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Iran declared the Strait of 
Hormuz open. 

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Oil fell below $90.00 a barrel, 
its sharpest single day drop 

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since the war began. 
The S&P 500 hit its third 

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consecutive record high, erasing
every war loss. 

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Pakistan's foreign minister said
the two sides have covered most 

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of the distance to a deal. 
The second round of talks is 

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confirmed from Monday in 
Islamabad, with allegations 

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arriving Sunday and Iran's new 
supreme leader appointed 6 weeks

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ago. 
The son of the man killed on the

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first day of this war has still 
not been seen in public. 

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It is Saturday, April 18th, 
2026, day 50 of Operation Epic 

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Fury, half 100 days since the 
first bombs fell on Tehran, 

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since the supreme leader was 
killed in his sleep, since the 

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Strait closed and the world's 
oil supply contracted overnight.

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The ceasefire has four days 
left. 

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The diplomacy has never moved 
faster. 

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And the question of who exactly 
is authorizing Iran's decisions,

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whose signature, whose word, 
whose authority is behind the 

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concessions and the 
contradictions is 50 days in, 

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still unanswered. 
This is episode 50 of Epic Fury,

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the US Iran war podcast. 
Follow on Spotify and Apple 

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00:01:31,560 --> 00:01:34,360
podcast To stay with this story 
as it develops. 

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Let's get into it. 
Start with the Strait of Hormuz.

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Because what happened on Friday 
is the most significant single 

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development since the ceasefire 
was announced 12 days ago. 

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And because within hours of the 
announcement, it became 

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complicated in exactly the way 
that everything in this conflict

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becomes complicated. 
Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas 

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Arachi posted on social media on
Friday that the passage for all 

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commercial vessels through the 
Strait of Hormuz is declared 

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completely open. 
For the remaining period of the 

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ceasefire, he said vessels must 
transit through a coordinated 

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route, as already announced by 
Iran's Ports and Maritime 

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Organization. 
He linked the opening explicitly

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to the Lebanon ceasefire. 
The passage was being opened in 

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line with the ceasefire in 
Lebanon that is Iran, making the

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diplomatic linkage explicit, 
public and irreversible. 

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Lebanon ceasefire equals Hormuz 
opening. 

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It is the confirmation that the 
2 tracks were always connected, 

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regardless of what the US and 
Israel said publicly about their

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separation and regardless of how
many times Vance stated in 

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Budapest and in press 
conferences that Lebanon was not

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part of the ceasefire. 
Iran's foreign minister just 

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wrote it on social media in 
plain language. 

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The linkage is now on the 
record. 

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Trump responded within hours by 
thanking Iran on Truth Social. 

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He said Iran has just announced 
that the Strait of Hormuz is 

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fully open and ready for 
business and full passage. 

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He called it a great and 
brilliant day for the world. 

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He then said the US naval 
blockade of Iran's ports remains

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in full force until an agreement
is reached. 

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That is 3 things happening 
simultaneously in the space of a

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few hours. 
Iran opening the Strait, the US 

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thanking Iran for it, and the US
simultaneously maintaining the 

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blockade that Iran says makes a 
full opening impossible. 

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The oil market processed all 
three at once. 

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Brent crude fell more than 11% 
to below $90.00 a barrel, its 

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lowest level since early March. 
The Dow erased all its losses 

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since the war began. 
The S&P 500 closed at a record 

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high for the third consecutive 
session. 

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Then the IRGC complicated the 
picture. 

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Iranian state media, citing IRGC
affiliated outlets, said that 

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Arachi had misspoken that only 
civilian vessels authorized by 

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the IRGC would be allowed to 
pass through the shipping lanes 

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designated by Tehran. 
IRGC officials added that the US

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blockade is itself a violation 
of the ceasefire and that they 

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would revoke their opening if it
continued. 

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That sequence Arachi announces 
IRGC contradicts Trump thinks 

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anyway, happened within the span
of a few hours on Friday 

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afternoon. 
And it illustrates with painful 

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clarity the structural problem 
that has defined this entire 50 

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day conflict. 
The Iranian Foreign Ministry and

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the IRGC are not operating from 
the same script. 

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They have not been since the 
first day of the ceasefire. 

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Arachi is a diplomat operating 
from a framework of negotiated 

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commitments and international 
signaling. 

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The IRGC is a military 
organization that has been 

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running this war autonomously 
and that regards the hormones 

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closure as its most powerful 
remaining leverage. 

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When Arachi says the Strait is 
open, he's making a diplomatic 

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gesture. 
When the IRGC says it is not 

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open without authorization, it 
is asserting operational 

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control. 
Both statements are 

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simultaneously true within their
respective domains. 

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The Foreign Ministry has the 
diplomatic authority. 

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The IRGC has the physical 
authority. 

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A tanker captain making a 
commercial decision about 

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whether to transit must somehow 
reconcile those two authorities 

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before leaving port for shipping
companies. 

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That ambiguity is nearly as 
operationally costly as a full 

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closure. 
You cannot put a 100,000 ton 

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super tanker through a waterway 
whose status is simultaneously 

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declared open by the foreign 
minister and conditionally 

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closed by the military 
organization that controls the 

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mines, the fast attack craft and
the shore based missile 

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batteries. 
The result is that Friday's 

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Arachi announcement, despite its
genuine diplomatic significance,

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did not produce A rush of 
tankers toward the Strait. 

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Pakistan's foreign minister IS 
Shakhtar, speaking at the entire

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diplomacy forum in Turkey on 
Friday alongside Prime Minister 

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Sharif, delivered the most 
specific public statement yet 

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about where the negotiations 
stand. 

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He said the deal is more than 
80% complete, but that both 

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sides need to show flexibility 
on the remaining issues. 

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He said Pakistan will leave no 
stone unturned in its efforts to

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achieve peace. 
He added that what Pakistan 

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wants is not an extension of the
ceasefire but a permanent end to

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the war. 
The 80% figure aligns precisely 

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with what the source involved in
Islamabad talks told Reuters 

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earlier this week that the 
parties came very close and were

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80% there before running into 
decisions that cannot be settled

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on the spot. 2 independent data 
points converging on the same 

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figure from different sources 
suggests that number is real 

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rather than diplomatic 
approximation. 

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The remaining 20%, the nuclear 
commitment and the Hormuz 

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governance question, is not a 
small residual, it is the core 

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of the dispute. 
But 80% is nevertheless A 

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remarkable place to be 50 days 
into a war that began with the 

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United States announcing major 
combat operations and Trump 

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threatening a whole 
civilization's death. 

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That last star phrase, not an 
extension but a permanent end, 

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is a statement of ambition 
rather than a realistic short 

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term target. 
But it reflects Pakistan's 

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framing of the Islamabad process
is something more consequential 

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than a ceasefire management 
exercise. 

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Pakistan has invested its 
international reputation, its 

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prime minister's political 
capital and its army chief's 

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personal credibility in this 
process. 

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It is also demonstrated through 
Munir's Tehran mission, a 

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willingness to put its most 
senior military official 

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directly in play as a personal 
envoy. 

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Pakistan is not going to accept 
being the facilitator of a 60 

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day ceasefire extension and 
nothing more. 

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It wants a permanent result and 
it is working every diplomatic 

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instrument it has to achieve 
one. 

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The second round of talks is now
confirmed. 

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00:07:41,000 --> 00:07:44,240
Iranian officials told CNN on 
Friday that the next round of 

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meetings between US and Iranian 
negotiators is expected to take 

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place in Islamabad on Monday, 
with delegations arriving 

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Sunday. 
Iran's ambassador to Pakistan 

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00:07:54,280 --> 00:07:57,960
Reza Miri Mogadam had already 
made the venue emphatically non 

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negotiable, saying publicly we 
will do talks in Pakistan and 

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nowhere else because we trust 
Pakistan. 

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That is not a casual diplomatic 
preference and it is not a 

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statement made for comfort. 
Iran conducted the pre war 

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nuclear talks through Oman, 
through Geneva, through Vienna. 

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It chose not to return to many 
of those channels for the 

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ceasefire negotiations. 
It shows Pakistan specifically 

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because Pakistan delivered the 
ceasefire when Oman could not, 

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and because the personal 
relationships built through 

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Munir shuttle diplomacy have 
created a level of institutional

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trust that no other country 
currently has with both 

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Washington and Tehran 
simultaneously. 

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The composition and mandate of 
the second rounds delegation is 

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the critical operational 
unknown. 

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The first round failed 
specifically because the Iranian

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delegation arrived in Islamabad 
without the authority to make 

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00:08:49,280 --> 00:08:52,400
final concessions on the nuclear
question and on Hormuz 

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governance. 
When those issues were reached 

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after 20 hours of talks, the 
delegation had to stop. 

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They cannot say yes. 
They needed to go back to 

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Tehran. 
Munir spent three days in Tehran

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this week specifically to 
establish whether Iran would 

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send a delegation to the second 
round that has already received 

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that authority before boarding 
the plane. 

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The Arachi Hormones announcement
on Friday, linking the straight 

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opening explicitly to the 
Lebanon ceasefire suggests Iran 

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has already moved on one of the 
two remaining sticking points. 

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Whether the delegation arrives 
Monday with the authority to 

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move on the nuclear question is 
what the second round will 

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reveal if it does. 
Monday ends differently from 

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last Sunday. 
The world gets a deal, or the 

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framework of one if it does not.
If Iran's delegation arrives 

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again without the final 
authority, Pakistan's 80% figure

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stays at 80%. 
The ceasefire expires on April 

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22nd without agreement, and 
Trump must decide between 

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extending it, allowing it to 
lapse or returning to combat 

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operations. 
The markets are betting yes. 

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00:09:57,160 --> 00:10:00,120
The S&P 500 at a third 
consecutive record high. 

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00:10:00,320 --> 00:10:03,720
The Dow erasing all war losses, 
Brent crude falling more than 

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00:10:03,720 --> 00:10:06,880
11% in a single session to below
$90.00. 

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00:10:07,040 --> 00:10:09,920
These are not the market signals
of a negotiation heading toward 

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00:10:09,920 --> 00:10:12,320
failure. 
They are the market signals of a

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00:10:12,320 --> 00:10:15,800
negotiation whose participants 
believe is heading toward a 

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00:10:15,800 --> 00:10:18,600
deal. 
CNN's Fear and Greed Index, 

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00:10:18,600 --> 00:10:21,360
which had plunged to extreme 
fear in March as the war 

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00:10:21,360 --> 00:10:24,160
escalated, was trading in greed 
on Friday. 

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00:10:24,600 --> 00:10:28,440
The NASDAQ is on its longest 
winning streak since 1992. 

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00:10:28,880 --> 00:10:32,200
Eleven consecutive days of gains
for the NASDAQ through a naval 

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00:10:32,200 --> 00:10:35,080
blockade. 
RG Siarachi public contradiction

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00:10:35,080 --> 00:10:38,520
on the straight, a war powers 
Resolution defeated by a single 

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00:10:38,520 --> 00:10:42,320
vote, and 50 days of the most 
economically disruptive military

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00:10:42,320 --> 00:10:46,240
conflict of the 21st century. 
What the markets are pricing is 

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00:10:46,240 --> 00:10:49,720
not the the current situation. 
They are pricing the expected 

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00:10:49,720 --> 00:10:51,880
outcome. 
A deal in the next four to seven

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00:10:51,880 --> 00:10:54,960
days that ends or extends the 
ceasefire allows the Strait to 

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00:10:54,960 --> 00:10:58,240
fully reopen, lifts energy 
prices from their war inflated 

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00:10:58,240 --> 00:11:00,960
levels back towards something 
approximating normal, and 

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00:11:00,960 --> 00:11:03,760
removes the existential 
geopolitical risk premium that 

200
00:11:03,760 --> 00:11:07,120
has been embedded in every asset
class since February 28th. 

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00:11:07,680 --> 00:11:10,760
Whether that pricing is correct 
depends entirely on what happens

202
00:11:10,760 --> 00:11:14,240
in the Serena Hotel in Islamabad
on Monday and on whether the 

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00:11:14,240 --> 00:11:17,240
Iranian delegation walks in with
a different mandate than the one

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00:11:17,240 --> 00:11:20,520
it carried the first time. 
Former NATO Secretary General 

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00:11:20,520 --> 00:11:23,680
Jens Stoltenberg noted that even
if the war ends and the Strait 

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00:11:23,680 --> 00:11:27,000
opens immediately, there will be
some lasting consequences from 

207
00:11:27,000 --> 00:11:30,320
the significant reduction in oil
and gas supply the world has 

208
00:11:30,320 --> 00:11:34,440
absorbed over 50 days. 
The global economy will not snap

209
00:11:34,440 --> 00:11:37,760
back instantly, but the 
direction of the market bet that

210
00:11:37,760 --> 00:11:41,400
a deal is coming is the clearest
single data point available on 

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00:11:41,400 --> 00:11:43,560
where informed money thinks this
is heading. 

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00:11:44,160 --> 00:11:47,440
There is one detail from 
Friday's diplomatic activity 

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00:11:47,440 --> 00:11:49,240
that deserves specific 
attention. 

214
00:11:49,720 --> 00:11:52,680
Galibaff, Iran's parliament 
speaker and the head of the 

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00:11:52,680 --> 00:11:56,680
Iranian delegation at Islamabad,
met with Munir in Tehran during 

216
00:11:56,680 --> 00:12:00,040
the Pakistani delegation visit. 
That meeting is the pre 

217
00:12:00,040 --> 00:12:04,160
negotiation negotiation. 
Munir is sitting across a table 

218
00:12:04,160 --> 00:12:07,760
in Tehran with a man who will 
lead Iran's side in Islamabad on

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00:12:07,760 --> 00:12:10,680
Monday, 2 days before the 
delegations arrive. 

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00:12:11,160 --> 00:12:14,080
He is not delivering a message 
to an intermediary. 

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00:12:14,600 --> 00:12:17,160
He is speaking directly with the
principal. 

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00:12:17,840 --> 00:12:20,640
Whatever Munir conveyed from 
Washington in that meeting, the 

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00:12:20,640 --> 00:12:23,840
revised terms, the nuclear 
framework, the Hormuz governance

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00:12:23,840 --> 00:12:27,520
proposal, and whatever Gallibaf 
told Munir about what Iran is 

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00:12:27,520 --> 00:12:30,560
and is not able to accept 
constitutes the most recent 

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00:12:30,560 --> 00:12:33,480
direct exchange of substantive 
positions between the two 

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00:12:33,480 --> 00:12:36,680
negotiating structures. 
In diplomatic terms, that 

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00:12:36,680 --> 00:12:39,400
meeting is as important as 
Monday's formal session. 

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00:12:40,080 --> 00:12:43,440
It establishes whether the 20% 
gap that closed the first round 

230
00:12:43,440 --> 00:12:46,440
is still 20% or has been 
narrowed by the Lebanon 

231
00:12:46,440 --> 00:12:50,280
ceasefire, the Iraqi Hormuz 
announcement and Pakistan's back

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00:12:50,280 --> 00:12:52,960
channel work. 
The second round in Islamabad 

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00:12:52,960 --> 00:12:55,920
does not start cold. 
It starts from wherever the 

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Munir Galabaf conversation in 
Tehran ended. 

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The question of Mojtaba 
Khamenei, Iran's new Supreme 

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leader, has become one of the 
strangest subplots of the entire

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50 day conflict. 
CN NS Isabel Young reported on 

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Friday that nearly six weeks 
after his appointment as Supreme

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00:13:12,840 --> 00:13:16,520
leader, Mojtaba Khamenei has 
still not made a single public 

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00:13:16,520 --> 00:13:19,320
appearance. 
He has not been photographed. 

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00:13:19,760 --> 00:13:21,560
He has not delivered a 
statement. 

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00:13:22,160 --> 00:13:25,120
He has not been seen by any 
independent media. 

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00:13:25,520 --> 00:13:28,880
The Assembly of Experts 
announced him and Iranian state 

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00:13:28,880 --> 00:13:32,080
institutions confirmed the 
succession, but his physical 

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00:13:32,080 --> 00:13:35,160
presence, his health, his 
capacity to function as supreme 

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leader and his direct role in 
the ongoing diplomatic process 

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are all unconfirmed by any 
source outside the closed loop 

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of the Iranian state. 
This matters because every 

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00:13:44,880 --> 00:13:48,160
significant decision in the 
ceasefire process, the original 

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00:13:48,160 --> 00:13:50,920
acceptance of the Pakistan 
mediated framework, the 

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00:13:50,920 --> 00:13:54,640
Islamabad talks, the Arachi 
Hormuz announcement requires 

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00:13:54,640 --> 00:13:58,240
Supreme leader authorization. 
Khamenei is the person whose 

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00:13:58,240 --> 00:14:01,400
approval Vance said the Iranian 
delegation needed to go back to 

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00:14:01,400 --> 00:14:04,760
Tehran to obtain before they 
could close the remaining gap. 

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00:14:05,200 --> 00:14:08,160
He is the person whose decision 
about the nuclear question will 

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00:14:08,160 --> 00:14:11,520
determine whether Monday's 
second round produces a deal, 

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00:14:11,960 --> 00:14:15,040
and he has not been seen in 
public in six weeks. 

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00:14:15,520 --> 00:14:17,920
The circumstances of his 
appointment were already 

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00:14:17,920 --> 00:14:21,080
unusual. 
Mojtaba Khamenei is the son of 

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00:14:21,080 --> 00:14:24,600
Ali Khamenei, the supreme leader
killed in the first strike of 

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Operation Epic Fury. 
His appointment was announced by

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00:14:27,760 --> 00:14:30,680
the Assembly of Experts, but 
attracted significant internal 

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00:14:30,680 --> 00:14:33,120
controversy. 
Iran's constitution was 

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00:14:33,120 --> 00:14:36,720
specifically designed to prevent
dynastic succession, and placing

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00:14:36,720 --> 00:14:39,600
the son of the previous supreme 
leader in the same position was 

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00:14:39,600 --> 00:14:42,760
widely described, even by 
sympathetic analysts, as a sign 

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00:14:42,760 --> 00:14:45,320
of the Islamic Republic 
functioning as a theocratic 

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00:14:45,320 --> 00:14:47,400
monarchy. 
Whether Mojtaba has the 

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00:14:47,400 --> 00:14:50,760
religious authority, the 
political constituency, and the 

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00:14:50,760 --> 00:14:53,560
personal capacity to govern at 
this level of complexity, 

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00:14:53,760 --> 00:14:57,800
managing a defeated military, a 
collapsing economy, a ceasefire 

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00:14:57,800 --> 00:15:01,560
process, and the IRGC 
simultaneously, is simply not 

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00:15:01,560 --> 00:15:04,560
known from outside Iran. 
His continued absence from 

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00:15:04,560 --> 00:15:07,280
public view six weeks after 
appointment is not easily 

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00:15:07,280 --> 00:15:10,160
explained by any benign or 
routine costs. 

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00:15:10,680 --> 00:15:13,480
The Supreme Leader is 
constitutionally required to 

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00:15:13,480 --> 00:15:16,440
function as the ultimate 
authority of the Iranian state. 

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00:15:16,840 --> 00:15:19,440
Whether he is ill, whether he is
governing from secure, 

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00:15:19,440 --> 00:15:22,480
undisclosed locations, whether 
decisions are being made by 

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00:15:22,480 --> 00:15:26,440
consensus within the SNSC using 
his nominal authority, or 

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00:15:26,440 --> 00:15:29,280
whether his invisibility is a 
deliberate communication about 

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00:15:29,280 --> 00:15:32,480
the post war nature of Iranian 
governance is a question no 

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00:15:32,480 --> 00:15:34,480
outside observer can currently 
answer. 

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00:15:35,000 --> 00:15:38,080
Iran's leadership gap is the 
most consequential and most 

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00:15:38,080 --> 00:15:41,560
underreported unknown of the 50 
days of this war, and it sits at

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00:15:41,560 --> 00:15:44,240
the center of every major 
decision that the second round 

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00:15:44,240 --> 00:15:47,160
of talks requires. 
The oil price move on Friday 

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00:15:47,160 --> 00:15:51,160
deserves its own analysis 
because an 11% single session 

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00:15:51,160 --> 00:15:53,520
fall in Brent crude is 
extraordinary. 

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00:15:53,920 --> 00:15:58,200
To put it in context, oil have 
been near $100 a barrel as 

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00:15:58,200 --> 00:16:01,720
recently as Wednesday. 
It fell below 90 on Friday. 

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00:16:02,360 --> 00:16:05,440
That is a $10 per barrel fall in
48 hours. 

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00:16:05,880 --> 00:16:08,240
The trigger was the Arachi 
Hormuz announcement. 

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00:16:08,320 --> 00:16:11,200
Markets interpreted it as the 
effective reopening of the 

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00:16:11,200 --> 00:16:13,360
world's most important oil choke
point. 

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00:16:13,760 --> 00:16:17,840
The fact that the IRGC 
contradicted Arachi within hours

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00:16:17,840 --> 00:16:19,800
did not fully reverse the price 
move. 

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00:16:20,400 --> 00:16:23,320
That suggests traders believe 
the Arachi announcement is more 

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00:16:23,320 --> 00:16:27,120
likely to survive in the IRGC. 
Contradiction that the foreign 

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00:16:27,120 --> 00:16:30,440
minister's statement reflects a 
policy decision at the supreme 

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00:16:30,440 --> 00:16:33,760
leader level that the IRGC will 
ultimately have to implement 

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00:16:33,760 --> 00:16:37,440
regardless of its protests. 
For consumers, a $10 per barrel 

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00:16:37,440 --> 00:16:41,600
fall and crude translates over 
weeks, not days, as petrol 

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00:16:41,600 --> 00:16:45,400
prices adjust into meaningful 
relief at the pump. the US 

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00:16:45,400 --> 00:16:50,160
average was at $4.13 per gallon 
before the Arachi announcement 

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00:16:50,440 --> 00:16:55,360
of $1.14 since the war began. 
If the Strait genuinely reopens 

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00:16:55,360 --> 00:16:57,960
and the US blockade is 
eventually lifted as part of a 

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00:16:57,960 --> 00:17:03,080
deal, analysts expect petrol 
prices to fall toward $3.50 or 

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00:17:03,080 --> 00:17:06,440
lower within weeks. 
That is $100 million daily 

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00:17:06,440 --> 00:17:10,000
saving for American drivers, 
visible immediately at every 

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00:17:10,000 --> 00:17:12,960
pump in the country. 
That is a political gift to 

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00:17:12,960 --> 00:17:15,960
Trump of the most direct and 
quantifiable kind. 

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00:17:16,359 --> 00:17:19,520
Lower petrol prices are the 
single most visible and most 

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00:17:19,520 --> 00:17:21,800
immediately felt economic 
relief. 

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00:17:21,800 --> 00:17:24,800
The resolution of this conflict 
can deliver to the American 

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00:17:24,800 --> 00:17:27,520
public every day. 
The straight is open and the 

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00:17:27,520 --> 00:17:30,600
price falls is another data 
point in Trump's argument that 

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00:17:30,600 --> 00:17:33,360
Operation Epic Fury achieve its 
objectives. 

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00:17:34,040 --> 00:17:37,160
Trump, speaking at a Turning 
Point USA event in Phoenix on 

320
00:17:37,160 --> 00:17:40,520
Friday evening, called the 
Hormuz opening a historic moment

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00:17:40,640 --> 00:17:43,080
and said it would be wonderful 
for the entire world. 

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00:17:43,520 --> 00:17:46,760
He spoke about the war in terms 
of civilizational stakes. 

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00:17:46,920 --> 00:17:48,760
Iran cannot have a nuclear 
weapon. 

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00:17:48,960 --> 00:17:51,640
The world would be in trouble if
they did and described the 

325
00:17:51,640 --> 00:17:55,400
blockade as amazing. 
That speech to a large domestic 

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00:17:55,400 --> 00:17:59,080
conservative audience in Arizona
is Trump already framing the end

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00:17:59,080 --> 00:18:02,320
of this war as a comprehensive 
victory achieved on American 

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00:18:02,320 --> 00:18:04,520
terms. 
The straight open, the nuclear 

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00:18:04,520 --> 00:18:07,120
threat neutralized, the blockade
successful. 

330
00:18:07,600 --> 00:18:10,200
He's already communicating the 
narrative of conclusion. 

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00:18:10,520 --> 00:18:12,880
Iran opened the straight. the US
kept. 

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00:18:12,880 --> 00:18:14,600
The pressure on. 
A deal is coming. 

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00:18:15,080 --> 00:18:18,360
The political structure of that 
narrative requires a deal to 

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00:18:18,360 --> 00:18:21,480
materialize. 
If Monday's second round fails 

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00:18:21,480 --> 00:18:24,400
and the ceasefire expires 
without agreement, Trump will 

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00:18:24,400 --> 00:18:27,880
need to explain why something 
amazing did not happen, why the 

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00:18:27,880 --> 00:18:31,440
brilliant day was premature, and
why the amazing blockade did not

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00:18:31,440 --> 00:18:33,680
produce the agreement it was 
supposed to compel. 

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00:18:34,120 --> 00:18:37,240
His Phoenix framing raises the 
political stakes of Monday's 

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00:18:37,240 --> 00:18:41,040
failure considerably. 
The ceasefire expires on April 

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00:18:41,040 --> 00:18:44,240
22nd. 
That is 4 days from today. 

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00:18:44,760 --> 00:18:48,080
The second round of talks begins
Monday in Islamabad, with 

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00:18:48,080 --> 00:18:51,360
allegations arriving Sunday. 
The Strait has been declared 

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00:18:51,360 --> 00:18:55,320
open by Iran's foreign minister,
contradicted by the IRGC and 

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00:18:55,720 --> 00:18:59,040
thanked for by Trump, even as 
the US blockade continues in 

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00:18:59,040 --> 00:19:02,040
full force. 
Pakistan's Foreign Minister Darr

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00:19:02,040 --> 00:19:06,040
says 80% of the deal is done, 
but both sides need flexibility.

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00:19:06,440 --> 00:19:10,840
The markets are pricing a deal. 
3 consecutive S&P 500 record 

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00:19:10,840 --> 00:19:12,720
highs. 
The Dow are racing all war 

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00:19:12,720 --> 00:19:15,080
losses. 
Oil below $90.00. 

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00:19:15,520 --> 00:19:19,000
Iran's new Supreme leader has 
made no public appearance since 

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00:19:19,000 --> 00:19:21,840
his appointment. 
Munir has been in Tehran for 

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00:19:21,840 --> 00:19:25,480
three days meeting Galabaf, and 
Pakistan, which has been the 

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00:19:25,480 --> 00:19:28,880
structural backbone of this 
entire diplomatic process, is 

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00:19:28,880 --> 00:19:31,640
now running 3 simultaneous 
diplomatic tracks. 

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00:19:31,760 --> 00:19:34,960
Its army chief in Tehran, its 
Prime Minister and foreign 

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00:19:34,960 --> 00:19:37,840
minister in Italia, all working 
to ensure that when the 

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00:19:37,840 --> 00:19:41,520
delegation sit down on Monday, 
the remaining 20% is small 

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00:19:41,520 --> 00:19:43,200
enough to close in a single 
session. 

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00:19:43,640 --> 00:19:46,440
If this podcast is helping you 
make sense of what is happening,

361
00:19:46,680 --> 00:19:50,240
please take 30 seconds to leave 
a review on Spotify or Apple 

362
00:19:50,240 --> 00:19:53,040
Podcasts. 
It makes an enormous difference 

363
00:19:53,040 --> 00:19:54,680
to how many people find the 
show. 

364
00:19:55,200 --> 00:20:00,080
This has been episode 50 of Epic
Fury, the US Iran War podcast. 

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00:20:00,480 --> 00:20:06,280
Episode 5050 of The War the 
Straight has been declared open 

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00:20:06,320 --> 00:20:09,800
with conditions. 
The deal is 80% done. 

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00:20:10,200 --> 00:20:12,560
Second round talks confirmed for
Monday. 

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00:20:13,240 --> 00:20:16,640
Iran's supreme leader has not 
been seen in six weeks. 

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00:20:17,000 --> 00:20:19,400
Four days left on the ceasefire 
clock. 

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00:20:19,920 --> 00:20:21,640
We will be back very soon.