PDB Situation Report | March 28th, 2026: The Most Dangerous Phase of the Iran War Yet & Ukrainian Forces Gain Ground Against Russia
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What is the current status of the Iran War as of March 2026?
Welcome to the PDB Situation Report. I'm Mike Baker. Your eyes and ears on the world stage and what a stage it is. All right, let's get briefed. First up, the war with Iran hits the one month mark. Time flies as U.S. and Israeli airstrikes continue and attention shifts to the increasingly volatile Strait of Hormuz. We'll be joined by Steve Yates of the Heritage Foundation for more on that. And then later in the show, after months of grinding stalemate, Ukraine pushes back in the south, taking more ground than Russia for the first time in years. We'll be joined by George Barros of the Institute for the Study of War for those details.
How are U.S. and Israeli airstrikes impacting Iran's military capabilities?
But first, today's Situation Report Spotlight. Well, we're now one month into the war between the US, Israel, and Iran, and the air campaign shows no signs of slowing. US and Israeli strikes continue to target Iran's military infrastructure and leadership, while Tehran continues to respond with missile and drone strike attacks against Israel and its Gulf neighbors. At the same time, there are mixed signals of a diplomatic track, public talk of off-ramps paired with continued military pressure. And increasingly, the focus has shifted to the Strait of Hormuz, where the risk to global shipping and energy markets is becoming harder to ignore, as tensions play out along one of the world's most critical choke points.
For more on this, let me bring in Steve Yates. He's a former Deputy National Security Advisor to the Vice President and Senior Research Fellow at the Heritage Foundation, and also, might I add, a great friend of the show. Steve, great to see you again, man. Thank you, Mike. Thanks for having me back.
What are the implications of the Strait of Hormuz on global shipping?
Absolutely. Well, I didn't have any say in the matter. That's always great. Well, thanks for not vetoing. I don't have that authority. I can't veto anything. All right, Iran. Good God, where do we start? I tell you what, where do you want to start?
Well, I mean, we are in the middle at the moment.
What recent developments have occurred in the Ukraine conflict?
So I think we're in one of those situations where things could break in ways that are very risky. But in many ways, I don't know how you see it, Mike, but I mean, I don't think we could have asked more of our military in terms of the major military operations. They're doing all the things. that should be done we don't live in a world of perfection but they've had a pretty high success rate in establishing air dominance c dominance signals dominance uh the the interaction with israel division of labor with israel i think is historic again i don't know how you see it but i've never seen the united states this seamlessly work in joint capacity with an ally and if i'm an ally around the world there's a lot of chatter about that these days we hear all the time
But if I'm an ally of the United States, I'd say I'd like to have a little bit of that Israel situation going on if I'm ever facing hardship. These guys have the technology and the U.S. is definitely standing with them in this. So there's some glass half full parts of this. But as I would acknowledge, I talked with a friend this morning, 20 years ago, we're at the beginning of the Iraq stuff. And after major military operations, it looked pretty darn good.
How has Ukraine regained territory against Russian forces?
And we found a genius way to lose the peace for a better part of 10 years.
Yeah, that's a great way to put it. I guess it depends on what your metrics are when you're talking about defining success, right? And I agree with you 100%. From an operational perspective, if we're talking about the military's ability to seriously degrade Iran's military capabilities, then I don't see how you don't look at this as an operational success. If you look at it, as you pointed out, there are some areas where the glasses have fallen. I think we need to address those. Let's talk about the Strait of Hormuz. Let's talk about its importance. And let's start with this.
What are the factors driving Ukraine's recent military successes?
I'll tell you the truth. I've been somewhat surprised that It appears, and I'm sure that I'm wrong here, but it does appear this way, and perception's important, that the White House has been surprised that the straight became the leverage point, that the straight became the focus here.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What is the current status of the Iran War as of March 2026?
0:12–0:50
2
How are U.S. and Israeli airstrikes impacting Iran's military capabilities?
0:50–1:50
3
What are the implications of the Strait of Hormuz on global shipping?
1:50–2:14
4
What recent developments have occurred in the Ukraine conflict?
2:14–3:25
5
How has Ukraine regained territory against Russian forces?
3:25–4:17
6
What are the factors driving Ukraine's recent military successes?
4:17–5:05
7
How are geopolitical tensions affecting U.S. military strategy?
5:05–6:05
8
What are the potential future scenarios for Ukraine and Iran?
6:05–56:28
Speakers
2 identifiedMore from The President's Daily Brief
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PDB Afternoon Bulletin | September 22nd, 2026: Tehran Offers To Reopen Hormuz & North Korea’s New Weapon
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