PDB Afternoon Bulletin | July 8th, 2026: U.S. Launches Strikes On Iran & Russia Targets Starlink
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Hey, Mike Baker here. Now, here's a question for you. What do dictators do after work? Did you see that coming? As it turns out, some become movie fanatics, some write books, and some even rap on state television. This week's subscriber-exclusive episode of the PDB Dictator Files explores the surprisingly strange hobbies of history's strongmen and what they reveal about the nature of absolute power. You can hear it now at PDBpremium.com.
It's Wednesday, the 8th 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, the ceasefire, well, the sort of ceasefire, between the U.S. and Iran appears to have collapsed after Tehran's attack on commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz. I'll have the latest. Later in the show, Russia is trying to jam Elon Musk's Starlink network in an effort to blunt Ukraine's expanding drone campaign. But first, today's afternoon spotlight. The ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran appears to be over. Overnight, American forces launched a new wave of strikes against Iranian military targets after the regime attacked three commercial vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz earlier this week.
Iran has since retaliated with missile and drone attacks targeting U.S. military installations in Bahrain and Kuwait, prompting President Trump to declare that, as far as he's concerned, the Interim Agreement or Memorandum of Understanding or whatever we wanted to call it, reached last month, is now finished. Now, before we get into the latest developments, a quick reminder. Yesterday here on the PDB, we told you about the attacks on the commercial ships in the Strait of Hormuz. It's a clear violation of the ceasefire framework that was supposed to guarantee safe passage through one of the world's most important waterways. Well, overnight, Washington answered. According to U.S. Central Command, American forces launched a series of precision strikes against Iranian military infrastructure along the country's southern coast.
Officials say the operation targeted air defense systems, coastal radar installations, surveillance sites, drone launch positions, anti-ship cruise missiles, and more than 60 fast attack boats. belonging to Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the IRGC. Those are the small craft that the Guard uses as part of their effort to harass commercial shipping in the Persian Gulf. In a statement, CENTCOM said the strikes were intended to, quote, impose heavy costs on Iran for attacking innocent civilian shipping in international waters. The military added that the operation has concluded for now, but warned that U.S. forces remain fully prepared to respond again should Iran continue violating the agreement.
Iranian state media acknowledged explosions near Bandar Abbas, Kashmir Island, and several other coastal locations, though officials have not released casualty figures or provided an assessment of the damage. But Washington's response wasn't limited to military action. In a move that could ultimately prove just as consequential, the Trump administration also revoked the recently approved Treasury license that had allowed Iran to openly sell crude oil on international markets as part of last month's MOU. That license represented one of Tehran's biggest economic victories under the ceasefire. For the first time in years, Iran had been permitted to conduct oil sales openly and receive payment in U.S.
dollars, rather than relying on sanctions evasion networks and discounted sales primarily to China. With that waiver now revoked, the economic pressure campaign against the Iranian regime appears to be back on. Iran, for its part, quickly condemned both the military strikes and the restoration of oil sanctions, accusing Washington of violating the ceasefire agreement. Iranian officials argued that the U.S. had breached the deal not only by attacking Iranian territory, but also by refusing to recognize Tehran's claimed authority over shipping routes through the Strait of Hormuz, and by continuing to support Israeli military operations against Hezbollah in Lebanon.
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