The President's Daily Brief - PDB Afternoon Bulletin | March 11th, 2026: Chaos In The Strait Of Hormuz & Moscow’s Advice To Iran

Episode Date: March 11, 2026

In this episode of The PDB Afternoon Bulletin: First up — the Strait of Hormuz is rapidly turning into a war zone as multiple cargo ships are struck by projectiles in a single day. We’ll examine the latest attacks on commercial shipping and why the geography of this narrow waterway gives Iran a dangerous advantage as tensions escalate in the Persian Gulf. Later in the show — new reporting raises fresh questions about Russia’s role in the conflict. Intelligence sources say Moscow may be advising Iran on drone tactics, potentially helping Tehran refine the attacks now being launched across the region. 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 HomeServe: Protect your home systems from costly repairs with HomeServe—plans start at $4.99/month at https://HomeServe.com.  Cardiff: Get fast business funding without bank delays—apply in minutes with Cardiff and access up to $500,000 in same‑day funding at https://Cardiff.co/PDB  StopBox: Get firearm security redesigned and save 10% off @StopBoxUSA with code PDB10 at https://stopboxusa.com/PDB10 #stopboxpod Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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up attacks on commercial shipping in the narrow waterway. Later in the show, new reporting raises fresh questions about Russia's role in the conflict, as intelligence sources say Moscow may be advising Iran on drone tactics. But first, today's afternoon spotlight. The Strait of Hormuz is rapidly becoming one of the most impactful flashpoints in the war with Iran. And today, the chaos in that narrow stretch of water escalated yet again. According to maritime authorities, at least three commercial vessels were struck by projectiles near the Strait on Wednesday. One bulk carrier was hit roughly 50 nautical miles northwest of Dubai. Another cargo ship caught fire after being struck near Oman's Musandam Peninsula, forcing the crew to abandon the vessel. At a third cargo ship reported

damage off the coast of the United Arab Emirates. All told, maritime officials now say 13 vessels have been attacked in the Persian Gulf region since the current round of fighting began on the 28th of February. Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the IRGC, has already claimed responsibility for today's attacks. Oh, well, nice of them to clear that up. According to Iranian-State-linked media, the IRGC says it fired on a Thai-flagged bulk carrier called the Maury-Neri and a Liberian-flagged vessel named an express Rome after the ships allegedly ignored warnings from Iranian naval forces. Now, the message from Tehran is becoming increasingly clear. Iran intends to turn the Strait of Hormuz into a battlefield. Now, we already know how critical this trade is for global energy

trade. What's worth focusing on today is the geography, because the geography is what makes the waterways so vulnerable. At its narrowest point, the Strait of Hormuz is only about 21 miles across, but the actual shipping lanes used by tankers, well, they're far smaller, just a couple of miles wide in each direction, separated by a narrow buffer zone. That means hundreds of massive commercial vessels are funneled through an extremely tight corridor every day, and critically, much of the northern shoreline of that corridor belongs to Iran. And that gives Tehran a significant tactical advantage. For years, Iranian military planners have studied how to disrupt traffic through the strait using asymmetric tactics, everything from fast attack boats and anti-ship missiles

to drones and naval mines. And that last weapon, mines, may be the real concern right now. A recent report from the U.S. Congress estimates that Iran possesses somewhere between 5,000 and 6,000 naval mines, but Iran doesn't need delay thousands of mines, even a relatively small number of them in the narrow shipping lanes of the strait could create a serious disruption. Clearing mined waters is a slow and painstaking process that can take days or even weeks. And that helps explain why the U.S. is already taking aggressive action. U.S. Central Command confirmed this week that American forces sank 16 Iranian vessels believed to be capable of laying naval mines near the Strait of Homoos. But here's the important point. Iran doesn't need to formally close the strait completely

to achieve its goals. Commercial shipping companies rely heavily on insurance to operate in conflict zones. If insurers determine that the risk has become too great, or if ship crews begin refusing to sail through the region, taker traffic will grind to a halt, even if the straight technically remains open. In other words, a handful of well-timed attacks could have an outsized impact on the global energy market, and that is what we're seeing currently. And it's worth noting that the vessels targeted so far have not been American warships. They've been commercial cargo ships, flying flags from countries all over the world. That means the economic consequences of this confrontation extend far beyond Washington and Tehran. China, Europe, India, Japan, many other countries rely heavily on oil shipments that pass through

the Strait of Hormuz, which brings us to the broader strategic picture. For much of this war, the focus has been on air strikes and missile attacks inside Iran, and the Iranian regime fully understands their inability to fight toe-to-to-to with the U.S. and Israel, and that's why, increasingly, the waters of the Persian Gulf and especially the Strait of Hormuz are grabbing the headlines. It's one of the few ways that Iran has to threaten the global economy directly and pressure the international community to their advantage. The regime likely understands the impact that rising fuel prices and global economic instability will have on the Trump administration's thinking. In a sense, the Iranian leadership appears to be better.

that this is Trump's weak point, and the most effective way to get him to declare victory and end the military operation. Coming up next, new reporting suggests Russia may be helping Iran refine its drone attacks, raising new questions about Moscow's role in the conflict. I'll be right back. Hey, Mike Baker here, with an important message for homeowners. Now, look, if you're a homeowner like me, you know that things never break around the house when it's convenient, right? Like the heater that conks out in the dead of winter or the AC system that gives out in the middle of summer. Well, look, we insure our health and we insure our cars, but our biggest investment often is uncovered for everyday breakdowns, and homeowners insurance usually leaves you paying

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Welcome back to the PDB afternoon bulletin. What began as concerns that Russia might be sharing drone targeting information with Iran now appears to be expanding. New intelligence suggests Moscow may be helping the regime refine its drone tactics against U.S. assets, drawing on its experience from Putin's four-year invasion of Ukraine. Now, if you've been following, our coverage of the U.S.-Israeli conflict against Iran, you may recall that we talked about an earlier report, suggesting that Moscow had already been passing along targeting information to the Iranian

regime, specifically information about the movements of American warships, aircraft, and other military assets operating across the Middle East. At the time, that raised a serious question, had a major U.S. adversary quietly begun helping the regime target American interests and the U.S. allies in the region. At the time, the Trump administration dismissed those reports, stating that even if Russia was providing that support, it would have no impact on U.S. operations. Well, it now appears, according to further reporting, that Moscow's support to Iran may be more extensive than originally claimed. According to an exclusive report from CNN, what may have started as intelligence sharing could now be evolving into something more operational. In other words, the issue may no longer be

whether Russia is helping Iran locate targets. The bigger question now is whether Moscow is helping the regime figure out how to strike those targets more effectively. What we're learning now is that Russia may be assisting Iran with advanced drone tactics, specifically the kind that Moscow is refined during its four-year war against Ukraine using the same Iranian-designed Shahed drones. In other words, what goes around comes around. Iran over the past four years has provided Russia with extensive drone support, and Russia may now be returning the favor. Because those drones, which have since been mass produced by Russia, have proven to be far more effective than military analysts initially expected at penetrating air defenses, particularly across the Gulf region. And that's the part that should

get Washington's attention. The new reporting suggests something more specific, tactical guidance, on deploying Iranian-made drones in ways that make them harder to intercept. According to a Western an intelligence official who spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the intelligence, exactly which tactics are being shared remains unclear. But if you look at how Russia has used Shahed drones against Ukraine, now the picture starts to come into focus. Moscow has repeatedly launched those drones and coordinated waves, sending multiple aircraft at once and sometimes altering their flight paths mid-course to complicate interception and overwhelm air defense systems. Now, U.S. Special Envoy Steve Whitkov said Russia denied

sharing intelligence with Iran about American military assets in the Middle East. Well, okay. I mean, if they deny it, then I'm sure that's the case. According to Whitkoff, that denial was conveyed during President Trump's phone call on Monday with Russian President Putin. Whitkoff said the message was later reiterated in a separate conversation between himself, senior Trump advisor Jared Kushner, and Kremlin foreign policy aide Yuri Ushikov. Well, I suppose if they've said it more than one time, then it must be true. Whitkoff noted that the administration could, take Moscow at its word. But he also acknowledged that the real answer would ultimately come from the intelligence community. I'm sorry, did Whitkov say that the White House could take Moscow at its word?

I mean, at least, to be fair, he acknowledged that they might want to check to see what the intel community thinks. And right now, the emerging intel is telling a different story. Gulf Air defenses are facing Iranian drones that appear to be benefiting from those operational methods that Russia has deployed to deadly effect against Ukraine. Now, in the cataping, Now, in the category of, for what it's worth, it does not appear to be a stretch of the imagination to believe that the Kremlin is aiding Tehran, nor is it a stretch to imagine that the White House is not keen to widen this conflict by acknowledging Russia's role in supporting Iran. And that desire to avoid making Russia part of an already complicated conflict may account

for their willingness to dismiss the reporting and pretend publicly that this isn't happening. And that, my friends, is the PDB afternoon bulletin for Wednesday, the 11th of March. Now, if you have any questions or comments, and I hope you do, please reach out to me at PDB at thefirsttv.com. And to listen to the show ad-free, you can do that. It really is very simple. Just become a premium member of the president's daily brief by visiting PDB premium.com. I'm Mike Baker, and I'll be back tomorrow. Until then, stay informed. Stay safe. Stay cool. Hey, Mike Baker here with an important tip for home safety. Now, if you own a handgun, this message is for you. Look, handgun owners know this, that often your weapon storage options likely fall into two frustrating categories,

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