The President's Daily Brief - PDB Afternoon Bulletin | July 7th, 2026: Iran Resumes Attacks On Commercial Ships In Hormuz & Russian Forces Attacked In Mali

Episode Date: July 7, 2026

In this episode of The PDB Afternoon Bulletin: First up— just days after another round of U.S.-Iran negotiations ended without a breakthrough, Iran is accused of launching missile attacks on commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz. Later in the show— Russia's campaign in Africa is encountering fresh trouble. We'll take you to Mali, where Tuareg fighters claim they've shot down one of Moscow's attack helicopters. To listen to the show ad-free, become a premium member of The President’s Daily Brief by visiting https://PDBPremium.com. Please remember to subscribe if you enjoyed this episode of The President's Daily Brief. YouTube: youtube.com/@presidentsdailybrief Acre Gold: Turn your pocket change into physical 24-karat gold and enter to win a limited-edition Hot Wheels gold bar at https://GetAcreGold.com/PDB QUO: Make this the season where no opportunity slips away. Try QUO for free PLUS get 20% off your first 6 months when you go to https://Quo.com/PDB Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It's Tuesday, the 7th 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, just days after another round of U.S. Iran indirect negotiations ended without a breakthrough, Iran is accused of launching missile attacks on commercial shipping. It's almost like the regime hasn't read the memorandum of understanding. It's a memorandum of misunderstanding. I'll have the details. Later in the show, Russia's shenanigans in Africa are encountering trouble. We'll take you to Mali, where Tuareg fighters claim they've shot down one of Moscow's attack helicopters. But first, today's afternoon spotlight. If you were wondering how the latest round of U.S. Iran negotiations have been going, well, I believe we may have gotten our answer overnight. Less than three weeks after agreeing to supposedly halt attacks in the Strait of Hormuz as part of a supposed memorandum of understanding,

with the U.S., Iran continues to behave as if they control the waterway. Late Monday night, Iran reportedly fired missiles at two commercial vessels transiting the strait. If those reports are confirmed, it would mark one of the most serious violations yet of the MOU and raise further questions about whether diplomacy can survive, yet another exchange of missile and drone attacks. Here's what we know. The late Monday night, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations Agency received a distress

report from a tanker sailing southbound near the Omani coast. According to the agency, the vessel was struck on its port side by an unidentified projectile, sparking a fire on board. Soon afterward, Axios reported that two U.S. officials had identified the projectile as an Iranian missile, fired by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the IRGC. According to those officials, a second commercial vessel was also struck in the same area. Both ships reportedly suffered significant damage, though there have been no reported fatalities. Maritime security sources later identified the vessels as the Saudi-flagged crude oil supertanker Wedjan and the Qatari-liquified natural gas carrier Al-Rekiat. The LNG tanker reportedly suffered a hit near the top of its engine room,

triggering a fire and forcing the crew to send out a Mayday call before abandoning the vessel. Now, beyond the immediate damage to the ships, these attacks strike, of course, at the core of the U.S. Iran ceasefire. or whatever you call this pretend ceasefire in agreement. One of the central provisions in the memorandum signed after the war was Iran's commitment to stop targeting commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz. That promise was intended to restore confidence in one of the world's most vital energy choke points. But as we've discussed here on the PDB over the past several weeks, the ceasefire never actually

resolve the underlying dispute over who controls access to the strait. And it never really ceased the firing. missiles and drones have been exchanged sporadically over the past few weeks as the Iranian regime continues to try and assert control over which vessels can transit the strait and under what terms. As a result, shipping companies have remained very cautious and skeptical. Insurance premiums have stayed elevated. Many commercial operators have continued delaying voyages or have been rerouting vessels despite the agreement. Last week's indirect negotiations in Doha reportedly made little progress on the issue

leaving the safe passage provisions largely unresolved. Adding to those concerns, the IRGC reportedly spent the weekend warning merchant vessels to abandon the internationally recognized shipping corridor near Oman and instead travel through routes designated by Iran. According to reporting from the Wall Street Journal, some ships received radio warnings declaring that Iranian missiles and drones were ready to fire if they failed to comply. That's left commercial shipping in an increasingly impossible position. position. They can follow the internationally recognized transit lane and the vessels risk

becoming targets. They can shift into Iranian designated waters, and shipping companies effectively will be acknowledging Tehran's claim that it controls passage through the strait. That uncertainty is precisely what the ceasefire was supposed to eliminate. Instead, Monday night's reported missile strikes suggests that reality is nothing's changed. The Trump administration has not yet announced how it intends to respond, but if U.S. intelligence concludes Iran deliberately targeted civilian shipping, Washington will come under significant pressure to retaliate. At the very least, the attacks are likely to complicate, already stalled negotiations aimed at turning the temporary ceasefire into a more durable agreement. Well, given how ineffective this current MOU has been,

it's a bit whimsical to talk about a more durable agreement. For now, investigators are still working to fully establish what happened. Luckily for the investigators, you don't need to be Poirot to determine if an Iranian missile hit a commercial vessel. So we should have confirmation shortly. Coming up next, the Kremlin's influence campaign in Africa has suffered another potential blow. We'll look at reports that Russian forces lost an attack helicopter during fierce fighting in Mali and what that could mean for Moscow's regional ambitions. I'll be right back.

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We've spent years focused on Russia's war in Ukraine, but there's another battlefield where Moscow is increasingly finding itself under pressure, and it's received very little attention. In recent days, armed groups across the West African country of Mali launched one of their largest coordinated offensives in months. Amid the fighting, Tuareg rebels claim they've shot down one of Russia's attack helicopters. Now, that matters because Russia isn't simply supplying weapons to Mali anymore. Its own forces, Russian forces, are now fighting and increasingly coming under attack alongside that country's military.

So, you ask, how did Russia end up fighting a war in Mali in the first place? It all sounds a bit cold warish. Over the weekend, coordinated attacks erupted across northern, central, and southern Mali, targeting military positions, including several bases where Mali's armed forces are deployed. Molly's military government says it repelled the assaults with support from Africa Corps. That's the Kremlin-controlled force that replaced Russia's Wagner group in the country, and that the situation, they said, is now, quote, totally under control. Ah, totally.

According to the government, its forces killed 26 militants, while one pro-government fighter was killed and four others were wounded. But the insurgents are telling a different story. New reporting from Al Jazeera indicates the attacks were claimed by two separate armed groups. the Tuareg-led Oswald Liberation Front, or the FLA, and the Al-Qaeda-linked terrorist organization, better known as J-N-N-I-M. Now, that alliance may seem surprising to those of you who keep up with international affairs. The FLA is a separatist movement rooted in northern Mali's Tuareg population. Its goal is to establish an independent homeland. The organization itself formed in 2024,

after several Tuareg separatist groups, united under a single-coing. coalition. But Jainim, on the other hand, is one of Al-Qaeda's strongest regional affiliates, operating across Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso. It formed in 2017 through the merger of several jihadist groups, and its objective is not Tuareg independence, but expanding Islamist control, replacing the Malian state. But despite those very different goals, the two groups have repeatedly found common cause against the same enemies, Mali's military government, and the foreign forces backing it. One of the biggest claims on the weekend came from the FLA, which says its fighter shot down a Russian-operated MI-24 hind attack helicopter as it attempted to reinforce government

positions. Videos released by the rebels appear to show the helicopter crashing and burning. However, neither Russia nor Mali confirmed the loss. If confirmed, the loss would represent one of the most significant battlefield setbacks for Russia's mission in Mali in recent months. And that's because Russia's biggest battlefield advantage in northern Mali is airpower. Across the country's vast desert terrain, MI24-hind helicopters escort military convoys and provide close air support for Russian and Malian ground forces. Now for context, the Tuareg people have lived across the Sahara for centuries, and many in northern Mali have long accused the government of economic neglect, political marginalization,

and cultural discrimination. Following the 2011 collapse of Libyan dictator Murmhar Gaddafi's regime, thousands of Tuareg mercenaries who had fought for Gaddafi returned home from Libya with modern weapons and years of battlefield experience. They quickly overwhelmed government forces across northern Mali and declared the region of Azawad Independent. At first the rebellion appeared to succeed, but it didn't remain in a separatist movement for long.

Al-Qaeda linked jihadist groups quickly exploited the chaos, hijacked the uprising, pushed many of the Tuareg rebels aside, and seized key cities across northern Mali. Suddenly, what had begun as an ethnic separatist rebellion became an international counterterrorism crisis. France intervened in 2013 to stop the jihadists, while the UN later deployed peacekeepers to help stabilize the country. But after several military coups, Mali's ruling Hunter expelled French troops and UN peacekeepers. Russia, though, was more than willing to step in. Unlike the West, Moscow offered military support

with very few political strings attached, such as democratic reforms and election timelines. Well, I, for one, am shocked that the Kremlin didn't prioritize democracy and elections. For the Kremlin, Mali, represents a foothold for influence in Africa and access to natural resources. So Russia supplied weapons and fighters, transforming the conflict from one backed by foreign

advisors into one in which Russian forces fight alongside Mali's military. That also helps explain why the reported location of the helicopter shootdown matters. According to the FLA, the Russian helicopter was heading toward Anafiz, one of the military government's last major staging areas near rebel-held territory. Holding Anafis allows the junta and its Russian allies to reinforce northern front lines. For the rebels, isolating the town makes that significantly harder. So Russia entered Molly, promising it could succeed where France and the UN failed. Instead, Molly's security crisis continues to deepen. Russian personnel are now directly exposed to an insurgency made up of separatist rebels and al-Qaeda-linked militants. And that, my friends, is the PDB afternoon

bulletin for Tuesday, the 7th of July. Now, if you have any questions or comments, please reach out to me at PDB at thefirsttv.com. And of course, to listen to the show ad-free, you can do that. It's Very simple. Just become a premium member of the president's daily brief by visiting PDBpremium.com. I'm Mike Baker, and I'll be back tomorrow. Until then, stay informed. Stay safe. Stay cool.