The President's Daily Brief - PDB Afternoon Bulletin | March 3rd, 2026: Israel Hits Council Choosing Iran’s Next Leader & Drones Hit U.S. Embassy

Episode Date: March 3, 2026

In this episode of The PDB Afternoon Bulletin: First up — Israel strikes the very body responsible for selecting Iran’s next supreme leader, targeting members of the Council of Experts in what appears to be a calculated move to prolong Tehran’s leadership vacuum and prevent the regime from consolidating power after the death of Ayatollah Khamenei. We examine what this means for Iran’s internal stability and whether the Islamic Republic can reestablish command and control. Later in the show — Iran escalates further, launching drone strikes against the U.S. Embassy in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia’s capital. While casualties were limited, the attack signals a widening battlefield and raises serious questions about Tehran’s willingness to directly target American diplomatic facilities 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 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 Acre Gold: Start building physical gold with simple monthly payments and enter to win two Ancient Collection gold bars at https://GetAcreGold.com/PDB  Goldbelly: Discover iconic meals from legendary restaurants delivered nationwide with Goldbelly—get 20% off your first order at https://Goldbelly.comusing promo code PDB. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It's Tuesday, the 3rd of March. 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, Israel targets the so-called Assembly of Experts, and that's the 88-member committee responsible for choosing Iran's next supreme leader in an effort to prolong Tehran's leadership vacuum. Later in the show, Iran expands its retaliatory strikes, launching drone strikes. on the U.S. Embassy in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia's capital, of course. But first, today's afternoon spotlight. The Israeli Air Force has struck the building in the city of Qum, housing Iran's assembly of

experts. That's the group of clerics responsible for appointing a new Supreme Leader. According to an Israeli defense official, the strike occurred while votes were being counted to select a successor to Ayatollah Ali Khameneem, who was killed in the opening wave of U.S. Israeli strikes on Saturday. The Assembly of Experts is an 88-member clerical body with the constitutional authority to appoint and theoretically dismiss Iran's supreme leader. A smaller internal committee drafts a shortlist, and then the full group votes. Israeli officials made their intent explicit, telling Axios,

quote, we wanted to prevent them from picking a new Supreme Leader. Hmm, that's pretty straightforward. Now, beyond what's unfolding on the land, Aaron C, as Operation Epic Fury continues, were also getting a clearer picture of how this campaign came together and what the decision-making process inside the White House looked like in the weeks leading up to the war. We've already discussed the force build-up that preceded this war. What's new is insight into how the final decision actually came together. According to detailed reporting from the New York Times, based on the accounts of people with direct knowledge of the internal debates, diplomacy and war planning were unfolding simultaneously, While negotiations over Iran's nuclear program continued publicly, senior officials were debating

not just whether to strike, but how decisive that strike should be. In mid-February, options were presented inside the Situation Room, ranging from limited strikes designed to pressure Tarfan to get back to the table in a meaningful way, to a broader campaign aimed at crippling not just Iran's nuclear and missile infrastructure, but the regime's leadership itself. Military advisors reportedly warned that a larger campaign carried real risks, American casualties, regional escalation, and strain on U.S. munitions stockpiles. But the internal debate increasingly shifted away from incremental action and, in fact, few in the president's inner circle voiced opposition to military action. Even President J.D. Vance, who's long been seen as cautious about Middle Eastern

interventions, reportedly argued that if the U.S. was going to act, it should, quote, go big and go fast. Once the conversation began moving in that direction, talk of smaller symbolic strikes appeared to lose momentum. At the same time, coordination with Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu intensified. Meetings in December and again in February focused heavily on timing. Israeli leadership assessed that Iran's internal unrest and weakened command structure created a rare window of opportunity. And then came the intelligence. Central Intelligence Agency analysts had been closely tracking the movements of Ali Khamani. They learned he would be at his residential compound in central Tehran on Saturday morning, with senior civilian and military officials gathered nearby. The strike

timeline reportedly shifted multiple times to align with that window. Iranian officials were not anticipating a daylight attack, and when the opportunity presented itself, the decision was finalized. In an interview referenced in the reporting, the president described reaching a point during the negotiations, where he concluded that Iran would not even consider the demand for zero enrichment and concluded that the ongoing talks were not going to produce the outcome he wanted. And that was, reportedly, the inflection point. On Saturday morning, while on board Air Force One, Trump gave the final order, saying, quote, Operation Epic Fury is approved, no abortes, good luck, end quote.

That order was followed by the initial wave of strikes, which eliminated the Supreme leader and reportedly dozens of key senior figures. And today's strike in Kuhm suggests the campaign is now focused on preventing the regime from stabilizing itself through an orderly succession, essentially an effort to maintain that leadership vacuum for as long as possible. All right, coming up next, Iran's military launches a drone strike at the U.S. embassy in Riyadh, expanding its targets to include U.S. diplomatic facilities. More on that when we come back. Hey, Mike Baker here. Now, you probably know me as the host of the president's daily brief. At least I hope you know them as the host of the PDB. But I'm also a business owner. And as a business

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actions, now targeting U.S. diplomatic facilities in the Gulf as Washington rushes to pull non-essential personnel from the region. As we discussed on today's PDB, American personnel were already under emergency security restrictions as unrest in Pakistan and Iraq began building. That volatility created the immediate threat, but what we're seeing now is a shift from chaotic street violence at U.S. diplomatic compounds to direct military action by Tehran. Yesterday, two drones struck the U.S. Embassy in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia's defense ministry described the incident as causing a, quote, limited fire. The U.S. mission urged Americans to avoid the area immediately, and the strike in Riyadh followed the closure of the U.S. embassy in Kuwait after a separate attack targeting that facility.

So what you're seeing here is escalation against U.S. diplomatic outposts. It kicked off with riots from regime sympathizers in the streets of Pakistan and Iraq, and has since moved to efforts by the Iranian regime to target embassies and consulates directly. The State Department ordered the evacuation of non-emergency personnel and family members from Kuwait, Bahrain, Iraq, Qatar, Jordan, and the UAE. Following the drone strikes, the U.S. mission to Saudi Arabia suspended operations, instructing American civilians in Riyadh, Jetta, and Dharan to remain under security restrictions. In Kuwait, the American embassy announced that it would remain closed until further notice

and canceled all consular appointments. And beyond official personnel, Washington has also urged private U.S. citizens to leave more than a dozen Middle Eastern countries. But with airspace closures and commercial flight disruptions spreading across the region, well, many Americans remain stranded. Several foreign governments have already begun, organizing evacuation flights for their nationals. It's a sign of just how unstable the operating environment has become. And that, my friends, is the PDB afternoon bulletin for Tuesday, the 3rd of March. Now, if you have any questions or comments, please reach out to me at PDB at the first TV.com. And to listen to the show ad-free, well, you can do that, and it 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. To tell you about a great company that every food-loving person should know about, It's called Goldbelly. Have you heard about them? Well, let me tell you. If you're a foodie, you're going to love Goldbelly. It's an amazing site that celebrates the best of the U.S. by shipping the country's most iconic foods from legendary restaurants and chefs straight to your door. It could not be any simpler. Now, I've been a fan for quite a while. One of my many favorites is Franklin's barbecue from Austin. Look, you're talking brisket, ribs, the full Texas spread. Ordered it for a poker night at the Baker compound one time, and it showed up fast, perfectly packed, and every bit as tasty as if you were in Austin sitting at Franklin's. So whether you're craving Lou Malnadi's deep-diss Chicago pizza, Juniors cheesecake from New York, Joe's stone crab from Miami,

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