PDB Situation Report | January 31st, 2026: American Firepower Gathers at Iran’s Doorstep & The Cost of Putin’s War
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What military power is gathering at Iran's doorstep?
Welcome to the PDB Situation Report. I'm Mike Baker, your eyes and ears on the world stage, and yes, still struggling with a hoarse voice. All right, let's get briefed. First up, well, American military power is gathering at Iran's doorstep, of course, with U.S. warships and air support now in place across the region. We'll talk to Richard Goldberg of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies about what Washington may be preparing for. Later in the show, we break down a new study detailing the human cost of Russia's war in Ukraine, and it is significant. Seth Jones, one of the authors of the study, will join us for more. But first, today's Situation Report Spotlight. U.S. military power is now massed just off Iran's doorstep, with American warships backed by aircraft and missile defenses taking up position across the region.
The deployment gives President Trump a full menu of military options as pressure mounts on the Iranian regime. The buildup is designed to send a clear message. Washington is prepared to act if the mullahs and the IRGC aren't willing to cut a deal. Joining me for more on this is Richard Goldberg.
What signals is the U.S. sending to Tehran with its military deployment?
He's a senior advisor at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. Richard is also a former director of the White House National Security Council and a former Navy Reserve intelligence officer with experience on the joint staff and in Afghanistan. Richard, thanks very much for joining us here on The Situation Report. Great to be here. Excellent. Well, and you're going to have to suffer through this hoarse voice of mine. Let's start from 30,000 feet. Is Washington planning a military operation on Iran?
Well, Washington has certainly built many contingency options for a military option against Iran. That is certainly the case. We have gone from three guided missile destroyers in or near Iran The Arabian Sea, Persian Gulf area and the Red Sea to now up to seven, I would say, destroyers as of as of this week. Seeing three coming with the carrier strike group. Lincoln coming from the Indo-Pacific now on station. Three that were already there and another one that just transited via the Suez.
What are the potential military options Washington is considering?
plus many fighter squadrons being flown in, other support aircraft. That's a lot of firepower if you're just coming to say hello to the Supreme Leader.
Yeah, no, well, point taken. I guess it's not really a perfect analogy, but we saw a very large buildup in the Caribbean, which was outsized, if all we were doing was a counter-narcotics operation. And then, of course, they conducted a military operation, captured Maduro. But with Iran, look, it's been, I don't know the exact number of days, but it's been a couple of weeks since President Trump made that comment that help is on its way. You know, even encouraging, in his words, for the protesters to seize institutions. Now, in your estimate, I mean, is that was that just off the cuff? I mean, obviously, you know, he can do that in his comments. But that's a very hopeful statement to give to protesters losing their lives on the streets to the Iranian regime.
I think a couple of things happened here. Number one, the president did want to see what would happen if more and more people came out. Was this regime teetering? Would people open fire? Would actually something happen that pushes this regime into collapse? They must have seen the intel. The Wall Street Journal then reported...
What are the human costs of Russia's war in Ukraine?
A bank collapse inside the country, five other banks apparently teetering on collapse, the currency in free fall, water crisis, a power crisis with rolling blackouts for several weeks, all of this leading up to this national uprising. And then slowly but surely, the information coming forward, and I think they were a bit slow on being able to validate this, opposition sources were saying, we have more people in the streets than you had in 2009 during the Green Revolution, and certainly more throughout the country at that point. By the time we could validate that, and then also understanding the violence that was being committed, initial reports were saying a few dozen, a couple hundred.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What military power is gathering at Iran's doorstep?
0:12–1:23
2
What signals is the U.S. sending to Tehran with its military deployment?
1:23–2:32
3
What are the potential military options Washington is considering?
2:32–3:54
4
What are the human costs of Russia's war in Ukraine?
3:54–4:57
5
What insights does Seth Jones provide about battlefield losses in Ukraine?
4:57–14:16
6
How do the casualty figures in Ukraine compare to historical conflicts?
14:16–15:47
7
What are the implications of the casualty ratios for Russia and Ukraine?
15:47–25:42
8
How does China's support impact Iran's military capabilities?
25:42–53:26
Speakers
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