Four years after the CIA helped overthrow Iran's democracy, American intelligence officers sat down with their Iranian counterparts and built something new. Not a military alliance. Not a trade agreement. A secret police force. SAVAK — the Organisation of Intelligence and National Security — would go on to become one of the most feared internal security services in the world. Thirteen thousand officers. Hundreds of thousands of informants. Detention facilities where Amnesty International documen...
Mar 30, 2026•23 min
Day 31 of Operation Epic Fury. Trump told the Financial Times his favourite thing would be to take the oil in Iran. He confirmed Kharg Island — which handles ninety percent of Iran's crude exports — is still on the table for seizure. And aboard Air Force One, he claimed Iran has agreed to most of the fifteen-point US peace plan that Tehran publicly rejected just days ago. Pakistan announced it will host direct US-Iran talks in the coming days. The Islamabad summit concluded its first day with a ...
Mar 30, 2026•21 min•Season 1Ep. 31
Before Operation Epic Fury. Before the Islamic Revolution. Before forty years of hostility between Washington and Tehran. There was a single event that set everything in motion. In August 1953, the CIA and British intelligence orchestrated the overthrow of Iran's democratically elected Prime Minister, Mohammad Mosaddegh — a man who had done nothing more provocative than nationalise his country's oil. Operation Ajax, as the CIA called it, was a masterclass in covert political manipulation: bribed...
Mar 29, 2026•23 min
Day 30 of Operation Epic Fury. The most diplomatically active day of the entire war. The foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Egypt flew to Islamabad for two days of talks aimed at ending the US-Iran war. Pakistan secured a concrete Hormuz breakthrough — Iran agreed to allow twenty Pakistani-flagged vessels through the Strait, two per day, the first time Iran has named a specific nationality and a specific daily rate for transit since the blockade began. And the Pentagon confirmed it i...
Mar 29, 2026•21 min•Season 1Ep. 30
Day 29 of Operation Epic Fury. One month in. The war that was supposed to last four weeks has entered its second month — and on its one-month anniversary, Yemen's Houthi rebels fired their first missiles at Israel, Iran struck two more nuclear facilities, and Israel attacked weapons production plants across Tehran. The Houthis have entered the US-Iran war. Their first military operation was a ballistic missile barrage at southern Israel, intercepted but now raising the prospect of a simultaneous...
Mar 28, 2026•22 min•Season 1Ep. 29
Pakistan's Foreign Minister publicly confirmed it for the first time: US-Iran indirect talks are taking place through messages being relayed by Islamabad. Iran's ambassador secretly met Pakistan's interior minister in Islamabad on Thursday. Trump extended his power plant strike deadline by ten days to April sixth — citing, in his words, an Iranian Government request that Iran flatly denies making. And Israel killed Alireza Tangsiri — the commander of the IRGC Navy, the architect of the Strait of...
Mar 27, 2026•23 min•Season 1Ep. 28
In this bonus deep dive, Epic Fury examines Kharg Island — the small patch of Persian Gulf rock that handles roughly ninety percent of Iran's crude oil exports. We cover what it is, why it was never targeted in the current operation, what happened when it was struck during the Iran-Iraq War in the 1980s, and why the decision to destroy or spare it may define the economic outcome of Operation Epic Fury more than any battlefield development. We also examine how a strike on Kharg would affect oil p...
Mar 27, 2026•22 min
The United States put a fifteen-point peace plan on the table. Iran called it maximalist and unreasonable, rejected it, and issued five counter-demands of its own — including war reparations and permanent Iranian sovereignty over the Strait of Hormuz. The White House responded by saying Trump is prepared to unleash hell. This episode breaks down both plans in full, explains why Iran's Hormuz sovereignty demand is structurally incompatible with any deal the US could publicly accept, and tracks th...
Mar 26, 2026•21 min•Season 1Ep. 27
Trump stood in the Oval Office on Tuesday and declared the war won. Then his Defense Secretary said he was disappointed there might be a ceasefire. Then the US sent a fifteen-point ceasefire plan to Iran through Pakistan. Then Iran's military aired a prerecorded video on state television mocking the Americans for negotiating with themselves. Day twenty-six of Operation Epic Fury, and the diplomatic and military tracks are running in full parallel — bombs falling on Tehran while Vance, Rubio, Wit...
Mar 25, 2026•21 min•Season 1Ep. 26
Hours before his 48-hour deadline expired, Trump posted on Truth Social in full capitals that the United States and Iran had held very good and productive conversations regarding a complete and total resolution of hostilities — and that he was postponing all strikes on Iranian power plants for five days. Markets surged. Oil dropped thirteen percent in a single day. And then Iran said there were no talks. No negotiations. None whatsoever. This episode covers the most diplomatically charged day of...
Mar 24, 2026•22 min•Season 1Ep. 25
A bonus deep-dive episode of Epic Fury: The US-Iran War Podcast. Every precision strike, every missile intercept, every command kill in Operation Epic Fury runs through satellites. In this episode, we break down the four categories of military satellite capability shaping the conflict — imagery intelligence, signals intelligence, communications, and missile warning — and explain how the US is using them, how Iran is trying to counter them, and why the invisible war in orbit may matter as much as...
Mar 23, 2026•21 min
The clock has run out. Trump's 48-hour ultimatum to Iran expires tonight at 7:44pm Eastern Time — and Iran has not reopened the Strait of Hormuz. Instead, Tehran escalated. Iran's armed forces declared they are ready to close the Strait indefinitely if power plants are struck. Iran threatened to mine the entire Persian Gulf if its coastline is attacked. And the IRGC said on state television: do not doubt that we will do this. The International Energy Agency called it the greatest global energy s...
Mar 23, 2026•21 min•Season 1Ep. 24
Day 23 of Operation Epic Fury. President Trump has issued a stark 48-hour ultimatum to Iran: fully reopen the Strait of Hormuz or the United States will obliterate Iranian power plants, starting with the largest. Iran's military responded immediately, threatening to destroy all American energy, IT, and desalination infrastructure across the Middle East if its power grid is hit. Iranian ballistic missiles broke through Israeli air defenses overnight, striking the towns of Dimona and Arad in south...
Mar 22, 2026•22 min•Season 1Ep. 23
Iran fired two intermediate-range ballistic missiles at Diego Garcia — the joint US-UK bomber base in the Indian Ocean, two thousand three hundred miles from Iran's coast. Neither missile hit. But Iran just demonstrated it has weapons that can reach far beyond the Middle East. The targeting doctrine has expanded. Natanz was struck again. Iran's armed forces spokesman threatened that tourist and entertainment centres worldwide will no longer be safe for American and Israeli officials. Iran launch...
Mar 21, 2026•21 min•Season 1Ep. 22
Today is Nowruz. The Persian New Year began this morning at the spring equinox. Iran marked it by striking an oil refinery in Haifa. Saudi Arabia halted exports at Yanbu. Kuwait's Mina Al-Ahmadi refinery burned. Brent crude hit one hundred and nineteen dollars a barrel — up sixty-five percent since the war began. The UN Security Council passed a resolution thirteen to zero demanding Iran reopen the Strait of Hormuz. Russia and China abstained rather than veto. Saudi Arabia's Foreign Minister sai...
Mar 20, 2026•20 min•Season 1Ep. 21
Three senior Iranian officials killed in forty-eight hours. Yesterday, Ali Larijani and the Basij commander. Today, intelligence minister Esmail Khatib — confirmed dead in an Israeli strike. Israel's military has been given a standing kill order: eliminate any senior Iranian official, no further political approval required. Israel struck Iran's South Pars gas field — the world's largest. Iran retaliated by hitting Qatar's Ras Laffan Industrial City, the world's biggest liquefied natural gas expo...
Mar 19, 2026•21 min•Season 1Ep. 20
Ali Larijani is dead. The head of Iran's Supreme National Security Council — the most visible surviving official of the Islamic Republic since the Supreme Leader went into hiding — was killed overnight in an Israeli airstrike. His son, his chief of staff, and his security detail died with him. So did Gholamreza Soleimani, the Basij commander. Iran fired over one hundred missiles at Israel in retaliation. Two people are dead near Tel Aviv. In Washington, Trump's own counterterrorism director resi...
Mar 18, 2026•21 min•Season 1Ep. 19
The United Arab Emirates shut its entire airspace. The US Embassy in Baghdad was hit by three drones and four rockets — the most intense attack on that compound since the war began. And two hundred American service members have now been wounded, a figure that had been dramatically understated in official briefings until Tuesday. The IRGC spokesperson said Iran's oldest missiles are what has been fired so far, and that the weapons built since the twelve-day war with Israel in June twenty twenty-f...
Mar 17, 2026•20 min•Season 1Ep. 18
In this bonus deep-dive episode of Epic Fury: The US-Iran War Podcast, we explain everything you need to know about the Strait of Hormuz and why it sits at the very centre of the US-Iran conflict of 2026. Twenty percent of the world's oil passes through a channel just twenty-one miles wide. Since Operation Epic Fury began on February 28, 2026, commercial shipping through the strait has effectively collapsed. Oil prices have surged above eighty-five dollars a barrel. Six of the world's largest sh...
Mar 16, 2026•20 min
Trump claimed Iran wants to negotiate. Iran's Foreign Minister went on American television and said the opposite. No, we never asked for a ceasefire. And we have never asked even for negotiation. We are ready to defend ourselves as long as it takes. That contradiction defined day seventeen of Operation Epic Fury. Araghchi spelled out Iran's actual terms: guarantees the war will not be repeated, and reparations paid. Not an offer. A wall. Trump demanded NATO allies send warships to the Strait of ...
Mar 16, 2026•22 min•Season 1Ep. 17
Day sixteen of Operation Epic Fury and the war's central strategic failure is now fully exposed. Sixteen days of the most intensive air campaign in modern history, and the United States cannot reopen the Strait of Hormuz without asking China for help. Trump posted on Truth Social calling on China, France, Japan, South Korea, and the United Kingdom to send warships to the Gulf in conjunction with American forces. He said the US would be bombing the hell out of the shoreline in the meantime. Iran'...
Mar 15, 2026•22 min•Season 1Ep. 16
Day fifteen of Operation Epic Fury and the United States crossed a line that had never been crossed before. Kharg Island — the tiny strip of land that processes ninety percent of Iran's crude oil exports — was bombed overnight. Trump called it one of the most powerful bombing raids in the history of the Middle East. He said every military target was totally obliterated. He said, for reasons of decency, he chose not to destroy the oil infrastructure. For now. Iran's response was immediate and swe...
Mar 14, 2026•22 min•Season 1Ep. 15
Day fourteen of Operation Epic Fury and Donald Trump opened the day by posting on Truth Social that it was a great honour to be killing Iranians, that the US has unparalleled firepower and unlimited ammunition, and that Gulf states should watch what happens to these deranged scumbags today. Hours later, a US Air Force KC-135 Stratotanker crashed in western Iraq. Four crew members confirmed dead. Two more unaccounted for. The fourth US aircraft lost since the war began. Iran's new Supreme Leader ...
Mar 13, 2026•21 min•Season 1Ep. 14
Day thirteen of Operation Epic Fury and the question America had been avoiding for nearly two weeks finally got an answer. The Pentagon's preliminary investigation found that a United States Tomahawk cruise missile killed the children of the Shajareh Tayyebeh Primary School in Minab. One hundred and sixty-five dead. Most of them girls aged seven to twelve. The strike happened because Central Command was working from satellite imagery thirteen years out of date. The school had been separated from...
Mar 12, 2026•24 min•Season 1Ep. 13
Day twelve of Operation Epic Fury and the Pentagon promised its most intense day of strikes yet. Then everything escalated at once. Iran laid naval mines in the Strait of Hormuz — exploiting a critical gap in American minesweeping capability. A drone struck the American diplomatic facility in Baghdad. A fire broke out at one of the Gulf's largest oil refineries in the UAE. And Iran's top national security official publicly warned Trump to be careful not to be eliminated himself. Defense Secretar...
Mar 11, 2026•21 min•Season 1Ep. 12
Day eleven of Operation Epic Fury and President Trump delivered the most contradictory set of signals of the entire conflict. Speaking to House Republicans at his Doral resort in Miami, he said the war would end pretty quickly and described it as a short-term excursion. Then at his first press conference since the strikes began, he said America had not won enough, that there was more to do, and that ultimate victory was the goal. He threatened to hit Iran twenty times harder if it tried to close...
Mar 10, 2026•20 min•Season 1Ep. 11
Iran has fired more than two thousand drones at American military bases, Gulf states, and Israel since Operation Epic Fury began. But what exactly are these weapons. Where did they come from. How do they work. And how is America fighting back. This bonus episode covers the full story of Iran's drone arsenal from the beginning. The Shahed-136, the twenty thousand dollar one-way attack drone that costs America millions to intercept every single time. The jet-powered Shahed-238 designed to destroy ...
Mar 09, 2026•24 min
Day ten of Operation Epic Fury and the Islamic Republic made its most consequential decision since the revolution. The Assembly of Experts appointed Mojtaba Khamenei — son of the man killed by American and Israeli bombs ten days ago — as the third Supreme Leader in Iran's forty-seven year history. The revolution that overthrew a monarchy has become one. Every major Iranian institution pledged allegiance within hours. The IRGC vowed to obey until the last drop of their blood. Trump said if Mojtab...
Mar 09, 2026•21 min•Season 1Ep. 10
Day nine of Operation Epic Fury and Iran made the most consequential decision of the entire conflict so far. The Assembly of Experts, under direct pressure from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, named Mojtaba Khamenei as the new Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic. He is fifty-six years old. He has never held elected office. He has never given a press conference. And he is the son of the man killed by American and Israeli bombs nine days ago. For the first time in its forty-seven year hi...
Mar 08, 2026•21 min•Season 1Ep. 9
Day eight of Operation Epic Fury and President Trump posted four words that defined the entire second week of this war. Make Iran Great Again. In the same breath he demanded unconditional surrender from Tehran, promised to personally help select Iran's next Supreme Leader, and declared there will be no deal of any kind until Iran can no longer fight. Iran said it will never capitulate. Its security chief threatened to kill and capture thousands of American troops if they set foot on Iranian soil...
Mar 07, 2026•21 min•Season 1Ep. 8
