PDB Afternoon Bulletin | September 9th, 2026: U.S. Takes Out Eight Iranian Tankers & China Accused of AI Copying
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What is the latest update on the U.S.–Iran maritime confrontation?
The other thing card.
It's Wednesday, the 9th of September. Welcome to the PDB afternoon bulletin. Okay, maybe the late afternoon bulletin today. I'm Mike Baker, your eyes and ears on the world stage. All right, let's get briefed. First up, the U.S. and Iran are escalating their attacks at sea, with eight Iranian tankers now destroyed or disabled since Saturday, and civilian shipping increasingly getting caught in the middle. rose over one hundred dollars per barrel in response. Later in the show, US intelligence agencies accused some of China's biggest AI companies of systematically copying American models, raising new concerns about Beijing's race to close the technology gap. But first, today's afternoon spotlight. The tanker war between the US and Iran exploded overnight.
That's that's wordplay right there. The latest round began after Central Command said Iran twice attempted to strike a US Navy warship with ballistic missiles over the past two days. The attacks failed, according to the military, and no American personnel were injured. Washington responded by striking five Iranian oil tankers, including one operating near Carg Island, the center of Iran's oil export infrastructure. The crews were ordered off the vessels before the strikes, and Central Command says all five were rendered inoperable. That brings the total number of Iranian tankers destroyed or disabled by the U.S. since Saturday to eight. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said. Said Wednesday that every time Iran attempts to strike an American naval vessel, the regime should expect to lose more tankers.
That formula has played out twice in less than a week. Iran targets American warships, and the U.S. responds by destroying Iranian oil shipping assets. But Tehran's retaliation overnight suggests that it has no intention of giving in.
How many Iranian tankers have been destroyed or disabled since Saturday and why?
The Revolutionary Guard Corps, the IRGC, He says it attacked ten vessels around the Strait of Hormuz, including two American ships and eight tankers. The U.S. military disputes Iran's claim that American warships were actually hit, but commercial vessels were caught in the attacks. One of them was the New Andros, the Panama flagged tanker carrying roughly two million barrels of Iraqi fuel oil. The ship was struck by a drone in Iraqi territory. Waters and caught fire, though all 22 crew members survived, and Iraqi officials say there was no major cargo leak. Another tanker, the Hercules Star, was hit while anchored off Dubai. Its charterer says one crew member was killed and another remains missing. British Maritime Authorities also reported several merchant vessels coming under disabling fire in the Northern Gulf and the Gulf of Oman.
That marks an important escalation in this tanker fight. For months Washington and Tehran have largely concentrated their attacks on vessels they directly associated with the other side. Now, civilian crews and cargo belonging to third countries are increasingly getting caught in the crossfire. And Iran's retaliation was not limited to the waterway. The Revolutionary Guard Corps also launched 20 ballistic missiles toward Al-Azraq Air Base in eastern Jordan, which is used by American forces. Jordan says its air defenses intercepted 18 of them, while the remaining two fell in unpopulated areas, and no casualties were reported. Iran claims that attack caused significant damage. U.S. officials say it did not.
Not. But Tehran is already warning that the next round could be larger, with Iranian officials saying that if the U.S. attacks two or three Iranian targets, Iran could respond by striking twenty U.S. targets. So Washington is openly trying to impose a steep and predictable cost for attacks on American forces. Iran, meanwhile, is threatening to increase the scale of its retaliation. And while that cycle continues, Commercial traffic to the Strait of Hormuz remains badly constrained. Shipping data shows just six commodity vessels crossed the strait on Tuesday. Five were headed into the Gulf, only one was leaving. Before the war, roughly one hundred and twenty five commercial vessels crossed the Strait of Hormuz every day.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What is the latest update on the U.S.–Iran maritime confrontation?
0:01–2:02
2
How many Iranian tankers have been destroyed or disabled since Saturday and why?
2:02–4:22
3
What impact is the tanker war having on global oil prices and market reactions?
4:22–7:40
4
How are civilian shipping and commercial traffic through the Strait of Hormuz being affected?
7:40–9:21
5
Why are U.S. agencies accusing major Chinese AI firms of copying American models?
9:21–12:27
6
What is AI distillation and how are Chinese companies allegedly using it to steal U.S. technology?
12:27–15:41
7
What tactics did Chinese developers employ to hide their large‑scale data mining of U.S. AI services?
15:41–16:47
8
What can American AI companies and the U.S. government do to counter systematic copying?
16:47–17:17
Speakers
1 identifiedMore from The President's Daily Brief
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