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WSJ What’s News

How Iran Devastated an American Naval Base in the Middle East

26 Jun 2026

Transcription

Transcript generated automatically by AI and may contain errors.

Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?

0.115 - 18.905 Alex Ossola

OpenAI limits access to its newest models, citing the U.S. government's concerns about its security. Plus, a Wall Street Journal analysis shows that Iran's attacks on an American naval base caused extensive damage, pushing the U.S. to reconsider its presence in the region.

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19.186 - 30.744 Shelby Holliday

This was a very high-intensity war. Iran fired more than 8,000 missiles and drones during the conflict. Some of those missiles and drones got through U.S. air defenses and hit U.S. bases, including the base in Bahrain.

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Chapter 2: What damage did Iran inflict on the American naval base in Bahrain?

31.345 - 33.328 Shelby Holliday

And when they did hit, they were very precise.

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33.948 - 59.542 Alex Ossola

And want to skip the line? Our travel columnist tried out the TSA's latest experiment to cut down on time spent at airport security. It's Friday, June 26th. I'm Alex Oseleff for The Wall Street Journal. This is the PM edition of What's News? The top headlines and business stories that move the world today. This just in, the U.S. has launched a fresh attack on Iran. U.S.

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59.562 - 77.811 Alex Ossola

Central Command said the strikes hit Iranian drone storage locations and coastal radar sites and are in response to the attack Iran launched yesterday on commercial ships in the Strait of Hormuz. Earlier, President Trump said Iran violated the ceasefire with that attack. It's the latest sign that the fragile ceasefire between the two countries is breaking apart.

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77.791 - 98.553 Alex Ossola

For more on this developing news, head to WSJ.com. And later in this program, we'll have more on Iran's ability to hit U.S. assets in the region. Two U.S. senators are calling for a federal investigation into PolyMarket. Utah Republican John Curtis and California Democrat Adam Schiff sent a letter to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission's chairman yesterday.

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98.974 - 113.552 Alex Ossola

They're asking regulators to probe PolyMarket's social media promotion of fake bets. That comes after The Wall Street Journal reported on the prediction market's deceptive marketing practices. Reporter Caitlin Ostroff told our Tech News Briefing podcast earlier this week about what the journal found.

113.532 - 132.951

Our reporting found that Polymarket paid people to create videos where they show these trades, where they show themselves betting on the platform, but that Polymarket, one, directed them not to disclose that they were being paid by Polymarket. After we reached out about Polymarket's marketing techniques, the creators began disclosing that they were Polymarket partners.

133.391 - 141.379

But also we found that all of the trades placed in these videos created by these creators, none of them were actually on Polymarket's website.

141.359 - 159.534 Alex Ossola

The Journal has learned that the Commodity Futures Trading Commission is in the midst of a continuing investigation into Polymarket. The investigation hasn't been previously reported. A Polymarket spokesperson declined to comment on the letter and the investigation. And we should note that Polymarket has a data partnership with Dow Jones, the publisher of The Wall Street Journal.

159.915 - 178.446 Alex Ossola

The Journal used only publicly available data for its analysis. In other tech news, OpenAI has released its latest models under the umbrella name of GPT-5.6. But for now, they're only being made available to a small group of customers approved by the Trump administration, in light of discussions between OpenAI and the White House.

Chapter 3: How did the U.S. respond to Iran's missile and drone attacks?

290.394 - 315.791 Alex Ossola

The Dow managed to eke out a small gain of 0.6 percent for the week. John Bolton pleaded guilty today to mishandling classified information when he collected notes for a memoir that painted an unflattering portrait of President Trump. Bolton, who's 77, was a national security advisor to the president during his first term. Bolton agreed to plead guilty as part of a deal with prosecutors.

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316.172 - 335.72 Alex Ossola

He'll also pay a more than $2 million fine and could receive up to five years in prison at a sentencing later this year. The plea is arguably the most significant win in President Trump's effort to prosecute his perceived political enemies. Separately, the president is threatening to increase tariffs on European nations if they follow through on new taxes on U.S. tech companies.

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336.2 - 356.96 Alex Ossola

He said on social media that any country that imposes a digital services tax, quote, will immediately be met with a 100 percent tariff. For years, European countries have considered imposing taxes on big tech firms like Amazon and Meta. Some, such as France, already have them. Coming up, our investigation into the extent of the damage Iran has dealt to the U.S.

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356.92 - 385.842 Alex Ossola

's only naval base in the Middle East. That's after the break. The U.S. 's naval base in Bahrain has anchored American naval power in the Middle East for more than three decades. And it was repeatedly targeted over the past few months of war with Iran. A Wall Street Journal analysis found that strikes caused extensive damage, which the Pentagon hasn't publicly acknowledged.

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386.303 - 404.072 Alex Ossola

The damage to America's only naval base in the Middle East has the U.S. reevaluating its entire footprint in the region. For more, I'm joined now by WSJ senior video and national security correspondent Shelby Holliday. Shelby, let's start with what we know about these strikes. How many were there and what kind of damage did they inflict?

404.137 - 418.698 Shelby Holliday

This was a very high-intensity war, and Iran fired more than 8,000 missiles and drones during the conflict. Some of those missiles and drones got through U.S. air defenses and hit U.S. bases, including the base in Bahrain. And when they did hit, they were very precise.

418.998 - 438.355 Shelby Holliday

The hits at the Bahrain facility in particular were looking at two satellite communications terminals and about a dozen buildings. Central Command, which oversees the war, said that the U.S. rightfully prioritized the safety of people over buildings. And they pointed to this fact that nobody died on the base. But across the Middle East, there were injuries.

438.495 - 442.683 Shelby Holliday

And two of the strikes, one in Kuwait and one in Saudi, did result in American casualties.

443.144 - 450.597 Alex Ossola

The military hasn't publicly acknowledged this damage to the base in Bahrain. So how does the journal know? What was the reporting for this like?

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