against Israel and United States military targets across the Gulf.

Russia has been providing Iran with intelligence on the locations of American warships and aircraft. Britain pledged fighter jets, helicopters, and a destroyer to defend Saudi Arabia. The United States Treasury reversed its own Russia sanctions policy within seventy-two hours to allow India to buy Russian oil after Gulf energy supplies were cut off. Qatar's Energy Minister warned the war could bring down the economies of the world. Brent crude hit ninety-one dollars a barrel. South Korea's stock market suffered its worst crash since two thousand and eight. Three hundred and thirty thousand people are displaced across the Middle East. And the United States has now struck more than three thousand targets inside Iran in eight days — more targets than any military campaign in recent decades.

Two sides. Two absolute positions. No diplomatic off-ramp in sight.

Daily coverage of the US Iran war, Operation Epic Fury, Iran unconditional surrender, Trump Iran Supreme Leader, Russia Iran intelligence, UK defend Saudi Arabia, Iran war economic impact, oil prices Iran war, breaking news podcast, geopolitics, Middle East war 2026.

Day nine of Operation Epic Fury and Iran made the most consequential decision of the entire conflict so far. The Assembly of Experts, under direct pressure from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, named Mojtaba Khamenei as the new Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic. He is fifty-six years old. He has never held elected office. He has never given a press conference. And he is the son of the man killed by American and Israeli bombs nine days ago. For the first time in its forty-seven year history, the Islamic Republic has produced a dynastic succession. The revolution that overthrew a monarchy has become one.

Donald Trump has already said Mojtaba Khamenei is unacceptable. Iran's Foreign Minister appeared on American television and said nobody knows who the new Supreme Leader will be, on the same morning Assembly members were telling state media a decision had been made. Iran's President personally apologised to neighbouring countries for Iranian strikes, then his office said the remarks had been misinterpreted. Iran launched its twenty-seventh wave of strikes. Two Israeli soldiers were killed in Lebanon, the first Israeli military deaths of the conflict. Human Rights Watch formally called the Minab school airstrike a potential war crime. Amazon Web Services data centres in Bahrain and the UAE were struck by Iranian drones. A water desalination plant in Bahrain was hit. Russia confirmed providing intelligence to Iran on American warship locations. And Trump attended the dignified transfer at Dover Air Force Base of the six Americans killed in this war, standing in silence as six flag-draped caskets were carried off a transport aircraft.

Day nine. The new Supreme Leader of Iran is the son of the man America killed. And this war has no end in sight.

Daily coverage of the US Iran war, Operation Epic Fury, Mojtaba Khamenei Supreme Leader, Iran dynastic succession, Trump Iran unacceptable, Iran war day nine, Human Rights Watch war crimes Iran, Russia Iran intelligence warships, Dover Air Force Base six Americans, breaking news podcast, geopolitics, Middle East war 2026.

Day twelve of Operation Epic Fury and the Pentagon promised its most intense day of strikes yet. Then everything escalated at once. Iran laid naval mines in the Strait of Hormuz — exploiting a critical gap in American minesweeping capability. A drone struck the American diplomatic facility in Baghdad. A fire broke out at one of the Gulf's largest oil refineries in the UAE. And Iran's top national security official publicly warned Trump to be careful not to be eliminated himself.

Defense Secretary Hegseth refused to say when the war would end, contradicting Trump's short-term excursion messaging from the day before. The Defense Intelligence Agency leaked an assessment that Iran moved its enriched uranium before the strikes began and the programme has only been set back by months — not years. The CIA immediately disputed it. Lebanon's president offered direct talks with Israel. Israel rejected them. Germany warned it has six weeks of gas reserves. South Korea activated fuel rationing for the first time since the 1970s. And the Trump administration quietly unlocked Russian oil exports to cope with the energy crisis from a war it is still fighting.

Day twelve. The Pentagon called it the most intense day yet. Iran called it their heaviest operation since the war began. Both were right.

Day eleven of Operation Epic Fury and President Trump delivered the most contradictory set of signals of the entire conflict. Speaking to House Republicans at his Doral resort in Miami, he said the war would end pretty quickly and described it as a short-term excursion. Then at his first press conference since the strikes began, he said America had not won enough, that there was more to do, and that ultimate victory was the goal. He threatened to hit Iran twenty times harder if it tried to close the Strait of Hormuz. And Bloomberg reported that Trump is weighing the deployment of American special forces on the ground inside Iran to physically seize its stockpile of highly enriched uranium — because airstrikes alone cannot reach it.

Iran's deputy foreign minister stated ceasefire conditions for the first time. China, Russia, and France have all contacted Iran about ending the war. Russia congratulated Mojtaba Khamenei on becoming Supreme Leader and reaffirmed unwavering support for Tehran. Putin offered Europe long-term Russian energy deals as gas prices nearly doubled. Canada's Prime Minister refused to rule out military participation. The G7 called for de-escalation without condemning the strikes. Human Rights Watch accused Israel of using white phosphorus in residential areas of Lebanon. Oil dropped from one hundred and ten to one hundred dollars after Trump's remarks but remains fifty-seven percent above pre-war levels. An eighth American service member was confirmed dead. And the conflict has now killed people from at least twelve countries.

Day eleven. Trump says it is ending soon. But America's special forces may be heading into Iran.

Operation Epic Fury day eleven, Trump special forces Iran ground invasion, Trump twenty times harder Hormuz, Iran ceasefire conditions deputy foreign minister, Russia congratulates Mojtaba Khamenei, white phosphorus Lebanon Human Rights Watch, oil prices one hundred dollars Iran war, breaking news podcast, geopolitics, Middle East war 2026.

Iran has fired more than two thousand drones at American military bases, Gulf states, and Israel since Operation Epic Fury began. But what exactly are these weapons. Where did they come from. How do they work. And how is America fighting back.

This bonus episode covers the full story of Iran's drone arsenal from the beginning. The Shahed-136, the twenty thousand dollar one-way attack drone that costs America millions to intercept every single time. The jet-powered Shahed-238 designed to destroy the radar systems that stop the slower drones. The Mohajer reconnaissance drones that find the targets. The Karrar, the Arash, and the reverse-engineered derivatives of captured American stealth aircraft. The drone attrition trap that Iran spent decades designing and that America is now caught inside. The LUCAS programme, America's direct copy of the Shahed-136 now being used against Iran. Ukraine's four years of hard-won counter-drone expertise now being deployed in the Persian Gulf. And the layered defence strategy that America and its allies are building right now to close the gap.

No technical background needed. Just everything you need to understand the weapon at the centre of this war.

Iran drone arsenal explained, Shahed 136 explained, Iran Shahed drone Operation Epic Fury, LUCAS drone America copies Iran, drone attrition trap explained, THAAD Patriot stockpile crisis, Ukraine drone experts Gulf, Iran drone war podcast, breaking news podcast, geopolitics, Middle East war 2026.

Day ten of Operation Epic Fury and the Islamic Republic made its most consequential decision since the revolution. The Assembly of Experts appointed Mojtaba Khamenei — son of the man killed by American and Israeli bombs ten days ago — as the third Supreme Leader in Iran's forty-seven year history. The revolution that overthrew a monarchy has become one.

Every major Iranian institution pledged allegiance within hours. The IRGC vowed to obey until the last drop of their blood. Trump said if Mojtaba does not get approval from the United States he will not last long. Israel killed the man appointed to serve the incoming Supreme Leader before the announcement was even made. And Iran's Foreign Minister rejected any ceasefire on live American television.

Oil hit one hundred and ten dollars a barrel. United States crude futures jumped twenty-five percent in a single morning. The Dow dropped more than one thousand points. South Korea capped fuel prices for the first time in thirty years. Seven Gulf oil states are weeks away from running out of storage capacity. The International Energy Agency signalled it may release strategic reserves. Qatar arrested an IRGC intelligence cell collecting targeting data on American military infrastructure on Qatari soil. A seventh American service member was confirmed dead. And the United Nations declared a major humanitarian emergency affecting twenty-five million people.

Day ten. The son of the Supreme Leader is the Supreme Leader. And this war has no end in sight.

Operation Epic Fury day ten, Mojtaba Khamenei Supreme Leader, Iran oil prices one hundred ten dollars, Iran dynastic succession, Trump Iran not last long, oil markets crash Iran war, South Korea fuel prices cap, UN humanitarian emergency Iran, breaking news podcast, geopolitics, Middle East war 2026.

Day thirteen of Operation Epic Fury and the question America had been avoiding for nearly two weeks finally got an answer. The Pentagon's preliminary investigation found that a United States Tomahawk cruise missile killed the children of the Shajareh Tayyebeh Primary School in Minab. One hundred and sixty-five dead. Most of them girls aged seven to twelve. The strike happened because Central Command was working from satellite imagery thirteen years out of date. The school had been separated from the adjacent IRGC base since 2016. Nobody updated the target list.

Trump spent two weeks blaming Iran. Then told reporters on Wednesday he did not know about the report. Republican Senator John Kennedy said it was a terrible, terrible mistake. Then added: the kids are still dead.

While that story broke, Trump told Axios there was practically nothing left to bomb in Iran. Israel's defence minister said the war had no time limit. Iran's president demanded compensation and international guarantees as prerequisites for any ceasefire. Trump's own Middle East envoy, asked how the war ends, said he did not know.

Three more ships were struck near the Strait of Hormuz. The IEA released a record four hundred million barrels of emergency oil. Iran withdrew from the FIFA World Cup. Major banks closed Gulf offices. And a Reuters investigation revealed the Pentagon had concealed that one hundred and fifty American troops had been wounded.

Day fourteen of Operation Epic Fury and Donald Trump opened the day by posting on Truth Social that it was a great honour to be killing Iranians, that the US has unparalleled firepower and unlimited ammunition, and that Gulf states should watch what happens to these deranged scumbags today. Hours later, a US Air Force KC-135 Stratotanker crashed in western Iraq. Four crew members confirmed dead. Two more unaccounted for. The fourth US aircraft lost since the war began.

Iran's new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei issued his first statement since assuming power. He did not appear on camera. He did not speak. A news anchor read his written message on state television while his photograph was displayed on screen behind her. He vowed vengeance. He said the Strait of Hormuz must remain closed as a lever of pressure. He told Gulf states to remove US military bases or keep taking Iranian fire. He said Iran has studied opening new fronts where the enemy has little experience.

Hegseth responded at the Pentagon by declaring the Supreme Leader wounded and likely disfigured, hiding underground, and lacking legitimacy.

Oil crossed one hundred dollars a barrel despite a record IEA reserve release and US sanctions on Russian oil being temporarily lifted. A French soldier was killed by a drone in Iraqi Kurdistan — the first European NATO fatality of the conflict. Two tankers were set ablaze near Basra in the first strikes on Iraqi territorial waters. Dubai's financial district took a hit. Three point two million Iranians are displaced. Six thousand targets have been struck. The navy is not yet ready to escort a single tanker through the Strait.

Day fourteen. No off-ramps. No ceasefire. No end in sight.

Day fifteen of Operation Epic Fury and the United States crossed a line that had never been crossed before. Kharg Island — the tiny strip of land that processes ninety percent of Iran's crude oil exports — was bombed overnight. Trump called it one of the most powerful bombing raids in the history of the Middle East. He said every military target was totally obliterated. He said, for reasons of decency, he chose not to destroy the oil infrastructure. For now.

Iran's response was immediate and sweeping. Its armed forces warned they would target every oil, economic, and energy facility across the region with American ties. Saudi Aramco. Qatar Energy. Abu Dhabi National Oil Company. All of it. The IRGC separately told civilians to evacuate UAE ports and docks where US forces are based.

Then a missile struck the helipad inside the US Embassy compound in Baghdad. Smoke rose above one of the largest American diplomatic facilities in the world.

Pete Hegseth declared no quarter, no mercy — a phrase legal experts called a potential war crime. The US State Department put a ten million dollar bounty on Iran's Supreme Leader. Ten thousand interceptor drones were ordered to the Middle East. Two thousand two hundred Marines sailed toward the Gulf. Brent crude hit one hundred and three dollars. US petrol reached three dollars and sixty-eight cents — a twenty-three percent rise since the war began.

Day fifteen. Kharg Island struck. Baghdad hit. The Gulf bracing for energy war.

Day sixteen of Operation Epic Fury and the war's central strategic failure is now fully exposed. Sixteen days of the most intensive air campaign in modern history, and the United States cannot reopen the Strait of Hormuz without asking China for help.

Trump posted on Truth Social calling on China, France, Japan, South Korea, and the United Kingdom to send warships to the Gulf in conjunction with American forces. He said the US would be bombing the hell out of the shoreline in the meantime. Iran's Foreign Minister immediately posted a response calling it begging, and noting that the touted US security umbrella had proven full of holes.

Trump gave a thirty-minute interview to NBC News and said Iran has expressed interest in a ceasefire deal. He rejected it. The terms are not good enough yet. He would not say what terms would be acceptable. He also said the US may hit Kharg Island a few more times just for fun.

The Pentagon named the six US service members killed in the KC-135 crash in Iraq. Their average age was thirty-two. The youngest, Technical Sergeant Tyler Simmons, was twenty-eight. Confirmed American military deaths in this conflict now stand at nineteen.

Formula One cancelled its Bahrain and Saudi Arabia Grand Prix races in April. Qatar, Bahrain, and Kuwait declared force majeure on gas exports. The USS Nimitz had its service life extended to 2027 because of the war. UN Secretary-General Guterres flew to Beirut and told both sides there is no military solution. And Trump's own AI adviser David Sacks publicly warned that Iran has a dead man's switch that could render Gulf states almost uninhabitable.

Day sixteen. The coalition is being assembled. The deal is being refused. And the Strait is still closed.

Ali Larijani is dead. The head of Iran's Supreme National Security Council — the most visible surviving official of the Islamic Republic since the Supreme Leader went into hiding — was killed overnight in an Israeli airstrike. His son, his chief of staff, and his security detail died with him. So did Gholamreza Soleimani, the Basij commander. Iran fired over one hundred missiles at Israel in retaliation. Two people are dead near Tel Aviv.

In Washington, Trump's own counterterrorism director resigned in protest. Joe Kent, director of the National Counterterrorism Center, posted his resignation letter publicly. He wrote that Iran posed no imminent threat, that the war was started due to pressure from Israel and its lobby, and that it is not too late to reverse course. Trump said it was a good thing Kent was out. Senator Mark Warner said Kent was right about the threat assessment.

The United States dropped five-thousand-pound bunker-busting bombs on hardened Iranian missile sites along the Strait of Hormuz. Brent crude hit one hundred and fourteen dollars a barrel — the highest price since the COVID pandemic. Iraq's oil production has collapsed from four point three million barrels per day to one point two million. The Fertilizer Institute warned that fifty percent of global urea exports transit the Hormuz — this is now threatening global food security.

Saudi Arabia hosted the first formal Arab foreign ministers' summit on the war. The Lebanese Army's first fatalities of the conflict were confirmed — soldiers killed by an Israeli airstrike in the south. And in Iran, Nowruz — the Persian New Year — falls on Friday. Families are gathering for funerals instead of festivities. The old year's troubles will not be left behind by a bonfire this time.

Day nineteen. The men who might have ended this war are dead. The war continues.

The United Arab Emirates shut its entire airspace. The US Embassy in Baghdad was hit by three drones and four rockets — the most intense attack on that compound since the war began. And two hundred American service members have now been wounded, a figure that had been dramatically understated in official briefings until Tuesday.

The IRGC spokesperson said Iran's oldest missiles are what has been fired so far, and that the weapons built since the twelve-day war with Israel in June twenty twenty-five have not been deployed. CENTCOM says Iran's military is finished. Iran says it hasn't started yet.

Trump confirmed he has requested a delay to the Xi Jinping summit by approximately one month. The EU foreign ministers voted against sending warships to the Strait of Hormuz. The IMO chief said naval escorts would not guarantee safe passage even if they arrived. Brent crude remains above one hundred dollars. One million Lebanese are displaced. Israeli ground forces have entered southern Lebanon. Five Western leaders said a large-scale ground operation must be averted.

Trump threatened to revoke broadcasters' licences over war coverage. Pope Leo the Fourteenth told journalists not to become megaphones for power. And Iran is formally seeking reparations for the Minab school attack, building the legal case it will need when this eventually ends.

Day eighteen. The fires are burning from Baghdad to Abu Dhabi to Arak.

In this bonus deep-dive episode of Epic Fury: The US-Iran War Podcast, we explain everything you need to know about the Strait of Hormuz and why it sits at the very centre of the US-Iran conflict of 2026.

Twenty percent of the world's oil passes through a channel just twenty-one miles wide. Since Operation Epic Fury began on February 28, 2026, commercial shipping through the strait has effectively collapsed. Oil prices have surged above eighty-five dollars a barrel. Six of the world's largest shipping companies have suspended transits. Lloyd's of London has declared the Persian Gulf a war risk zone. And Iran is using the threat of closure as its most powerful remaining weapon against the United States and the global economy.

In this episode we cover: why the Strait of Hormuz is the single most important energy choke point on earth, how Iran has spent forty years building its military strategy around controlling it, what the IRGC Navy's asymmetric warfare doctrine actually means in practice, which countries are most exposed to a prolonged closure, why the pipeline alternatives fall dangerously short, what the Tanker War of the 1980s tells us about the current crisis, and why the strait will be central to any deal that eventually ends this war.

If you want to understand what is really at stake in the Iran war beyond the daily strike counts, this is the episode to listen to.

New episodes daily. Subscribe so you never miss an update.

Trump claimed Iran wants to negotiate. Iran's Foreign Minister went on American television and said the opposite. No, we never asked for a ceasefire. And we have never asked even for negotiation. We are ready to defend ourselves as long as it takes.

That contradiction defined day seventeen of Operation Epic Fury. Araghchi spelled out Iran's actual terms: guarantees the war will not be repeated, and reparations paid. Not an offer. A wall.

Trump demanded NATO allies send warships to the Strait of Hormuz. Japan, Australia, and every European government said no. Trump then told the Financial Times his planned summit with Xi Jinping could be delayed unless Beijing helps reopen the waterway. China has not moved. Oil closed above one hundred and six dollars per barrel. Nearly one thousand tankers sit anchored outside the strait.

A drone hit a fuel storage tank near Dubai International Airport in the early hours of Monday morning. Flights were suspended. The terminal was evacuated. The fire was contained. But one of the world's busiest airports was brought to a standstill.

Mojtaba Khamenei has still not appeared in public. Trump said he does not know if the Supreme Leader is alive. Araghchi said there is no problem. He produced no evidence.

Iran launched its fiftieth wave of strikes. Two hundred and twenty-three women and two hundred and two children confirmed dead inside Iran. Eight hundred and fifty killed in Lebanon. A preliminary Israel-Lebanon ceasefire track has emerged, fragile and contested. And Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince is privately urging Trump to keep hitting Iran hard.

Day seventeen. The bombing continues. The talks do not. And somewhere, the shape of an exit is beginning to form in the shadows.

Operation Epic Fury day seventeen, Iran war ceasefire negotiations, Trump Xi Jinping summit delayed Hormuz, Dubai airport drone strike, Mojtaba Khamenei alive, Iran war oil prices, Araghchi CBS Face the Nation, Israel Lebanon ceasefire talks, US Iran war podcast, Middle East war 2026.

Three senior Iranian officials killed in forty-eight hours. Yesterday, Ali Larijani and the Basij commander. Today, intelligence minister Esmail Khatib — confirmed dead in an Israeli strike. Israel's military has been given a standing kill order: eliminate any senior Iranian official, no further political approval required.

Israel struck Iran's South Pars gas field — the world's largest. Iran retaliated by hitting Qatar's Ras Laffan Industrial City, the world's biggest liquefied natural gas export terminal, causing extensive damage. Iran published a list of named targets across the Gulf and told workers to evacuate. Trump threatened to massively blow up the entirety of South Pars if Qatar is struck again. He also said: we don't need the help of anyone. The Hormuz coalition is dead.

An Iranian cluster munition killed three Palestinian civilians in the occupied West Bank — the first time Iranian missiles have killed people in the West Bank in this conflict. Israel issued its widest Lebanon evacuation order since twenty-oh-six. More than one point two million Lebanese are displaced. The IMO held an emergency session for twenty thousand stranded sailors.

The Trump administration lifted Venezuela sanctions to fill the oil gap. Brent crude is up fifty percent since the war began. And Mojtaba Khamenei, the Supreme Leader who has not been seen in public in twenty days, issued his first written statement through Telegram, vowing the killers will pay.

Nowruz — the Persian New Year — begins tomorrow. Iranian pilots told Iranians over open radio to celebrate. In Tehran, they are holding funerals instead.

Day twenty. The energy war is here.

Today is Nowruz. The Persian New Year began this morning at the spring equinox. Iran marked it by striking an oil refinery in Haifa. Saudi Arabia halted exports at Yanbu. Kuwait's Mina Al-Ahmadi refinery burned. Brent crude hit one hundred and nineteen dollars a barrel — up sixty-five percent since the war began.

The UN Security Council passed a resolution thirteen to zero demanding Iran reopen the Strait of Hormuz. Russia and China abstained rather than veto. Saudi Arabia's Foreign Minister said the kingdom reserves the right to take military action against Iran. A Saudi royal family member warned the response will no longer be merely declarative.

Trump told Japan's Prime Minister to send minesweepers, then invoked Pearl Harbour when asked why the US didn't warn its allies. Netanyahu said you can't make a revolution from the air — there must be a ground component. DNI Tulsi Gabbard confirmed under oath that Mojtaba Khamenei was seriously injured in an Israeli attack. The Pentagon asked Congress for two hundred billion dollars more to fund the war.

Treasury Secretary Bessent suggested unsanctioning one hundred and forty million barrels of Iranian oil already on the water to stabilise markets — using Iranian barrels against the Iranians. Israel dropped twelve thousand bombs on Iran. The Rafah crossing reopened for the first time since the war began.

In Tehran, streets are empty, Nowruz gatherings are banned, and Iranians send messages through the blackout describing fear, defiance, and the silence after explosions that the cawing of crows breaks.

Three weeks in. No ceasefire. No negotiation. And the bombs do not stop for the New Year.

Iran fired two intermediate-range ballistic missiles at Diego Garcia — the joint US-UK bomber base in the Indian Ocean, two thousand three hundred miles from Iran's coast. Neither missile hit. But Iran just demonstrated it has weapons that can reach far beyond the Middle East. The targeting doctrine has expanded.

Natanz was struck again. Iran's armed forces spokesman threatened that tourist and entertainment centres worldwide will no longer be safe for American and Israeli officials. Iran launched its seventy-first wave of strikes against Israel, hitting Rishon LeZion with cluster warhead missiles including fragments that struck a kindergarten.

Trump said the US is considering winding down. Hours later, thousands more Marines were confirmed heading to the region. An Israeli official said strikes will increase significantly this week. CENTCOM reported one hundred and thirty Iranian naval vessels destroyed — the largest naval elimination in a three-week period since World War Two.

Goldman Sachs warned oil could stay above one hundred dollars through twenty twenty-seven. The US lifted sanctions on one hundred and forty million barrels of Iranian oil to try to calm markets. The Houthis are debating a naval blockade. Washington is reportedly considering occupying Kharg Island. Trump called NATO allies cowards. Putin congratulated Iran's Supreme Leader on Nowruz.

Three thousand vessels sit anchored in the Gulf. The four-week timetable Trump originally set expires in one week. The war has not ended. It has reached the Indian Ocean.

Day 23 of Operation Epic Fury. President Trump has issued a stark 48-hour ultimatum to Iran: fully reopen the Strait of Hormuz or the United States will obliterate Iranian power plants, starting with the largest. Iran's military responded immediately, threatening to destroy all American energy, IT, and desalination infrastructure across the Middle East if its power grid is hit.

Iranian ballistic missiles broke through Israeli air defenses overnight, striking the towns of Dimona and Arad in southern Israel — cities located near Israel's main nuclear research center. At least 180 people were hospitalised. Children were among the seriously injured. Iran said explicitly the Dimona strike was retaliation for a US-Israeli hit on Natanz.

Also in this episode: Saudi Arabia expels Iran's military attaché and embassy staff from Riyadh. The Strait of Hormuz remains shut with 150 ships stalled and 20,000 sailors stranded. The UKMTO confirms 21 attacks on commercial vessels since March 1. The G7 and 22 nations issue coordinated condemnations of Iran. India moves to buy Iranian crude as BRICS diplomacy stirs. Iran's parliament speaker warns that any strike on Iranian power plants means energy infrastructure across the entire Gulf becomes a target — including desalination plants that millions depend on for drinking water. And a Qatari military helicopter crashes in the Persian Gulf, killing six.

The 48-hour clock is running. Episode 24 will cover what happens when it expires.

A bonus deep-dive episode of Epic Fury: The US-Iran War Podcast. Every precision strike, every missile intercept, every command kill in Operation Epic Fury runs through satellites. In this episode, we break down the four categories of military satellite capability shaping the conflict — imagery intelligence, signals intelligence, communications, and missile warning — and explain how the US is using them, how Iran is trying to counter them, and why the invisible war in orbit may matter as much as anything happening on the ground. We also cover Iran's own satellite assets, the role of Starlink inside Iran, GPS jamming across the Middle East, and the risk of conflict extending into space. Essential listening for anyone who wants to understand the full picture of how modern warfare actually works.

The clock has run out. Trump's 48-hour ultimatum to Iran expires tonight at 7:44pm Eastern Time — and Iran has not reopened the Strait of Hormuz. Instead, Tehran escalated. Iran's armed forces declared they are ready to close the Strait indefinitely if power plants are struck. Iran threatened to mine the entire Persian Gulf if its coastline is attacked. And the IRGC said on state television: do not doubt that we will do this.

The International Energy Agency called it the greatest global energy security challenge in history. Asian stock markets collapsed on Monday morning — the Nikkei down three and a half percent, the Kospi down nearly five percent. Brent crude hit one hundred and fourteen dollars per barrel. US crude crossed one hundred dollars for the first time since the war began.

Also in this episode: Israel launches a broad wave of strikes on Tehran and multiple Iranian cities as Monday begins. Iran's Red Crescent reports eighty thousand civilian units damaged across Iran in twenty-four days — including four hundred and ninety-eight schools and two hundred and seventy-five health facilities in Tehran province alone. Iran fires its four-hundredth-plus ballistic missile at Israel. The IAEA director-general warns Iran's enriched uranium will still exist after this war ends. Trump's National Security Advisor confirms exactly which power plants would be hit first. Britain's PM Starmer convenes an emergency economic meeting. Ukraine's Zelensky warns a long Iran war benefits Putin. And Iran signals it is monetizing control of the Strait as leverage — not as a military tactic.

The deadline is tonight. What happens next defines the next phase of this war.

Trump stood in the Oval Office on Tuesday and declared the war won. Then his Defense Secretary said he was disappointed there might be a ceasefire. Then the US sent a fifteen-point ceasefire plan to Iran through Pakistan. Then Iran's military aired a prerecorded video on state television mocking the Americans for negotiating with themselves.

Day twenty-six of Operation Epic Fury, and the diplomatic and military tracks are running in full parallel — bombs falling on Tehran while Vance, Rubio, Witkoff, and Kushner are named as active negotiators.

Also in this episode: Iran's Bushehr nuclear power plant struck — Russia's symbol of its strategic relationship with Tehran hit during a notional diplomatic pause. Israel confirms it has now struck more than three thousand targets in Iran. Iran fires twelve waves of missiles at Israel. A drone hits Kuwait International Airport. Lebanon expels Iran's ambassador. Israel's finance minister says the Litani River should be the new border with Lebanon. One thousand troops from the Eighty-Second Airborne Division are deploying to the Middle East. Iran grants temporary assassination immunity to its Foreign Minister and Parliament Speaker for the five-day window. Iran signals it will permanently charge a fee for Strait of Hormuz transit — even after any deal. Trump's approval rating hits thirty-six percent, the lowest of his second term. The Philippines declares a national energy emergency. Japan begins releasing strategic oil reserves. And Republicans again kill a war powers resolution as Congress holds no public oversight hearings on a war now in its fourth week.

The five-day window has four days left.

Hours before his 48-hour deadline expired, Trump posted on Truth Social in full capitals that the United States and Iran had held very good and productive conversations regarding a complete and total resolution of hostilities — and that he was postponing all strikes on Iranian power plants for five days. Markets surged. Oil dropped thirteen percent in a single day. And then Iran said there were no talks. No negotiations. None whatsoever.

This episode covers the most diplomatically charged day of the conflict so far. Trump claimed Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff held talks Sunday night with a top Iranian figure, that there are major points of agreement, and that the Strait of Hormuz will be jointly controlled as part of what he called a very serious form of regime change. Iran's Foreign Ministry, parliament speaker, IRGC, and senior officials all denied every word of it, calling Trump's claims fake news designed to manipulate oil markets.

Also in this episode: Israel launches its most extensive wave of strikes on Tehran yet — described by correspondents on the ground as unprecedented in scale. The IRGC attacks US bases in Saudi Arabia and Bahrain. Iran surpasses 1,500 dead. Iran sets out its formal ceasefire conditions — a simultaneous halt across Iran, Lebanon, and Iraq — and announces a new nuclear doctrine that explicitly rejects zero enrichment. Iran's hardline former IRGC commander says the war continues until all sanctions are lifted and full legal guarantees are obtained. NATO pulls its security mission out of Iraq. The Red Cross president says war on essential infrastructure is war on civilians. The IEA says forty-plus Middle East energy assets have been severely damaged. And Turkey, Egypt, and Pakistan emerge as the new intermediaries — passing messages neither side will publicly acknowledge.

Five days. The clock is running again.

The United States put a fifteen-point peace plan on the table. Iran called it maximalist and unreasonable, rejected it, and issued five counter-demands of its own — including war reparations and permanent Iranian sovereignty over the Strait of Hormuz. The White House responded by saying Trump is prepared to unleash hell.

This episode breaks down both plans in full, explains why Iran's Hormuz sovereignty demand is structurally incompatible with any deal the US could publicly accept, and tracks the collision between Trump's optimism and his own press secretary's threats.

Also in this episode: what the fifteen points actually are — nuclear dismantlement, proxy abandonment, Israel recognition, sanctions relief, and a civilian nuclear programme offer. What Iran's five conditions actually mean — reparations, guaranteed sovereignty, simultaneous ceasefire across all fronts. Why the same zero-enrichment demand that collapsed talks before February twenty-eighth appears to still be on the table. Araghchi says Washington's move toward diplomacy is an acknowledgment of failure. Four separate polls now show between fifty-four and sixty-one percent of Americans say the war has gone too far. The House Armed Services Committee leaves a classified briefing unsatisfied. Iraq formally complains to the US after seven of its soldiers are killed in a strike. Iran's parliament speaker warns of a plot to occupy an Iranian island. Saudi Arabia's core oil fields — Ras Tanura, Ghawar, and Abqaiq — are targeted by Iranian drones. USPS announces an eight percent fuel surcharge on domestic mail starting April twenty-sixth. The UN Secretary General warns the Strait closure is threatening the global planting season's fertilizer supply. And mediators are pushing for in-person talks in Islamabad as soon as Friday.

Three days remain in the five-day window.

Day 29 of Operation Epic Fury. One month in. The war that was supposed to last four weeks has entered its second month — and on its one-month anniversary, Yemen's Houthi rebels fired their first missiles at Israel, Iran struck two more nuclear facilities, and Israel attacked weapons production plants across Tehran.

The Houthis have entered the US-Iran war. Their first military operation was a ballistic missile barrage at southern Israel, intercepted but now raising the prospect of a simultaneous Hormuz and Red Sea dual-corridor shutdown. One trillion dollars in annual Red Sea trade. Twenty percent of global oil through Hormuz. If both close simultaneously, no economic model can contain it.

Israel struck the Shahid Khondab Heavy Water Complex in Arak — a facility linked to Iran's plutonium pathway — and the Ardakan yellowcake plant in Yazd Province, the starting point of Iran's nuclear enrichment chain. No radiation leaks confirmed. IAEA monitoring both sites. Iran's foreign minister vows a heavy price. Also hit: Mobarakeh Steel in Isfahan and Khuzestan Steel in Ahvaz, with power outages in eastern Tehran. CENTCOM confirms ten thousand-plus targets struck across Iran and two-thirds of Iran's missile production destroyed.

Also in this episode: Iran makes its first Strait of Hormuz concession — agreeing to allow humanitarian aid and agricultural shipments through following a UN request. Iran fires six ballistic missiles and twenty-nine drones at Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia, wounding fifteen US troops, five seriously — over two dozen Americans wounded at that base in a week. Pakistan announces Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Egypt are sending foreign ministers to Islamabad for peace talks. UK intelligence confirms Russia provided pre-war military training to Iran. Six hundred and twenty thousand women and girls displaced across the region. And a one-month reckoning: three thousand dead across the Middle East, one million displaced in Lebanon, the IEA's worst-ever energy crisis, Trump's four-week timetable expired, and no ceasefire in sight.

The second month of the US-Iran war begins now.

Pakistan's Foreign Minister publicly confirmed it for the first time: US-Iran indirect talks are taking place through messages being relayed by Islamabad. Iran's ambassador secretly met Pakistan's interior minister in Islamabad on Thursday. Trump extended his power plant strike deadline by ten days to April sixth — citing, in his words, an Iranian Government request that Iran flatly denies making. And Israel killed Alireza Tangsiri — the commander of the IRGC Navy, the architect of the Strait of Hormuz blockade, the man who personally directed which ships could pass — along with his entire senior naval command.

This is day twenty-eight. The war is one day from its one-month mark. Trump's original four-week timetable has expired. The conflict has not.

Also in this episode: the full significance of Tangsiri's death and what it means for the Hormuz blockade without its architect. Israel is racing to destroy as many Iranian arms factories as possible before any ceasefire is declared — NPR confirms Israeli military officials want several more weeks of war. Iran fires seven salvos at Israel on Thursday including a cruise missile claim against the USS Abraham Lincoln. Iran's parliament is legislating formal sovereignty over the Strait and a fee collection framework — institutionalizing its blockade demands into domestic law. The IRGC's For Iran programme recruits children as young as twelve, falling below the international humanitarian law threshold of fifteen. Iran's death toll surpasses one thousand nine hundred, including four hundred and fifty-two women and children. The UAE intercepts fifteen ballistic missiles and eleven drones in a single day. Two civilians killed in Abu Dhabi by missile debris. The G7 meets in Paris with Rubio. ADNOC chief calls the Hormuz closure economic terrorism in a meeting with Vance. Witkoff confirms the fifteen-point framework at Cabinet. IAEA chief hints at Islamabad talks this weekend. And the pattern of escalating deadlines that keep getting extended — and what international law says about threatening civilian power plants.

Ten days. April sixth. The next threshold.

Before Operation Epic Fury. Before the Islamic Revolution. Before forty years of hostility between Washington and Tehran. There was a single event that set everything in motion.

In August 1953, the CIA and British intelligence orchestrated the overthrow of Iran's democratically elected Prime Minister, Mohammad Mosaddegh — a man who had done nothing more provocative than nationalise his country's oil. Operation Ajax, as the CIA called it, was a masterclass in covert political manipulation: bribed parliamentarians, planted propaganda, paid street gangs, and a Shah too frightened to act without a secret signal from Eisenhower himself.

The operation succeeded in four days. Its consequences are still unfolding seventy years later.

This bonus episode tells the full story — from Britain's stranglehold on Iranian oil and the rise of Mosaddegh, to the two coup attempts, the chaos of August 19th, and the arrest of a Prime Minister who was right about everything. It examines what Operation Ajax actually achieved, what it destroyed, and how a decision made in Washington in 1953 helped produce the Islamic Revolution, the hostage crisis, and ultimately the conflict now known as Operation Epic Fury.

Epic Fury is a daily narrative podcast covering the US-Iran conflict of 2026. This five-part bonus series goes back to the beginning — tracing the CIA's history with Iran from the 1953 coup to the bombs falling today.

Day 30 of Operation Epic Fury. The most diplomatically active day of the entire war. The foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Egypt flew to Islamabad for two days of talks aimed at ending the US-Iran war. Pakistan secured a concrete Hormuz breakthrough — Iran agreed to allow twenty Pakistani-flagged vessels through the Strait, two per day, the first time Iran has named a specific nationality and a specific daily rate for transit since the blockade began. And the Pentagon confirmed it is preparing weeks of ground operations inside Iran.

The Houthis fired a second missile at Israel on Sunday — a cruise missile, intercepted — hours after their first ballistic missile barrage on Saturday. Their entry raises the prospect of a simultaneous Hormuz and Red Sea dual-corridor shutdown that would close both of the world's most critical shipping lanes at the same time.

Also in this episode: Iran's internet blackout enters Day 30 — 696 continuous hours of civilians cut off from the outside world. Israel strikes an engineering university in Tehran. Iran threatens retaliatory attacks on Israeli and American universities. The Washington Post reports Pentagon planning for special forces raids and ground operations inside Iran — not a full invasion, but targeted weeks-long operations. Iran's parliament speaker warns Americans arriving on the ground will be set on fire. The USS Tripoli arrives with 3,500 Marines. Three journalists killed in Israeli strike in Lebanon. Nine paramedics killed in five separate Lebanon strikes. An American-born Israeli soldier killed in Lebanon. Abu Dhabi aluminium smelter severely damaged. No Kings protests fill the streets of all 50 US states — the largest anti-war demonstrations since the war began. Witkoff says the fifteen-point plan "could solve it all." Death toll across the region approaches four thousand. And Pakistan's twenty-ship Hormuz deal is the single most hopeful signal this conflict has produced — proof that Iran can be moved through the right intermediary.

The Islamabad talks conclude Monday. The world is watching.

Day 35 of Operation Epic Fury. Iran's president took the extraordinary step of writing an open letter directly to the American people, asking whose interests this war is truly serving and challenging the America First framing Trump has used to justify the campaign. It is the first time an Iranian head of state has addressed the American public directly during an active war between the two countries.

The more consequential story, however, came from a leaked internal exchange. Pezeshkian reportedly warned IRGC chief Ahmad Vahidi that without a ceasefire, Iran's economy faces total collapse within three to four weeks. Vahidi's response: you cannot be involved in negotiations because you would give too much away. Pezeshkian reportedly told aides he feels like a hostage. The exchange exposes the central obstacle to any deal — not just Iran's public defiance, but an internal power structure that has stripped the civilian government of the authority to negotiate.

The UAE then severed Iran's primary offshore financial lifeline, arresting dozens of IRGC-linked money changers in Dubai and shutting down the network that has sustained Iran's economy through years of Western sanctions.

This episode also takes stock of how the war is landing on three allied democracies. In the United States, gas is above four dollars per gallon, Bank of America forecasts oil at one hundred dollars a barrel through all of 2026, thirteen service members are dead, and Trump's approval sits at the lowest point of his second term. In the United Kingdom, energy bills are rising sharply from LNG disruption, Starmer is navigating a narrow path between alliance loyalty and domestic opposition, and the Diego Garcia co-belligerence question remains unresolved in Parliament. In Australia, petrol prices are at post-pandemic highs, free public transport has been introduced in Victoria and Tasmania, and the economic exposure is growing — despite zero military involvement.

Three days to April sixth. The internal story inside Iran is now as consequential as anything on the battlefield.

The final episode of the CIA and Iran Bonus Series asks the questions the previous four have been building toward. What did the CIA know before the bombs of Operation Epic Fury began falling? How was the targeting intelligence assembled — the air defence systems, the nuclear facilities, the command structures, the movement patterns of the men killed in the opening hours? And what does the full arc of the agency's involvement with Iran, from the 1953 coup to the strikes of February 2026, actually tell us about how the world arrived at this conflict?

This episode covers the intelligence shift that preceded the war — the collapse of the JCPOA's constraints, the breakout timeline that contracted from twelve months to days, the degradation of IAEA monitoring access, and the convergence of American and Israeli intelligence assessments that provided the political foundation for Operation Epic Fury. It covers the human intelligence networks built over four decades — and the Iranians who built them, who risked everything, and who in some cases paid the full price. And it asks the hardest question of the series: did seventy-three years of CIA covert action against Iran make this war more likely or less likely?

The answer the history gives is unambiguous. And it matters — because Operation Epic Fury is not the end of this story.

Epic Fury is a daily narrative podcast covering the US-Iran conflict of 2026. This five-part bonus series traces the CIA's history with Iran from the 1953 coup to the bombs falling today.

Day 34 of Operation Epic Fury. Trump spoke to the nation from the White House Cross Hall — his first prime-time address since the war began thirty-four days ago. He said the war's core strategic objectives are nearing completion. He vowed to hit Iran extremely hard for two to three more weeks. He claimed Iran's president asked for a ceasefire. And he told every country that uses the Strait of Hormuz to go and take it themselves.

Iran called the ceasefire claim false and baseless within hours. Araghchi said Iran does not set deadlines for defending itself. And markets sent oil back above one hundred dollars because traders read the speech as a guarantee the war would not end soon.

This episode breaks down everything the speech said — and everything it deliberately didn't say. Trump made no mention of the fifteen-point peace plan, Pakistan's intermediary role, the China-Pakistan five-point ceasefire initiative, or the thirty-five-country maritime coalition announced by UK Prime Minister Starmer on the same night. The speech offered no diplomatic pathway, no deal framework, and no ceasefire terms. It was a progress report wrapped in a threat.

Also in this episode: The factual problem with Trump calling Pezeshkian Iran's new regime president — he's been in office since July 2024. The substantive question of whether bombing Iran produced a more moderate leadership or simply a devastated country. Trump tells other nations to build up some delayed courage and go take the Strait. A third US aircraft carrier — USS George HW Bush with 6,000+ sailors — deploys to the Middle East. Saudi Arabia rerouted one million barrels per day through its Trans-Arabian Pipeline to the Red Sea as the Hormuz workaround. Bank of America forecasts oil at one hundred dollars per barrel through the rest of 2026. Gas prices hit four dollars and six cents per gallon — highest since 2022. JetBlue, United, FedEx, UPS, and the US Postal Service all raise prices. Trump threatens to pull the US out of NATO and halt Ukraine arms supplies if Europe doesn't help secure Hormuz. Starmer announces thirty-five-country post-war Hormuz security coalition. Israel kills fifty in Lebanon on the first night of Passover. Houthis fire third consecutive daily barrage at Israel. A cruise missile strikes a QatarEnergy tanker. And the April sixth power plant deadline is now four days away.

The speech delivered. The war continues. Four days to April sixth.

The Cold War ended. The CIA's war with Iran did not.

From the 1990s dual containment strategy through the Stuxnet cyberattack, the assassination of Iranian nuclear scientists, and the drone strike that killed Qasem Soleimani, Episode 4 of the CIA and Iran Bonus Series covers the three decades of covert action, failed diplomacy, and escalating shadow warfare that made Operation Epic Fury almost inevitable.

This episode covers how a designated foreign terrorist organisation became a CIA intelligence asset and helped expose Iran's secret nuclear facilities at Natanz and Arak. It covers the Olympic Games programme — the most sophisticated cyberweapon ever deployed against a state, and the unintended lesson it handed Iran about asymmetric warfare. It covers the assassination campaign that killed five nuclear scientists and may have hardened Iranian resolve more than it slowed the programme. And it covers the collapse of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, Iran's subsequent sprint toward weapons-grade enrichment, and the intelligence shift — from capability to timeline — that drove the strategic urgency behind Operation Epic Fury.

It also asks the question that runs through all four episodes of this series: did seventy years of American covert action against Iran prevent the confrontation, or help create it?

Epic Fury is a daily narrative podcast covering the US-Iran conflict of 2026. This five-part bonus series traces the CIA's history with Iran from the 1953 coup to the bombs falling today.

New episodes daily. Subscribe so you never miss one.

Day 33 of Operation Epic Fury. China formally entered this war diplomatically. Pakistan's Foreign Minister flew to Beijing and, together with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, released a joint five-point initiative to end the US-Iran war — the first time a major global power has articulated a specific peace pathway in a public document. Their demands: an immediate ceasefire, peace talks as soon as possible, an end to attacks on civilian infrastructure including power plants, safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz, and respect for the UN Charter.

And then Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said it plainly: the trust level is at zero. In his first public acknowledgment that he has received direct messages from US envoy Steve Witkoff, Araghchi simultaneously confirmed indirect communication is happening and declared the conditions for it have no foundation. He also said Iran has not responded to the fifteen-point US proposal — directly contradicting Trump's claim that Iran had agreed to most of its demands. And he said Iran is prepared for at least six months of war.

Also in this episode: Trump says the war could be over in two to three weeks and says the US will not have anything to do with the Strait of Hormuz — naming France as the country responsible for keeping it open. What that Hormuz shift means for the consortium management proposal. Rubio says there is potential for a direct US-Iran meeting. Kuwait International Airport's fuel depots set ablaze by Iranian drone — a massive blaze with significant damage. A tanker struck seventeen nautical miles north of Doha. Bahrain facility fire. Iran's 87th wave of attacks in 33 days. Iran's parliament formally legislates Hormuz transit fees — encoding the blockade into domestic law designed to survive any ceasefire. Israel and US strike ammunition depot in Isfahan. Iran, Hezbollah, and Houthis launch their first coordinated three-front joint operation. Sixteen wounded including a ten-year-old in Tel Aviv and Bnei Brak. Netanyahu says the war is past its halfway point. Israel says weeks of strikes remain. Iran's President Pezeshkian says Iran is ready to stop fighting — the most consequential statement from any Iranian civilian leader since February twenty-eighth. And Trump prepares to address the nation in prime-time — the most significant presidential communication since the war began.

Five days to April sixth. The world waits.

Four hundred and forty-four days. Sixty-six hostages. A rescue mission that ended in fire and death in the Iranian desert. A secret arms deal that nearly brought down a presidency. And intelligence sharing that helped Iraq deploy chemical weapons against Iranian soldiers while Washington looked the other way.

The 1980s were the most operationally intense decade in the CIA's history with Iran — and the most morally incoherent. The United States was publicly tilting toward Iraq while secretly selling missiles to Tehran. It was condemning terrorism while funding covert operations through channels no congressional committee had approved. It was expressing regret over two hundred and ninety civilians shot out of the sky while refusing to apologise.

This episode covers it all — the hostage crisis and Carter's impossible position, the catastrophic failure of Operation Eagle Claw in the Iranian desert, the October Surprise allegations that have never been fully resolved, the Iran-Contra affair and the CIA's central role in it, the chemical weapons intelligence shared with Saddam Hussein, the Beirut barracks bombing, and the shootdown of Iran Air Flight 655.

It also asks what was lost in the process — and why, by the end of the decade, the space for any kind of pragmatic diplomacy between Washington and Tehran had been compressed almost to nothing.

Epic Fury is a daily narrative podcast covering the US-Iran conflict of 2026. This five-part bonus series traces the CIA's history with Iran from the 1953 coup to the bombs falling today.

Day 32 of Operation Epic Fury. Iran and Hezbollah struck oil refineries in Haifa, sending thick black smoke billowing above northern Israel. A fully loaded Kuwaiti oil tanker was hit by a drone in Dubai waters, triggering fears of an oil spill in one of the world's busiest maritime zones. Trump renewed his threat to obliterate Iran's electric plants and oil wells. And two Chinese cargo ships completed transits of the Strait of Hormuz — the first non-Pakistani civilian vessels to do so since the war began.

The Hormuz blockade is no longer total. It is selective — and that distinction is the most important diplomatic development of the war so far. Iran is letting Pakistani and Chinese ships through while firing drones at Kuwaiti tankers in Dubai. That is not a blockade. That is graduated coercion, and it changes the entire diplomatic calculus.

Also in this episode: Israel warns Tehran's Vard Avar district before striking — a warning invisible to Iranians under a thirty-two-day internet blackout. The legal questions that raises under international humanitarian law. Iran's strikes are shifting from volume to precision — higher-value targets, fewer missiles, greater impact. Pakistan announces direct US-Iran talks are coming but neither Washington nor Tehran confirms. Trump claims he is negotiating with Iran's parliament speaker — who flatly denies any contact. The Islamabad talks end early, one day instead of two, no joint statement. Israel says it will not scale back strikes before any talks begin. A water reservoir in Khuzestan is destroyed. The port of Bandar Khamir bombed — part of a systematic dismantling of Iran's Hormuz interdiction infrastructure. Saudi Arabia intercepts five ballistic missiles aimed at the Eastern Province — home to Abqaiq, a successful hit on which would remove seven percent of global oil supply instantly. Kuwait's desalination plant struck. Lebanon death toll surpasses twelve hundred including one hundred and twenty-four children. Three Indonesian UN peacekeepers killed in Lebanon. The 1973 OPEC embargo comparison — and why this energy crisis is structurally different. China's March factory data rebounds despite the war. White House says troops are deployed for Trump's "maximum optionality." And six days remain until the April sixth power plant deadline.

The diplomatic corridor and the escalatory spiral are running in parallel. One of them will overtake the other this week.

Four years after the CIA helped overthrow Iran's democracy, American intelligence officers sat down with their Iranian counterparts and built something new. Not a military alliance. Not a trade agreement. A secret police force.

SAVAK — the Organisation of Intelligence and National Security — would go on to become one of the most feared internal security services in the world. Thirteen thousand officers. Hundreds of thousands of informants. Detention facilities where Amnesty International documented practices so severe that in 1975 it declared no country on earth had a worse human rights record. And behind all of it, an American intelligence agency that trained the organisation, transferred the technology, shared the intelligence, and looked the other way.

This episode tells the full story of SAVAK and the CIA's Iran project — from the organisation's founding in 1957 through two decades of political repression, the systematic destruction of Iran's secular intellectual left, the surveillance of Iranian students on American soil, and the catastrophic intelligence failure that left the CIA blind as millions of Iranians took to the streets in 1978.

It also asks the question that the history demands: did the apparatus built to protect the Shah's regime help make the Islamic Revolution inevitable? And what happened to SAVAK's methods after the revolution swept it away?

Day 31 of Operation Epic Fury. Trump told the Financial Times his favourite thing would be to take the oil in Iran. He confirmed Kharg Island — which handles ninety percent of Iran's crude exports — is still on the table for seizure. And aboard Air Force One, he claimed Iran has agreed to most of the fifteen-point US peace plan that Tehran publicly rejected just days ago.

Pakistan announced it will host direct US-Iran talks in the coming days. The Islamabad summit concluded its first day with a proposal for a Turkey-Egypt-Saudi Arabia consortium to manage oil flows through the Strait of Hormuz — a face-saving mechanism that sidesteps the bilateral sovereignty deadlock. Witkoff's personal relationship with Pakistan's army chief Asim Munir is the back-channel that is making all of it work.

Also in this episode: the full fifteen-point US plan versus Iran's five-point counter-proposal — and why the gap between them is enormous. The strategic logic behind seizing Kharg Island and why Iran's response threat could push oil above one hundred and thirty dollars. Turkey frames Hormuz safe passage as a confidence-building measure rather than a ceasefire precondition — a subtle but critical diplomatic shift. The Houthis fire for a third consecutive day, establishing a sustained operational tempo. Asian stocks fall, Brent crude hits one hundred and seven dollars ninety-two cents. An Indian worker killed in Kuwait. The USS Gerald R. Ford docks in Croatia — first carrier departure from the theatre since the war began. Iran's university ultimatum expires at noon Monday with no American response. Trump questions whether new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei is even alive. The IRGC threatens Israeli and American universities across the Gulf. Eleven thousand targets struck inside Iran. And the April sixth power plant deadline is now one week away.

The diplomacy is moving. The bombs are still falling. And somewhere in Tehran, a Supreme Leader who may or may not be operational is being asked to decide whether to meet the Americans at the table.

The Iran war has entered a dangerous new phase.

On Day 36 of Operation Epic Fury, the United States destroys Iran’s largest bridge in a major escalation—while two US warplanes are downed in combat, marking a turning point in the conflict.

With the April 6th deadline just hours away, tensions are exploding across the Middle East.

In this episode:

• US airstrike destroys Iran’s largest civilian bridge
• Two US aircraft downed by Iranian fire (F-15 & A-10)
• Missing US pilot triggers high-risk rescue mission
• Kuwait’s largest oil refinery set ablaze
• Iran threatens retaliation across Gulf infrastructure
• Oil prices surge as global markets react
• Diplomatic cracks emerge between the US and allies

This is a critical moment in the war—where escalation, retaliation, and global economic shock are all converging at once.

Follow now to stay ahead of the next 24 hours.

Day 37 of Operation Epic Fury. The Iran war enters a critical phase.

On Easter Sunday, the United States launched one of the most daring rescue operations in modern warfare. A downed F-15E Strike Eagle crew member — a wounded American colonel — was recovered from deep inside Iran after being shot down by Iranian air defences on Good Friday.

This episode breaks down the full story of the US rescue mission inside Iran. A coordinated CIA deception operation misled Iranian forces on the ground. MQ-9 Reaper drone strikes eliminated units closing within three kilometres of the target. US special forces inserted and extracted under fire. Multiple aircraft entered Iranian airspace. A firefight erupted at the extraction site. All personnel made it out alive.

But the implications go far beyond the rescue.

What does the F-15 shoot-down reveal about Iranian air defence capability? Why do three US aircraft losses in a single day challenge claims of total air dominance by CENTCOM? What would the capture of a senior American officer have meant strategically?

This episode also examines the wider escalation in the Iran war. Israel delayed planned strikes to support the operation, highlighting deep US-Israeli coordination. Diplomatic efforts remain stalled. Iran has rejected the US proposal and issued its own demands, including war reparations and control over the Strait of Hormuz.

Meanwhile, strikes continue across Iran. The Mahshahr Petrochemical Zone has been hit, with mass casualties reported. Universities have been targeted across the country. Civilian losses continue to rise.

And now, the clock is ticking.

Trump has issued a 48-hour ultimatum. The April 6 deadline is less than forty hours away.

New episodes daily covering the Iran war, US military operations, and global escalation.

Day 38 of Operation Epic Fury. Elite US special forces — including Delta Force and SEAL Team 6 — execute one of the most complex rescue missions in modern military history, extracting a downed F-15E weapons systems officer from deep inside Iran.

As the rescue unfolds, Trump pushes the Iran power plant ultimatum to a fourth deadline — Tuesday at 8PM ET — warning that “everything” could be targeted if no deal is reached. Iran rejects the threat and signals potential retaliation against Gulf energy and water infrastructure.

We break down the Haifa missile strike, rising civilian impact, the credibility crisis behind repeated US deadlines, and the widening gap between US and Iranian negotiation demands.

Will this deadline finally trigger escalation—or slip again?

Follow Epic Fury for daily US-Iran war updates, geopolitical analysis, and breaking news.

The war has paused — but the risk isn’t gone.

On Day 40 of the Iran War, a two-week ceasefire between the United States and Iran was agreed just hours before a major escalation deadline, with Pakistan playing a decisive role in brokering the deal.

The Strait of Hormuz — one of the most critical energy routes in the world — is now set to reopen, triggering a sharp drop in oil prices and a surge in global markets.

In this episode, we break down the final dramatic hours before the ceasefire, the competing narratives from Washington and Tehran, and what comes next as negotiations move to Islamabad.

In this episode:

• How the ceasefire was agreed just before escalation
• Pakistan’s key role in stopping the conflict
• Why the Strait of Hormuz matters to the global economy
• Oil price reaction and market impact
• US vs Iran: competing claims of victory
• Risks that could collapse the ceasefire
• What to expect from the upcoming Islamabad negotiations

After 40 days of war, thousands of casualties, and global economic disruption, this conflict has entered a critical pause — not a resolution.

Shipping firms remain cautious, and full stability in the Strait of Hormuz is not yet guaranteed, highlighting how fragile this moment really is.

Follow on Spotify and Apple Podcasts to stay ahead of every development as this story unfolds.

Iran rejects a 45-day ceasefire as tensions explode ahead of Trump’s final 8PM deadline — raising fears of the largest escalation yet in the US-Iran war.

In this episode of Epic Fury, we break down the biggest developments from Day 39:

• Trump warns Iran “could be taken out in one night”
• Israel strikes South Pars, the world’s largest gas field
• Iran’s IRGC intelligence chief killed in a major decapitation strike
• 15 US personnel wounded in Kuwait after Iranian drone attack
• Regional tensions surge as Saudi Arabia closes the King Fahd Causeway

Despite rejecting the ceasefire, Iran submits a counterproposal — keeping diplomacy alive, but barely.

With oil markets, global energy supply, and Middle East stability on the line, tonight’s deadline could change everything.

Follow now on Spotify & Apple Podcasts to stay ahead of the war as it unfolds daily.

The ceasefire is less than 24 hours old — and it’s already under pressure.

On Day 41 of the Iran War, Israel launches its largest strike on Lebanon since the conflict began, killing over 180 people and threatening to collapse the fragile truce. Iran’s IRGC claims it has halted oil tanker traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, while the White House insists the waterway remains open.

With contradictions mounting and tensions rising, Vice President JD Vance heads to Islamabad for high-stakes negotiations that could determine whether this ceasefire holds — or fails.

In this episode:

• Israel’s Lebanon strikes and the legal grey zone of the ceasefire
• Iran’s response and the Strait of Hormuz crisis
• Conflicting narratives between the US, Iran, and Israel
• Inside the “deliberate ambiguity” shaping the ceasefire deal
• What to expect from the Islamabad talks
• Trump’s nuclear red line: zero uranium enrichment
• Why the next two weeks could decide the future of the Middle East

This is Episode 41 of Epic Fury: The US-Iran War Podcast.

Follow now to stay ahead of every major development as this story unfolds.