PDB Afternoon Bulletin | July 7th, 2026: Iran Resumes Attacks On Commercial Ships In Hormuz & Russian Forces Attacked In Mali
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What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
It's Tuesday, the 7th of July. Welcome to the PDB Afternoon Bulletin. I'm Mike Baker, your eyes and ears on the world stage. All right, let's get briefed. First up, just days after another round of U.S.-Iran indirect negotiations ended without a breakthrough, Iran is accused of launching missile attacks on commercial shipping. It's almost like the regime hasn't read the Memorandum of Understanding. It's a Memorandum of Misunderstanding. I'll have the details. Later in the show, Russia's shenanigans in Africa are encountering trouble. We'll take you to Mali, where Tuareg fighters claim they've shot down one of Moscow's attack helicopters. But first, today's afternoon spotlight. If you were wondering how the latest round of U.S.-Iran negotiations have been going, well, I believe we may have gotten our answer overnight.
Less than three weeks after agreeing to supposedly halt attacks in the Strait of Hormuz as part of a supposed memorandum of understanding with the U.S., Iran continues to behave as if they control the waterway. Late Monday night, Iran reportedly fired missiles at two commercial vessels transiting the strait. If those reports are confirmed, it would mark one of the most serious violations yet of the MOU and raise further questions about whether diplomacy can survive yet another exchange of missile and drone attacks. Here's what we know. Late Monday night, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations Agency received a distress report from a tanker sailing southbound near the Omani coast. According to the agency, the vessel was struck on its port side by an unidentified projectile, sparking a fire on board.
Soon afterward, Axios reported that two U.S. officials had identified the projectile as an Iranian missile fired by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the IRGC. According to those officials, a second commercial vessel was also struck in the same area. Both ships reportedly suffered significant damage, though there have been no reported fatalities.
What recent actions has Iran taken against commercial shipping?
Maritime security sources later identified the vessels as the Saudi-flagged crude oil supertanker Wedjan and the Qatari liquefied natural gas carrier Al-Rakyat. The LNG tanker reportedly suffered a hit near the top of its engine room, triggering a fire and forcing the crew to send out a mayday call before abandoning the vessel. Now, beyond the immediate damage to the ships, these attacks strike, of course, at the core of the U.S.-Iran ceasefire, or whatever you call this pretend ceasefire in agreement. One of the central provisions of the memorandum signed after the war was Iran's commitment to stop targeting commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz. That promise was intended to restore confidence in one of the world's most vital energy choke points.
But as we've discussed here on the PDB over the past several weeks, the ceasefire never actually resolved the underlying dispute over who controls access to the Strait. and it never really ceased the firing. Missiles and drones have been exchanged sporadically over the past few weeks as the Iranian regime continues to try and assert control over which vessels can transit the strait and under what terms. As a result, shipping companies have remained very cautious and skeptical. Insurance premiums have stayed elevated. Many commercial operators have continued delaying voyages or have been rerouting vessels despite the agreement. Last week's indirect negotiations in Doha reportedly made little progress on the issue, leaving the safe passage provisions largely unresolved.
Adding to those concerns, the IRGC reportedly spent the weekend warning merchant vessels to abandon the internationally recognized shipping corridor near Oman and instead travel through routes designated by Iran. According to reporting from the Wall Street Journal, some ships received radio warnings declaring that Iranian missiles and drones were ready to fire if they failed to comply. That's left commercial shipping in an increasingly impossible position. They can follow the internationally recognized transit lane, and the vessels risk becoming targets.
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Chapters
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