Mike Baker

Welcome to the PDB's Situation Report.

I'm Mike Baker, your eyes and ears on the world stage.

All right, let's get briefed.

First up, the U.S.

and Iran have reportedly, supposedly, perhaps reached a draft agreement.

Oh, here we go.

To extend their ceasefire for another 60 days, pending, of course, President Trump's approval.

We'll get analysis from David Dowd.

He's the senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and a very good friend of the show, by the way.

Later in the show, Cuba's power grid is under growing strain.

We've talked about that here on the PDB.

And now the Trump administration is opening a new front with criminal charges against former Cuban leader Raul Castro.

We'll speak to retired Marine Corps intelligence officer Hal Kemper about the implications for Cuba's future and America's broader strategy in the region.

But first, today's Situation Report Spotlight.

Despite recent flare ups in the Strait of Hormuz, Washington and Tehran have supposedly reached a memorandum of understanding.

And anyone who's fond of acronyms know that that's MOU.

The memorandum would extend the ceasefire for another 60 days to allow for further negotiations to try to find some agreement somewhere.

One of the first items on the agenda would be addressing Iran's stockpile of highly enriched uranium, a key sticking point, of course, in any long-term deal.

The MOU is still awaiting President Trump's signature and, of course, needs final sign-off by the existing Iranian leadership.

Meanwhile, the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah appears to be heating up once again, with Israeli forces reportedly pushing deeper into southern Lebanon as fighting intensifies along the border.