August 27th, 2026: Iran’s New Hormuz Plan Targets American Warships & Russia’s Chinese-Powered Shaheds

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**Mike Baker** (0:44)
It's Thursday, the 27th of August. Welcome to The President's Daily Brief. I'm Mike Baker, your eyes and ears on the world stage. All right, let's get briefed. First up, Iran says a proposed agreement with Oman would divide control and revenue from the Strait of Hormuz and bar American warships from passing through.
How about that? Later in the show, Chinese technology is transforming Russia's Iranian-designed Shahed drones, turning a cheap battlefield weapon into something increasingly similar to a low-cost cruise missile. Plus, Washington disrupts a sprawling Chinese cyber-espionage operation that allegedly targeted American government agencies. And in today's Back of the Brief, Switzerland considers a stricter form of neutrality, is there such a thing, that could pull the country away from NATO and weaken Western sanctions against Russia. Switzerland won't just be neutral anymore, they'll be super neutral, they'll be skippity neutral, as the kids would say. Maybe they don't say that anymore. It's hard to keep up with those HEP kids. Anyway, here's today's PDB Spotlight.
Iran is trying to turn its wartime control of the Strait of Hormuz into something more permanent, authority over which ships can pass through, which routes they use, and potentially how much they pay. And Tehran says that authority would be used to keep American warships out. It does not sound like they want to negotiate. Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gadababadi, that's just fun to say, give it a try, says Iran and Oman have reached an understanding on a new framework for managing traffic through the Strait of Hormuz. Under the proposed arrangement, commercial ships entering the Persian Gulf would travel entirely through Iranian waters. Outbound traffic would pass partly through Iranian waters and partly through Oman's. But the most consequential provision concerns military vessels. Gadababadi said that, and I told you it's fun, Gadababadi said that if the understanding becomes binding, no military ship would be permitted to transit the strait. In his words, quote, no military vessel at all. That would effectively allow Iran to challenge American naval access to the Persian Gulf, where the US. Fifth Fleet is headquartered in Bahrain. American destroyers, aircraft carriers and other military vessels regularly pass through the Strait of Hormuz to reach US partners, including Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar and the UAE. Washington would almost certainly, before you think, reject any Iranian attempt to determine whether those warships may enter or leave the Gulf. The announcement followed talks Tuesday between the foreign ministers of Iran and Oman. The two governments issued a joint statement outlining a proposed temporary shipping corridor and a joint project to clear mines from the Strait. Technical negotiations would then continue toward a permanent corridor, along with new arrangements for traffic management, information sharing, security services and the waterways future administration.
Now, that mine clearing proposal is particularly interesting because, as we reported here on the PDB yesterday, the US says its military has already cleared the principal shipping lanes through the Strait of Hormuz. President Trump said the mines in international waters had been cleared or destroyed following a months-long American operation. So we now have competing claims, which has really been the hallmark of this entire conflict. Washington says it has already restored safe shipping lanes, Iran and Oman are proposing their own mine clearing operation and a new corridor that would give Tehran a much larger role in managing traffic. Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps, the IRGC, are making even broader claims. An IRGC spokesman said Iran and Oman had reached agreements over their respective shares of the strait and the revenues generated from it. It always comes down to money. The spokesman did not explain what those revenues would include. Iran has previously proposed collecting fees for maritime services, while Oman has said navigation should remain open without transit charges. And despite the IRGC's announcement, well, the agreement is apparently not finished. A senior Iranian source told Reuters that negotiations were continuing, while Oman's foreign minister said he was hopeful that a temporary corridor would be announced soon. Oman has not publicly confirmed either the proposed military ban or the IRGC's claims about dividing revenues. And that distinction of course matters. Iran is presenting its preferred framework as though the major questions have already been settled. Oman is describing something much narrower, a temporary corridor, mine clearance and continued negotiations.