1
00:00:16,860 --> 00:00:21,940
Oil is above $100 a barrel for 
the first time since July 2022. 

2
00:00:22,420 --> 00:00:26,300
United States crude futures rose
more than 25% in a single 

3
00:00:26,300 --> 00:00:29,900
morning session, hitting nearly 
$115 per barrel. 

4
00:00:30,460 --> 00:00:34,340
Brent crude, the international 
benchmark, jumped more than 20% 

5
00:00:34,340 --> 00:00:38,060
to $110. 
The Dow Jones futures plummeted 

6
00:00:38,100 --> 00:00:43,840
more than 1000 points. 
The S&P 500 futures fell 2.3%. 

7
00:00:44,440 --> 00:00:49,840
The NASDAQ fell 2.7%. 
American retail petrol prices 

8
00:00:49,840 --> 00:00:54,240
soared to a national average of 
more than $3.45 per gallon. 

9
00:00:54,800 --> 00:00:57,360
Asian stock markets went into a 
nosedive. 

10
00:00:57,800 --> 00:01:00,840
South Korea announced it would 
cap fuel prices for the first 

11
00:01:00,840 --> 00:01:04,360
time in nearly 30 years. 
And the International Monetary 

12
00:01:04,360 --> 00:01:07,360
Fund, which is calculated that 
global economic growth is 

13
00:01:07,360 --> 00:01:12,240
reduced by 0.15% for every 10% 
rise in oil prices, was watching

14
00:01:12,240 --> 00:01:15,920
a world in which oil had risen 
57% in 10 days. 

15
00:01:16,320 --> 00:01:19,160
And the reason for all of it 
came just after midnight Tehran 

16
00:01:19,160 --> 00:01:22,280
time, when Iran's Assembly of 
Experts released a three 

17
00:01:22,280 --> 00:01:24,160
sentence statement that changed 
everything. 

18
00:01:24,720 --> 00:01:28,560
By a decisive vote, the Assembly
of Experts appointed Ayatollah 

19
00:01:28,560 --> 00:01:32,120
side Mojtaba Hosseini Khamenei 
as the third leader of the 

20
00:01:32,120 --> 00:01:34,600
sacred system of the Islamic 
Republic of Iran. 

21
00:01:35,040 --> 00:01:38,040
He is the son of the man America
killed 10 days ago. 

22
00:01:38,440 --> 00:01:41,800
The revolution that overthrew A 
monarchy has become one. 

23
00:01:42,400 --> 00:01:44,360
And the markets reacted 
instantly. 

24
00:01:44,600 --> 00:01:47,640
Because what the appointment of 
Mojtaba Khamenei signals to the 

25
00:01:47,640 --> 00:01:51,200
world is not compromise. 
It is not the opening of a 

26
00:01:51,200 --> 00:01:54,680
diplomatic door, it is a 
declaration by the hardline core

27
00:01:54,680 --> 00:01:57,920
of the Islamic Republic that it 
intends to fight on under the 

28
00:01:57,920 --> 00:02:01,600
son of the man who led it for 37
years until it can fight no 

29
00:02:01,600 --> 00:02:05,760
more. 
It is Monday, March 9th, 2026, 

30
00:02:06,240 --> 00:02:11,560
day 10 of Operation Epic Fury. 
This is episode 10 of Epic Fury,

31
00:02:11,720 --> 00:02:15,800
the US Iran war podcast. 
There is an enormous amount of 

32
00:02:15,800 --> 00:02:18,080
cover. 
Let us get into it. 

33
00:02:18,560 --> 00:02:22,120
The announcement came just after
midnight Tehran time on Monday. 

34
00:02:22,800 --> 00:02:25,480
The Assembly of Experts 
confirmed in a formal statement 

35
00:02:25,480 --> 00:02:29,000
that Mojtaba Khamenei had been 
appointed by decisive vote as 

36
00:02:29,000 --> 00:02:31,720
the Islamic Republic's third 
supreme leader since its 

37
00:02:31,720 --> 00:02:34,960
founding in 1979. 
The statement called on the 

38
00:02:34,960 --> 00:02:38,240
Iranian public, political 
figures, intellectuals and 

39
00:02:38,240 --> 00:02:41,040
senior clergy to pledge their 
allegiance to the newly 

40
00:02:41,040 --> 00:02:43,760
appointed leader. 
The allegiance pledges came 

41
00:02:43,760 --> 00:02:47,360
immediately and from every 
significant institution in the 

42
00:02:47,360 --> 00:02:50,680
Islamic Republic. 
Iran's defense counsel issued a 

43
00:02:50,680 --> 00:02:54,240
statement that read We will obey
the commander in chief until the

44
00:02:54,240 --> 00:02:57,680
last drop of our blood. 
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard 

45
00:02:57,680 --> 00:03:01,160
Corps stated it was ready to 
follow the new supreme leader. 

46
00:03:01,520 --> 00:03:04,840
Iran's Foreign Ministry issued a
statement of allegiance. 

47
00:03:05,240 --> 00:03:07,920
Iran's parliament expressed its 
allegiance. 

48
00:03:08,320 --> 00:03:11,360
Iran's armed forces leadership 
pledged allegiance. 

49
00:03:11,760 --> 00:03:14,720
President Massoud Posseski and 
pledged allegiance. 

50
00:03:15,200 --> 00:03:18,760
Parliament speaker Mohamed Bagar
Galabaf pledged allegiance. 

51
00:03:19,160 --> 00:03:22,600
Ali Larijani appeared on state 
television to say that Mojtaba 

52
00:03:22,600 --> 00:03:25,720
Khamenei could lead the country 
under the current sensitive 

53
00:03:25,720 --> 00:03:29,720
conditions. 1 by 1. 
Every major institution and 

54
00:03:29,720 --> 00:03:32,960
figure of the Islamic Republic 
fell into line behind the sun. 

55
00:03:33,360 --> 00:03:36,600
The speed and uniformity of 
those allegiance pledges is 

56
00:03:36,600 --> 00:03:39,680
itself significant. 
When a government is genuinely 

57
00:03:39,680 --> 00:03:44,720
fractured, you see hesitation, 
you see notable absences, you 

58
00:03:44,720 --> 00:03:47,880
see figures who delay or qualify
their endorsements. 

59
00:03:48,280 --> 00:03:51,560
In the hours following Mojtaba's
appointment, there was none of 

60
00:03:51,560 --> 00:03:53,680
that. 
The pledges were immediate, 

61
00:03:53,680 --> 00:03:57,120
comprehensive and publicly 
performed at the highest level 

62
00:03:57,120 --> 00:03:59,400
of every Iranian state 
institution. 

63
00:03:59,880 --> 00:04:03,920
Whether that uniformity reflects
genuine institutional loyalty or

64
00:04:03,920 --> 00:04:07,000
the coercive pressure of a 
wartime security apparatus that 

65
00:04:07,000 --> 00:04:10,560
cannot tolerate visible descent 
is a question only those inside 

66
00:04:10,560 --> 00:04:14,280
Iran can fully answer. 
But the performance of unity was

67
00:04:14,280 --> 00:04:18,839
total, and in politics, the 
performance of unity has its own

68
00:04:18,839 --> 00:04:21,480
power, regardless of what lies 
beneath it. 

69
00:04:21,920 --> 00:04:25,360
Now consider who Mojtaba 
Khamenei actually is, because 

70
00:04:25,360 --> 00:04:28,080
this is a name that will 
dominate the geopolitics of the 

71
00:04:28,080 --> 00:04:33,160
Middle East for years to come. 
He was born in September 1969. 

72
00:04:33,560 --> 00:04:37,400
He is 56 years old. 
He holds the religious rank of 

73
00:04:37,400 --> 00:04:41,360
Hojitoslam, one level below 
Ayatollah, which means he does 

74
00:04:41,360 --> 00:04:44,440
not strictly meet the 
constitutional qualification for

75
00:04:44,440 --> 00:04:47,680
the role of Supreme Leader. 
His father faced the same 

76
00:04:47,680 --> 00:04:51,200
problem in 1989 and the 
Constitution was amended to 

77
00:04:51,200 --> 00:04:54,360
accommodate him. 
A similar accommodation appears 

78
00:04:54,360 --> 00:04:58,320
to have been made for the son. 
He is never held formal elected 

79
00:04:58,320 --> 00:05:01,920
office of any kind. 
He is never given a public press

80
00:05:01,920 --> 00:05:05,000
conference. 
For decades, he operated almost 

81
00:05:05,000 --> 00:05:08,480
entirely in the shadows of his 
father's administration, serving

82
00:05:08,480 --> 00:05:11,440
as the de facto gatekeeper and 
fixer of the Office of the 

83
00:05:11,440 --> 00:05:14,720
Supreme Leader, holding the 
formal title of deputy chief of 

84
00:05:14,720 --> 00:05:18,120
staff for Political and Security
affairs since 1997. 

85
00:05:18,600 --> 00:05:21,760
His ties to the Islamic 
Revolutionary Guard Corps are 

86
00:05:21,760 --> 00:05:24,960
long standing and deep. 
He was believed to have played a

87
00:05:24,960 --> 00:05:28,720
direct role in orchestrating the
brutal crackdown on protesters 

88
00:05:28,720 --> 00:05:30,760
during the Green Movement. 
In 2009. 

89
00:05:31,160 --> 00:05:34,560
He was believed to have overseen
the Basich paramilitary force 

90
00:05:34,560 --> 00:05:37,880
responsible for multiple violent
suppressions of Iranian civil 

91
00:05:37,880 --> 00:05:40,080
society. 
He was placed under United 

92
00:05:40,080 --> 00:05:43,880
States Treasury sanctions in 
2019 for acting in the capacity 

93
00:05:43,880 --> 00:05:47,000
of Supreme Leader without 
holding any official position, 

94
00:05:47,360 --> 00:05:50,320
and for working closely with the
Kurds force on lethal aid, 

95
00:05:50,480 --> 00:05:53,160
intelligence, financing and 
training for the Taliban, 

96
00:05:53,160 --> 00:05:56,800
Hezbollah, Hamas, Palestinian 
Islamic Jihad and Iraq's Popular

97
00:05:56,800 --> 00:05:59,680
Mobilization Forces. 
A Bloomberg investigation 

98
00:05:59,680 --> 00:06:02,960
published in January 2026 
reported that he is linked to an

99
00:06:02,960 --> 00:06:05,960
offshore financial network 
holding high value real estate 

100
00:06:05,960 --> 00:06:09,240
in London and Dubai, with 
interests connected to shipping,

101
00:06:09,440 --> 00:06:13,080
banking and hospitality assets 
across Europe structured through

102
00:06:13,080 --> 00:06:15,400
intermediaries and layered 
corporate entities. 

103
00:06:15,800 --> 00:06:19,320
He is not a moderate. 
He is not a reformer. 

104
00:06:19,880 --> 00:06:23,080
He has never shown any 
inclination toward accommodation

105
00:06:23,080 --> 00:06:25,520
with the West. 
He is the product of the most 

106
00:06:25,520 --> 00:06:28,840
hardline dimension of the 
Islamic Republic, closely tied 

107
00:06:28,840 --> 00:06:32,280
to its most powerful military 
institution, and he now has the 

108
00:06:32,280 --> 00:06:35,720
final say in all matters of 
state in a country of 90 million

109
00:06:35,720 --> 00:06:38,520
people. 
The Islamic Republic was founded

110
00:06:38,520 --> 00:06:41,960
in explicit ideological 
repudiation of hereditary 

111
00:06:41,960 --> 00:06:45,120
monarchy. 
The first principle of the 1979 

112
00:06:45,120 --> 00:06:48,960
revolution was that hereditary 
rule was illegitimate, corrupt 

113
00:06:49,080 --> 00:06:52,520
and UN Islamic. 
The Shahs family had ruled Iran 

114
00:06:52,520 --> 00:06:56,200
for decades. 
They were swept away, and 47 

115
00:06:56,200 --> 00:06:59,480
years later, the Islamic 
Republic has handed power to the

116
00:06:59,480 --> 00:07:03,040
son of the supreme leader. 
The son of the man at the top 

117
00:07:03,040 --> 00:07:07,240
has become the man at the top. 
By any objective measure, this 

118
00:07:07,240 --> 00:07:11,000
is dynastic succession. 
The revolution that overthrew A 

119
00:07:11,000 --> 00:07:14,800
monarchy has produced one. 
Trump's reaction was carefully 

120
00:07:14,800 --> 00:07:18,000
watched. 
He told ABC News that if Mojtaba

121
00:07:18,000 --> 00:07:21,120
does not get approval from the 
United States, he's not going to

122
00:07:21,120 --> 00:07:23,560
last long. 
He said ending the war would be 

123
00:07:23,560 --> 00:07:26,960
a mutual decision between 
himself and Israeli Prime 

124
00:07:26,960 --> 00:07:29,840
Minister Netanyahu. 
When asked directly about the 

125
00:07:29,840 --> 00:07:32,000
appointment in a separate 
interview with The Times of 

126
00:07:32,000 --> 00:07:35,720
Israel, Trump declined to 
respond substantively, saying 

127
00:07:35,720 --> 00:07:39,840
only we will see what happens. 
He did not repeat his earlier 

128
00:07:39,840 --> 00:07:43,120
language of unacceptable, but 
neither did he signal 

129
00:07:43,120 --> 00:07:46,240
acceptance. 
The ambiguity is deliberate. 

130
00:07:46,880 --> 00:07:49,600
The stakes of what it conceals 
are enormous. 

131
00:07:50,000 --> 00:07:52,600
Netanyahu said in a press 
conference that he seeks to 

132
00:07:52,600 --> 00:07:55,240
destabilize the regime and 
enable change. 

133
00:07:55,640 --> 00:07:58,480
Israel's military had stated 
before the appointment that it 

134
00:07:58,480 --> 00:08:01,800
would pursue any successor to 
Common A and target those 

135
00:08:01,800 --> 00:08:03,840
participating in the selection 
process. 

136
00:08:04,320 --> 00:08:07,360
A Balka Semba Ban, the man 
appointed as the new head of the

137
00:08:07,360 --> 00:08:10,240
military office of the Supreme 
Leader in the days before 

138
00:08:10,240 --> 00:08:13,680
Mojtaba's selection, was killed 
by Israel in a strike on 

139
00:08:13,680 --> 00:08:16,400
Saturday. 
Israel killed the man appointed 

140
00:08:16,400 --> 00:08:19,960
to serve the incoming supreme 
leader before the supreme leader

141
00:08:20,000 --> 00:08:23,520
was even formally announced. 
Whether Israel follows through 

142
00:08:23,520 --> 00:08:26,480
on its threat to pursue the 
newly appointed Supreme Leader 

143
00:08:26,480 --> 00:08:29,560
himself is one of the most 
consequential and dangerous 

144
00:08:29,560 --> 00:08:31,480
questions of this entire 
conflict. 

145
00:08:31,880 --> 00:08:34,760
The seventh American service 
member to die in this conflict 

146
00:08:34,760 --> 00:08:38,720
was confirmed on Sunday. 
Seven Americans have now died. 

147
00:08:38,720 --> 00:08:41,880
In Operation Epic Fury. 
Trump presided over the 

148
00:08:41,880 --> 00:08:45,840
dignified transfer of the first 
six at Dover Air Force Base on 

149
00:08:45,840 --> 00:08:48,520
Saturday the 7th. 
Death was announced the 

150
00:08:48,520 --> 00:08:51,240
following day. 
The whole market reaction on 

151
00:08:51,240 --> 00:08:54,960
Monday morning was unlike 
anything seen since the COVID-19

152
00:08:54,960 --> 00:08:59,120
pandemic in March 2020. 
United States crude futures rose

153
00:08:59,120 --> 00:09:04,320
more than 25% to nearly $115 per
barrel in early Asian trading. 

154
00:09:04,760 --> 00:09:08,880
Brent crude jumped more than 20%
to $110 per barrel. 

155
00:09:09,520 --> 00:09:13,560
In 10 days, oil has gone from 
approximately $70 a barrel to 

156
00:09:13,560 --> 00:09:18,480
$110 a barrel. 
That is a 57% increase in 10 

157
00:09:18,480 --> 00:09:20,840
days. 
The last time oil was at these 

158
00:09:20,840 --> 00:09:24,520
levels was July 2022, at the 
height of the post Ukraine 

159
00:09:24,520 --> 00:09:27,880
invasion energy crisis. 
The confluence of factors 

160
00:09:27,880 --> 00:09:31,320
driving Monday's price spike is 
what analysts are describing as 

161
00:09:31,320 --> 00:09:34,040
a perfect storm. 
Iran's appointment of a hard 

162
00:09:34,040 --> 00:09:37,400
line supreme leader signals the 
war will continue indefinitely. 

163
00:09:37,800 --> 00:09:41,360
Israel struck Iranian oil 
storage and refinery facilities 

164
00:09:41,360 --> 00:09:45,200
over the weekend, fueling fears 
of retaliatory Iranian strikes 

165
00:09:45,200 --> 00:09:47,600
on Saudi and Gulf energy 
infrastructure. 

166
00:09:48,080 --> 00:09:51,120
Kuwait and Iraq cut oil output 
over the weekend because the 

167
00:09:51,120 --> 00:09:54,240
Strait of Hormuz closure has 
left them without the ability to

168
00:09:54,240 --> 00:09:56,360
export crude they can no longer 
store. 

169
00:09:56,800 --> 00:10:00,480
Qatar Energy's liquefied natural
gas shipments remain halted. 

170
00:10:00,880 --> 00:10:04,840
Traffic through the Strait of 
Hormuz is down approximately 90%

171
00:10:04,840 --> 00:10:08,120
from normal levels, and at least
nine commercial vessels have 

172
00:10:08,120 --> 00:10:11,360
been targeted in attacks in or 
near the Strait since the start 

173
00:10:11,360 --> 00:10:14,160
of the conflict, prompting 
multiple insurance firms to 

174
00:10:14,160 --> 00:10:16,920
cancel coverage for vessels in 
the Gulf entirely. 

175
00:10:17,360 --> 00:10:20,600
The economic chain of causation 
that flows from all of this is 

176
00:10:20,600 --> 00:10:23,920
not abstract. 
Higher energy prices increase 

177
00:10:23,920 --> 00:10:27,080
the cost of manufacturing, 
transportation and food 

178
00:10:27,080 --> 00:10:29,560
production. 
Simultaneously, they forced 

179
00:10:29,560 --> 00:10:32,600
central banks that were expected
to cut interest rates this year 

180
00:10:32,600 --> 00:10:35,840
to keep rates higher for longer 
to prevent inflation from re 

181
00:10:35,840 --> 00:10:38,760
accelerating. 
The country's most exposed are 

182
00:10:38,760 --> 00:10:41,680
not the United States and 
Europe, which have diversified 

183
00:10:41,720 --> 00:10:44,800
energy supplies. 
The countries most exposed are 

184
00:10:44,800 --> 00:10:48,800
India, Japan, South Korea, the 
Philippines, and the nations of 

185
00:10:48,800 --> 00:10:52,120
Africa and the developing world,
which have no domestic energy 

186
00:10:52,120 --> 00:10:55,360
reserves and no strategic 
stockpiles capable of absorbing 

187
00:10:55,360 --> 00:10:57,400
A prolonged disruption to Gulf 
supplies. 

188
00:10:57,840 --> 00:11:01,040
Egypt's President Abdel Fattah 
El Sisi warned that his 

189
00:11:01,040 --> 00:11:04,280
country's economy was in a state
of near emergency. 

190
00:11:04,680 --> 00:11:07,440
Djibouti's finance minister 
warned that the conflict would 

191
00:11:07,440 --> 00:11:10,280
bring severe economic 
consequences for developing 

192
00:11:10,280 --> 00:11:14,360
countries. 7 Gulf oil producing 
nations are likely to run out of

193
00:11:14,360 --> 00:11:17,920
crude oil storage capacity in 
less than a month if the Strait 

194
00:11:17,920 --> 00:11:19,880
of Hormuz remains effectively 
closed. 

195
00:11:19,880 --> 00:11:23,880
At that point, they will have no
choice but to shut in their oil 

196
00:11:23,880 --> 00:11:28,000
fields entirely. 
Production will stop not because

197
00:11:28,000 --> 00:11:32,040
of strikes or damage, but 
because there is nowhere left to

198
00:11:32,040 --> 00:11:35,520
put the oil they are producing. 
South Korea announced it would 

199
00:11:35,520 --> 00:11:38,960
cap fuel prices for the first 
time in nearly 30 years. 

200
00:11:39,400 --> 00:11:43,040
Japan held emergency government 
meetings about energy security. 

201
00:11:43,480 --> 00:11:46,400
In Britain, Chancellor Rachel 
Reeves said the government was 

202
00:11:46,400 --> 00:11:48,400
monitoring the situation 
closely. 

203
00:11:48,800 --> 00:11:51,680
The European Union convened 
energy ministers for 

204
00:11:51,680 --> 00:11:55,280
extraordinary session. 
The International Energy Agency 

205
00:11:55,280 --> 00:11:57,720
said it is prepared to 
coordinate the release of 

206
00:11:57,720 --> 00:12:01,200
strategic oil reserves from its 
31 member countries if market 

207
00:12:01,200 --> 00:12:04,600
conditions require it. 
The last time the IEA activated 

208
00:12:04,600 --> 00:12:08,160
this mechanism in a significant 
way was in response to Russia's 

209
00:12:08,160 --> 00:12:12,760
invasion of Ukraine in 2022. 
Trump said the oil price spike 

210
00:12:12,760 --> 00:12:16,520
will be short term and described
it as a very small price to pay.

211
00:12:17,040 --> 00:12:21,680
The American families filling up
their tanks at $3.45 a gallon 

212
00:12:21,680 --> 00:12:23,760
may assess that trade off 
differently. 

213
00:12:24,240 --> 00:12:27,560
The military campaign showed no 
signs of deceleration. 

214
00:12:28,160 --> 00:12:31,560
Israel struck Iranian oil 
storage facilities in Tehran 

215
00:12:31,560 --> 00:12:35,080
over the weekend, sending thick 
black smoke visible across the 

216
00:12:35,080 --> 00:12:39,200
entire Iranian capital. 
The Sharan fuel storage facility

217
00:12:39,200 --> 00:12:41,760
in northeast Tehran was 
confirmed burning. 

218
00:12:42,160 --> 00:12:45,240
Energy Secretary Chris Wright 
had said the United States was 

219
00:12:45,240 --> 00:12:47,760
targeting 0 energy 
infrastructure. 

220
00:12:48,240 --> 00:12:51,920
Israel's strikes on oil storage 
appear to represent a unilateral

221
00:12:51,920 --> 00:12:55,240
Israeli escalation of the 
targeting of Iran's energy 

222
00:12:55,240 --> 00:12:58,080
infrastructure. 
The knock on effect on global 

223
00:12:58,080 --> 00:13:00,920
oil markets of targeting the oil
infrastructure of one of the 

224
00:13:00,920 --> 00:13:03,920
world's major producers while 
the Strait of Hormuz is already 

225
00:13:03,920 --> 00:13:06,560
functionally closed has been 
immediate and severe. 

226
00:13:07,000 --> 00:13:10,720
Iran and Iraq militia backed 
groups intensified their attacks

227
00:13:10,720 --> 00:13:13,920
on American positions in Iraq 
and the Kurdistan Region. 

228
00:13:14,480 --> 00:13:17,680
A missile strike on the American
base at Erbil International 

229
00:13:17,680 --> 00:13:19,880
Airport killed a Kurdish 
security member. 

230
00:13:20,320 --> 00:13:24,600
Rockets hit the American embassy
compound in Baghdad, Iran, and 

231
00:13:24,600 --> 00:13:27,760
the militias at back struck a 
hotel used by United Nations 

232
00:13:27,760 --> 00:13:31,240
personnel in Salim and NIA, as 
well as a brigade of Kurdish 

233
00:13:31,240 --> 00:13:33,760
fighters in an Iranian 
opposition base near the 

234
00:13:33,760 --> 00:13:37,720
Kurdistan Region second city. 
Iran struck targets in Saudi 

235
00:13:37,720 --> 00:13:41,440
Arabia, with Riyadh reporting 2 
civilian deaths from Iranian 

236
00:13:41,440 --> 00:13:44,520
counterattacks on Sunday. 
The United States State 

237
00:13:44,520 --> 00:13:47,920
Department ordered the departure
of all non-emergency American 

238
00:13:47,920 --> 00:13:51,400
government employees and their 
family members from Saudi Arabia

239
00:13:51,400 --> 00:13:55,120
on Sunday, citing safety risks. 
American diplomatic 

240
00:13:55,120 --> 00:13:58,360
infrastructure across the entire
Middle East is shutting down 

241
00:13:58,360 --> 00:14:01,960
country by country. 
Lebanon's suffering continue to 

242
00:14:01,960 --> 00:14:04,960
deepen. 
Nearly 400 people have been 

243
00:14:04,960 --> 00:14:08,360
killed in Lebanon since the 
start of the conflict, including

244
00:14:08,360 --> 00:14:12,960
83 children. 
More than 517,000 people have 

245
00:14:12,960 --> 00:14:17,640
been displaced inside Lebanon. 
That is approximately 1 in 10 of

246
00:14:17,640 --> 00:14:22,520
the entire Lebanese population. 
One Lebanese person in every 10 

247
00:14:22,560 --> 00:14:27,080
has been forced from their home.
In 10 days, Israel killed 5 IRGC

248
00:14:27,360 --> 00:14:31,240
commanders based in Lebanon and 
strikes on Sunday, Israeli 

249
00:14:31,240 --> 00:14:35,360
strikes expanded geographically 
across Beirut, with a hotel in 

250
00:14:35,360 --> 00:14:37,960
the Route Sea Front district 
struck in an area that had 

251
00:14:37,960 --> 00:14:40,600
previously remained untouched 
throughout the conflict. 

252
00:14:41,000 --> 00:14:44,400
Iran's Supreme National Security
Council accused the United 

253
00:14:44,400 --> 00:14:47,840
States of wanting to partition 
the country and seize its oil. 

254
00:14:48,240 --> 00:14:50,800
This framing echoes the 
foundational grievance of the 

255
00:14:50,800 --> 00:14:55,720
1953 CIA coup, in which Iranian 
oil was taken from Iranian 

256
00:14:55,720 --> 00:14:58,560
control by Western corporate and
government interests. 

257
00:14:58,920 --> 00:15:02,680
The generational memory of 
Mosaddek, of the CIA coup, of 

258
00:15:02,680 --> 00:15:06,400
Western oil companies taking 
Iran's resources, runs deep in 

259
00:15:06,400 --> 00:15:09,280
Iranian society across all 
political lines. 

260
00:15:09,640 --> 00:15:14,400
Framing this war as a repeat of 
1953 is the single most powerful

261
00:15:14,400 --> 00:15:17,360
piece of domestic political 
messaging available to the 

262
00:15:17,360 --> 00:15:21,600
Islamic Republic, and it is now 
being deployed at full volume. 

263
00:15:22,360 --> 00:15:25,920
Iran's Foreign Minister Arachi 
appeared on NBC News Meet the 

264
00:15:25,920 --> 00:15:29,080
Press on Sunday and rejected any
ceasefire. 

265
00:15:29,480 --> 00:15:32,520
He said Iran must continue 
fighting for the sake of our 

266
00:15:32,520 --> 00:15:35,680
people. 
He declined to confirm or deny 

267
00:15:35,680 --> 00:15:38,320
whether Russia has been 
providing Iran with targeting 

268
00:15:38,320 --> 00:15:41,080
intelligence on the locations of
American warships. 

269
00:15:41,480 --> 00:15:44,960
His silence on that specific 
question was itself a form of 

270
00:15:44,960 --> 00:15:47,440
answer. 
He said the war would end when 

271
00:15:47,440 --> 00:15:50,160
the United States and Israel 
stopped the aggression. 

272
00:15:50,800 --> 00:15:54,800
He specified no conditions, no 
timelines and no framework for 

273
00:15:54,800 --> 00:15:57,880
negotiations. 
There are no talks underway. 

274
00:15:58,480 --> 00:16:02,120
There is no mediator with a 
concrete proposal on the table. 

275
00:16:02,760 --> 00:16:06,440
Pope Leo the 14th, speaking from
the Vatican on Sunday, warned of

276
00:16:06,440 --> 00:16:08,960
a tragedy of enormous 
proportions due to what he 

277
00:16:08,960 --> 00:16:11,920
described as a widespread 
climate of hatred and fear 

278
00:16:11,920 --> 00:16:14,920
across the region. 
China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi

279
00:16:14,920 --> 00:16:17,640
said armed conflict in the 
Middle East will only breed 

280
00:16:17,640 --> 00:16:20,720
hatred and declare that might 
does not make right, and the law

281
00:16:20,720 --> 00:16:23,880
of the jungle must not return to
rule the world. the United 

282
00:16:23,880 --> 00:16:26,960
Nations declared on March 6th 
that the Iran war had evolved 

283
00:16:26,960 --> 00:16:30,520
into a major humanitarian 
emergency, noting the affected 

284
00:16:30,520 --> 00:16:34,480
regions currently host nearly 25
million people as refugees or 

285
00:16:34,480 --> 00:16:37,440
displaced persons. 
Neither religious authority, 

286
00:16:37,560 --> 00:16:40,760
diplomatic condemnation, nor a 
formal United Nations 

287
00:16:40,760 --> 00:16:43,520
humanitarian emergency 
declaration has altered the 

288
00:16:43,520 --> 00:16:46,080
trajectory of this conflict by a
single degree. 

289
00:16:46,440 --> 00:16:49,840
Qatar arrested 10 individuals 
over the weekend for operating 

290
00:16:49,840 --> 00:16:53,240
as a cell of the Islamic 
Revolutionary Guard core inside 

291
00:16:53,240 --> 00:16:56,160
Qatari territory. 
The cell had been collecting 

292
00:16:56,160 --> 00:17:00,040
data on military infrastructure,
with some members trained to use

293
00:17:00,040 --> 00:17:02,960
drones. 
Qatar is home to Al Udiyid Air 

294
00:17:02,960 --> 00:17:06,000
Base, the largest American 
military installation in the 

295
00:17:06,000 --> 00:17:09,280
Middle East, housing 
approximately 10,000 American 

296
00:17:09,280 --> 00:17:12,640
military personnel. 
The discovery of an active IRGC 

297
00:17:12,800 --> 00:17:15,800
intelligence cell collecting 
targeting data on Qatari 

298
00:17:15,800 --> 00:17:19,520
military infrastructure on 
Qatari soil is a reminder that 

299
00:17:19,520 --> 00:17:22,560
the threat Iran poses is not 
limited to the missiles and 

300
00:17:22,560 --> 00:17:24,800
drones fired from Iranian 
territory. 

301
00:17:25,240 --> 00:17:28,520
It is also embedded in the human
intelligence networks Iran has 

302
00:17:28,520 --> 00:17:31,120
built inside neighboring 
countries over decades. 

303
00:17:31,560 --> 00:17:34,960
The Iran women's football team 
competing in the AFC Women's 

304
00:17:34,960 --> 00:17:37,520
Asian Cup in Australia. 
It became one of the most 

305
00:17:37,520 --> 00:17:40,840
quietly extraordinary subplots 
of this entire conflict. 

306
00:17:40,840 --> 00:17:44,320
Over the weekend, the players 
arrived before the war began, 

307
00:17:44,720 --> 00:17:48,360
with commercial flights to and 
from Iran impossible and Iranian

308
00:17:48,360 --> 00:17:51,040
airspace closed. 
They remained stranded in 

309
00:17:51,040 --> 00:17:54,440
Australia with no path home 
before their first game. 

310
00:17:54,440 --> 00:17:57,560
On the day the conflict began, 
the players stood in complete 

311
00:17:57,560 --> 00:18:00,040
silence during the Iranian 
national anthem. 

312
00:18:00,640 --> 00:18:03,760
That silence was interpreted by 
some as resistance against the 

313
00:18:03,760 --> 00:18:07,120
regime, by others is mourning 
for those being killed. 

314
00:18:07,640 --> 00:18:11,040
In their subsequent 2 matches 
they sang the anthem and played 

315
00:18:11,040 --> 00:18:13,560
on. 
They lost all three games and 

316
00:18:13,560 --> 00:18:17,120
have been eliminated. 
They are Iranian women stranded 

317
00:18:17,120 --> 00:18:20,120
in Australia, having represented
a government that has spent 

318
00:18:20,120 --> 00:18:22,840
decades restricting their 
freedoms, while that same 

319
00:18:22,840 --> 00:18:26,360
government is being bombed into 
rubble 10,000 kilometers away. 

320
00:18:26,760 --> 00:18:30,880
Their situation resists any 
simple political framing. the 

321
00:18:30,880 --> 00:18:34,400
United States simultaneously 
launched large scale joint 

322
00:18:34,400 --> 00:18:37,360
military exercises with South 
Korea on Sunday. 

323
00:18:37,760 --> 00:18:40,960
The joint exercises, known as 
Freedom Shield, are the annual 

324
00:18:40,960 --> 00:18:44,120
combined military drill the 
United States and South Korea 

325
00:18:44,120 --> 00:18:46,880
conduct to demonstrate readiness
against North Korea. 

326
00:18:47,280 --> 00:18:50,840
Their timing this year, in the 
middle of Operation Epic Fury, 

327
00:18:51,120 --> 00:18:54,760
carries a specific message. the 
United States military is 

328
00:18:54,760 --> 00:18:58,360
signaling to Pyongyang, to 
Beijing, and to the world that 

329
00:18:58,360 --> 00:19:02,360
it considers itself capable of 
managing two major simultaneous 

330
00:19:02,360 --> 00:19:05,080
military commitments. 
The decision to proceed with 

331
00:19:05,080 --> 00:19:08,600
Freedom Shield on schedule is a 
deliberate demonstration of 

332
00:19:08,600 --> 00:19:12,040
American military capacity that 
extends well beyond the Iran 

333
00:19:12,040 --> 00:19:14,440
conflict itself. 
Day 10. 

334
00:19:14,800 --> 00:19:18,280
The new Supreme Leader of Iran 
is the son of the man America 

335
00:19:18,280 --> 00:19:21,200
killed. 
Every major Iranian institution 

336
00:19:21,200 --> 00:19:24,480
has pledged allegiance to him in
language of absolute loyalty. 

337
00:19:24,880 --> 00:19:27,520
He is sanctioned by the United 
States Treasury. 

338
00:19:27,920 --> 00:19:31,280
He has spent his career 
overseeing Iran's proxy forces 

339
00:19:31,280 --> 00:19:36,040
against Israel and America. 
Oil is at $110 a barrel. 

340
00:19:36,680 --> 00:19:41,040
The Strait of Hormuz sits at 90%
below normal traffic levels. 

341
00:19:41,440 --> 00:19:43,760
Gulf oil states are running out 
of storage. 

342
00:19:44,200 --> 00:19:47,120
LNG shipments from Qatar remain 
halted. 

343
00:19:47,560 --> 00:19:50,520
European natural gas prices have
nearly doubled. 

344
00:19:50,920 --> 00:19:55,240
Seven Americans are dead. 
Nearly 400 Lebanese are dead, 

345
00:19:55,240 --> 00:20:01,200
including 83 children. 517,000 
people are displaced in Lebanon 

346
00:20:01,200 --> 00:20:03,960
alone. 
Trump says it is a very small 

347
00:20:03,960 --> 00:20:06,320
price to pay and it will be 
short term. 

348
00:20:06,920 --> 00:20:09,920
The son of the supreme leader is
the supreme leader. 

349
00:20:10,440 --> 00:20:12,120
The war has no end. 
Insight. 

350
00:20:12,520 --> 00:20:15,280
And the global economy is 
beginning to feel the weight of 

351
00:20:15,280 --> 00:20:18,440
it in ways that no government in
the world can fully protect its 

352
00:20:18,440 --> 00:20:22,360
citizens from. 
That is episode 10 of Epic Fury,

353
00:20:22,480 --> 00:20:26,760
the US Iran war podcast. 
The story is moving fast. 

354
00:20:27,240 --> 00:20:31,240
Subscribe on Spotify, Apple 
podcast or YouTube so every new 

355
00:20:31,240 --> 00:20:34,920
episode lands directly with you.
Share this with someone who 

356
00:20:34,920 --> 00:20:38,600
needs to understand what is 
happening and we will be back 

357
00:20:38,600 --> 00:20:39,440
very soon.