PODCAST - SITREP 3

WASHINGTON DC 18MAR2026Operation Epic Fury enters its nineteenth day with the war escalating across every domain simultaneously. United States Central Command has deployed five-thousand-pound deep penetrator munitions against hardened Iranian missile sites along the Strait of Hormuz, Iran has killed two people in an overnight ballistic missile strike on metropolitan Tel Aviv, and Israeli forces have killed Ali Larijani — Iran’s top security official and the most capable civilian figure in post-succession Tehran. The Israel Defense Forces have issued a named public threat against new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, who has not appeared on camera in ten days. The first senior administration official has resigned over the war’s intelligence basis — National Counterterrorism Center director Joe Kent, a former Green Beret and long-time Trump ally, declaring publicly that Iran posed no imminent threat. A new National Security Desk assessment establishes that Chinese AI firm MizarVision provided Iranian planners with a pre-strike targeting atlas of United States military assets — built substantially from American commercial satellite imagery. The Strait of Hormuz has effectively closed, vessel transits have collapsed ninety percent, and United States planners are now weighing a ground operation against Kharg Island. The written brief — with full sourcing, endnotes, and NSD analytical assessment — is published today at nsdsitrep dot substack dot com.The National Security Desk offers these posts freely, but your support is necessary and appreciated. Please subscribe, paid if you’re able, or leave a tip.Thank you This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit nsdpodcasts.substack.com