Mike Baker

It's Tuesday, the 16th of June.

Welcome to the PDB Afternoon Bulletin.

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

All right, let's get briefed.

First up, for weeks, as Iran tightened its grip on the Strait of Hormuz, the U.S.

reportedly turned to an unlikely solution, a shipping network modeled on techniques pioneered by none other than the Iranian regime.

Sound confusing?

Well, I'll explain how it worked and why it may have helped minimize a global energy crisis.

Later in the show, tragedy at a California airbase as a B-52 bomber crashes moments after takeoff, killing all eight crew members on board.

I'll add the latest details on the deadly accident and what investigators are now looking at as they search for answers.

But first, today's afternoon spotlight.

The U.S.

and Iran may have signed a memorandum aimed at ending their months-long conflict, but that does not mean that everything is suddenly back to normal in the Persian Gulf.

While both sides have reportedly pledged to reopen this straight-up Hormuz, obviously one of the world's most important energy chokepoints, shipping companies and insurers, well, they remain wary.

Tanker operators say it could take weeks before commercial traffic returns to normal, even if the ceasefire holds.

For many in the shipping industry, the risk of missiles or drones or renewed hostilities remains too high.

That lingering uncertainty helps explain a new Reuters investigation published today.

According to Reuters, the U.S.

has spent the past several weeks overseeing a secretive operation designed to keep Gulf oil flowing despite Iran's effective blockade of the Strait of Hormuz.

And in a twist that few observers would have predicted, the operation reportedly relies on techniques long associated with Iran's own sanctions evasion network.