PDB Afternoon Bulletin | April 9th, 2026: Iran’s Demands Revealed & Russia’s Submarine Operation

0:00It's Thursday, the 9th of April. 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, US and Iranian officials are set to meet face to face for the first time since the war began, as talks kick off in Pakistan, at least to that's the current plan, but Tehran's opening demands suggest a deal may still be a long ways off. Later in the show, British officials expose a covert Russian submarine operation, targeting undersea cables and pipelines, raising new concerns about Moscow's hybrid warfare playbook. But first, today's afternoon spotlight. For the first time since the war began, US and Iranian officials are reportedly expected to sit down face to face, with talks set to begin as early as tomorrow in Islamabad, Pakistan. Now, this comes as part of that fragile two-week

1:03ceasefire window, or whatever the word is for a ceasefire that where the firing hasn't actually ceased, and key conditions for the ceasefire or whatever it is have yet to be met. But essentially, it's a low or a pause in the fighting, perhaps, meant to give both sides time to negotiate towards something more permanent. And according to multiple reports, senior officials are already on their way, with Vice President J.D. Vance expected to lead the US delegation. Now, before those talks even begin, we've already had a pretty clear look at how Tehran, a plan to approach them. Iran has put forward amounts to an opening position, a tent point plan that, while not agreed to by Washington, offers a window into what they'll be pushing for once negotiators sit down at the table, if in fact they do sit down at the table. This is the plan the President Trump called a quote, workable basis on which to negotiate. Now, others have referred to it as a list of maximalist demands put forward by a regime that is now claiming victory, which is

2:03awkward since the US is also claiming victory. Maybe in today's world, everybody gets a trophy. But the key thing to understand here is this, it's not a deal, it's a starting point. First, let's look at the key issues here. The ones where there really haven't been any agreements so far. First, a straight-of-core moose. At the center of Iran's opening position is control over that critical waterway. It's the regime's main, possibly only, point of leverage. Tehran clearly wants to maintain authority there, even under a ceasefire. It's all about controlling global energy flows and using that as pressure on the US and allies. The US declared at the start of the ceasefire, or whatever it is, that the two-week cessation of hostilities was dependent on the straight being reopened. Well, that hasn't happened, and by the looks of it, the Iranian regime isn't intending to back down. Second, their demanding broad sanctions relief. Iran's proposal calls for lifting both primary and secondary sanctions, essentially opening the door for US informed businesses to re-engage with the Iranian economy. Now, that's a major ask, and one that

3:07would run straight into political and legal hurdles in Washington, especially when it comes to sanctions, tied to terrorism and human rights. Well, such as the right not to be slaughtered by your own government when you take to the streets in peaceful protest. Third, they're demanding that they preserve their nuclear program. Tehran is still pushing for recognition of its right to enrich uranium. There may be room for limits or caps here, but the core demand hasn't changed. They're not agreeing to give that capability up entirely. And that one's a non-starter for the Trump administration. The White House has been clear, there is no scenario where Iran is allowed to retain a pathway to a nuclear weapon, and that includes domestic uranium enrichment. So right away, you've got a fundamental gap, a very sizable fundamental gap, between where Iran is starting, and where Washington says it's willing to end up. Fourth, they're demanding the rolling back of international pressure. Iran wants the removal of UN sanctions, as well as an end to ongoing

4:07investigations by the International Atomic Energy Agency, and to its past nuclear activity. That would effectively clear the slate internationally, as something the US and its European allies have been reluctant to do without full transparency. And there has never been full transparency when it comes to the Iranian nuclear program. That old adage trust but verify, well that only works if you can fully verify. Up to now, it's been trust, but verify whatever the Iranians are willing to show you. Fifth, they're demanding security guarantees. Tecron is looking for assurances that it won't face future military action, potentially backed by outside powers. Now that raises big questions about enforcement of that, and whether any third party would realistically take on that role. And then there are the demands that at least for now appear to be perhaps negotiable. Things like financial compensation for war damage, and a full withdrawal of US forces from the region, those positions Iran has historically pushed, but they may already be walking back as talks approach. And finally, there's the issue of scope. Iran's proposal includes

5:12ceasefires across all fronts, including against their key terror proxy, Khazbullah, in Lebanon. But Washington has made clear that's not part of the current agreement. And as we've seen over the past several days, well Israel certainly isn't on board with that idea. Now there's another layer to this that I'd be remiss to not mention, because as you know, well I'm a bit of a scenic here. Even if you assume some of these positions are negotiable, there's still a bigger question, whether Iran is actually negotiating in good faith. Because we've seen this pattern before, agreements on paper, followed by gradual steps away from those commitments over time. And despite the White House running with the narrative that they're now dealing with a whole new regime, the reality is they're still dealing with the Islamic Republic. Now many of the faces and leadership positions may be new, but there's no reason to believe, at least not yet, that were somehow dealing with a kinder gentler, more reasonable government. All right, coming up next,

6:13Russia sends submarines toward UK waters in what looks like a covert operation targeting undersea cables and pipelines. I'll be right back. Hey Mike Baker here, let me take a moment to talk about personal finances and the importance of diversifying your assets. So here's the question, do you own physical gold? Well, in today's world, with its ups and downs and what some would consider general instability, owning gold is something that everyone should consider. And here's a top tip, acre gold makes it simple. That's acre A C R E. With acre gold, you pick a plan that fits your budget, you make monthly payments, and when you've accumulated enough, well, they ship you a beautifully designed 24 karat Swiss gold bar. Gold is up 70% year over year and central banks where they're still buying it up at record levels. The reality is smart money has been moving into hard assets for a reason. And acre gold makes investing and owning gold easier than ever. And let me just say, once you hold a physical asset like gold in your hands, well, you understand the difference between owning something real, something physical as compared to investments that

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10:22a cooler class attack submarine alongside two specialized spy subs, assets that operated in the Atlantic north of the UK for nearly a month before being pushed out. And I want to point out an interesting detail in Healey's speech. He said the Russian attack submarine may have been a decoy. It was potentially designed to draw attention while something else was happening beneath the surface. So you ask, what were they up to? Well, the two spy submarines are tied to Russia's main directorate of deep sea research known as Googie. It's a clandestine unit with a fun sounding name. The Western officials have been monitoring closely for years. Their focus, while their focus is the sea bed. I'm talking of course about undersea cables and pipelines, the infrastructure that quietly powers global communications, financial systems and data flows. And here on the PDB we've discussed how the Kremlin targets undersea infrastructure as part of a broader hybrid warfare strategy against the West. Now here's what London did in response.

11:23Healey says of Royal Navy worship and Royal Air Force P8 surveillance aircraft working alongside allies tracked these submarines around the clock for weeks. And it wasn't some passive monitoring. The UK military dropped sonar buoys into the water, sending a clear signal to the Russians that they've been detected and whatever they thought was covert was no longer covert. And healey wanted to make sure that message landed. In his press conference, the British Defense Secretary issued a direct warning to Moscow saying quote, we see you over our cables in our pipelines and making clear that any attempt to damage that infrastructure quote will not be tolerated. Healey then made clear that London views Moscow's posture as quote, the primary threat to Britain and to NATO. It's important to understand when this operation took place. British officials say all of this unfolded while the world's attention was of course fixed on the Middle East as the US and Israel carried out strikes on Iran. And Healey made clear that he believes that was intentional that Moscow was likely betting the West would be distracted.

12:26So Healey is framing this as part of a broader escalation in Russian activity targeting NATO infrastructure. Just last year of the Russian spy ship Yantar carried out sustained operations around UK waters, including a 13 month stretch of monitoring key infrastructure nodes. To be clear, there's no indication that any cables or pipelines were actually damaged during this latest Russian operation, unlike what we've seen in the Baltic Sea from Russia's shadow fleet. But that almost makes this more concerning, because what this looks like is reconnaissance, the kind of activity you carry out when you're preparing options, not necessarily executing them, mapping out infrastructure, testing defenses, perhaps testing new technology. And while these submarines have since retreated north, the questions for the UK military and intel services are what information was the Kremlin trying to collect and how might that information be used in the future. And that my friends is the PDB afternoon bulletin for Thursday the 9th of April.

13:26Now if you have any questions or comments, please reach out to me at PDB at thefirsttv.com. And to listen to the show at free, while you can do that, you know that it's very simple, just become a premium member of the President's Daily Brief by visiting PDBpremium.com. I'm Mike Baker and I'll be back tomorrow. Until then, stay informed, stay safe, stay cool. Hey, Mike Baker here. Now you've probably heard me talk about Goldbelly, right? It's the amazing company that brings iconic foods from America's greatest chefs straight to your doorstep. It's that simple. Well, as you may be aware, also coming right around the corner is Mother's Day. And what better way to make mom feel special than to order up food she's going to love, right? Goldbelly celebrates the best of America by shipping the country's most celebrated foods from legendary eateries straight to your door. And they'll ship anywhere across the country for free in time

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