Latest / The President's Daily Brief / October 27th, 2026: Iran's Economic Crisis Deepens as the U.S. Tightens the Squeeze & Egypt Moves Against the Houthis

Transcript

October 27th, 2026: Iran's Economic Crisis Deepens as the U.S. Tightens the Squeeze & Egypt Moves Against the Houthis · The President's Daily Brief

• 0:13
  It's Tuesday,
• 0:13
  the twenty-seventh of October.
• 0:15
  Welcome to the President's Daily Brief.
• 0:17
  I'm Mike Baker,
• 0:18
  your eyes and ears on the world stage.
• 0:21
  All right,
• 0:22
  let's get briefed.
• 0:23
  First up,
• 0:24
  Iran's economic isolation is getting worse as Iraq and Pakistan
• 0:28
  restrict vital overland trade routes,
• 0:31
  adding to the pressure
• 0:33
  from America's naval blockade and cutting the regime off from
• 0:36
  more of the outside world.
• 0:38
  Later in the show,
• 0:39
  Egypt moves closer.
• 0:41
  Joining the fight against the Iran-backed Houthis,
• 0:43
  authorizing military support for Saudi Arabia
• 0:46
  as the group's attacks on the kingdom continue,
• 0:49
  plus
• 0:50
  North Korean artillery is spotted near the
• 0:52
  heavily fortified border with South Korea,
• 0:55
  with guns pointed south as tensions between the two countries remain high.
• 0:59
  And in today's back of the brief,
• 1:01
  Elon Musk,
• 1:02
  you've probably heard of him,
• 1:03
  he breaks his silence on Ukraine's Starlink restrictions,
• 1:07
  accusing Kiev of violating the service's rules
• 1:10
  by using it to carry out offensive drone strikes.
• 1:13
  But first,
• 1:14
  today's PDB spotlight.
• 1:17
  Iran is running out of ways to trade with the
• 1:19
  outside world as the US campaign to economically isolate the regime
• 1:24
  expands beyond the American naval blockade.
• 1:27
  According to a report in The Wall Street Journal,
• 1:29
  Iraq and Pakistan
• 1:30
  are now restricting important land routes into and out of Iran,
• 1:34
  cutting into the country's remaining commercial lifelines
• 1:37
  after months of American pressure on its shipping,
• 1:40
  aviation,
• 1:41
  and banking sectors.
• 1:42
  The developments represent another blow to an
• 1:44
  Iranian economy already struggling with soaring inflation,
• 1:47
  a collapsing currency,
• 1:49
  and the loss of its oil export revenues.
• 1:52
  First we'll take a look at the latest border closures.
• 1:55
  Last week,
• 1:56
  Iraq shut down the Sheeb border crossing,
• 1:58
  which connects major oil producing regions in Iraq and Iran.
• 2:02
  Baghdad cited concerns about smuggling and
• 2:05
  the need for tighter border enforcement.
• 2:07
  Pakistan also blocked commercial trucks at two important crossings,
• 2:11
  Gabd and Tafton,
• 2:13
  citing security considerations and its obligations
• 2:16
  to comply with international sanctions.
• 2:18
  Those routes had become increasingly important as Iranian businesses
• 2:22
  searched for alternatives to the country's heavily restricted seaports,
• 2:26
  and the pressure
• 2:27
  appears to be coming directly from Washington.
• 2:30
  Earlier this month,
• 2:31
  Treasury Secretary Scott Beset said the US was working with Pakistan and Turkey
• 2:35
  to restrict Iran's remaining overland trade routes.
• 2:39
  Besset described the effort as a absolute isolation campaign
• 2:43
  aimed at cutting Iran off economically.
• 2:46
  The Treasury Department has also been considering
• 2:49
  additional sanctions against
• 2:50
  businesses providing warehouses,
• 2:52
  distribution centers,
• 2:53
  and other logistical services
• 2:56
  that help goods move across Iran's borders.
• 2:59
  It's an attempt to disrupt the physical infrastructure
• 3:02
  that allows the regime to continue trading with its neighbors.
• 3:05
  According to Iranian transportation officials,
• 3:08
  approximately 17,000 trucks were backed up at border crossings with Turkey,
• 3:12
  Afghanistan,
• 3:13
  and Azerbaijan.
• 3:15
  At the end of September,
• 3:17
  some drivers were waiting as long as 20 days to move their cargo.
• 3:21
  Iranian trucking associations
• 3:23
  say the delays have forced drivers to abandon shipments
• 3:26
  of fruit and agricultural products after the goods spoiled
• 3:30
  at the Pakistani border.
• 3:31
  More than 4500 metric tons of bottled gas,
• 3:35
  one of Iran's remaining energy exports,
• 3:37
  were reportedly stranded because of the restrictions.
• 3:40
  Meanwhile,
• 3:41
  Pakistani authorities have introduced additional banking requirements
• 3:44
  for companies importing Iranian goods,
• 3:47
  creating another obstacle
• 3:49
  for businesses already struggling to conduct transactions
• 3:52
  through Iran's sanctioned financial system,
• 3:55
  and that combination of border restrictions,
• 3:57
  banking sanctions,
• 3:58
  and transportation delays
• 4:00
  is making an already difficult economic situation even worse.
• 4:04
  Now we've been tracking the damage caused by America's naval blockade for months.
• 4:08
  The US Navy has effectively halted Iranian oil exports,
• 4:12
  depriving Iran of its most important source of foreign revenue.
• 4:16
  For a time,
• 4:17
  the regime was still able to sell oil held in offshore storage,
• 4:20
  much of it to buyers in China.
• 4:22
  But according to the Journal,
• 4:24
  those remaining stockpiles have now been exhausted.
• 4:27
  The blockade has also severely disrupted imports,
• 4:30
  including food and other basic supplies.
• 4:32
  Now humanitarian goods are technically exempt,
• 4:35
  but shipping companies have been reluctant to approach Iranian ports
• 4:39
  because of the risk of inspections and delays.
• 4:42
  At the same time,
• 4:43
  American sanctions have restricted Iran's airline industry
• 4:46
  and its ability to conduct financial transactions with trading partners.
• 4:51
  According to Iran's own data,
• 4:53
  Iranian households have lost approximately 90% of their purchasing power
• 4:58
  over the past year.
• 4:59
  Food prices have risen by 128%.
• 5:02
  Meanwhile,
• 5:03
  the Iranian rial
• 5:04
  fell to another record low last Thursday,
• 5:06
  trading at roughly 2.74 million
• 5:10
  to the American dollar.
• 5:12
  Those figures reflect the cumulative damage from the war,
• 5:16
  inflation,
• 5:17
  sanctions,
• 5:17
  and economic isolation.
• 5:19
  So while the land borders have not been completely sealed,
• 5:22
  the routes that remain open are increasingly congested,
• 5:25
  expensive,
• 5:26
  and unreliable.
• 5:28
  And the economic consequences extend beyond the
• 5:30
  private businesses struggling to move their products.
• 5:33
  Delays in importing raw materials are slowing
• 5:35
  Iranian factories and reducing industrial production.
• 5:39
  Falling trade volumes
• 5:40
  mean less tax revenue for a
• 5:42
  government already facing enormous financial pressure.
• 5:45
  All of this comes
• 5:46
  as the Trump administration continues demanding concessions from Tehran
• 5:50
  over its nuclear program.
• 5:52
  Now Iranian officials have indicated
• 5:54
  they're willing to resume negotiations,
• 5:56
  but the two sides remain divided over Washington's demands
• 5:59
  and the continuing American blockade.
• 6:03
  All right.
• 6:03
  Coming up next,
• 6:04
  Egypt takes one step closer to joining the war against the Iran-backed Houthis,
• 6:09
  and North Korea positions artillery along its southern border.
• 6:13
  That's what we needed
• 6:14
  more conflict in 2026.
• 6:17
  I'll be right back.
• 6:20
  Hey,
• 6:20
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  Welcome back to the PDB.
• 7:29
  Egypt is moving closer to joining the military effort to
• 7:32
  defend Saudi Arabia against the Iran-backed Houthis after lawmakers in Cairo
• 7:37
  authorized the Egyptian president to provide military assistance to the kingdom.
• 7:42
  The decision comes as Saudi Arabia launches a
• 7:44
  new offensive against Houthi missile facilities inside Yemen,
• 7:47
  reportedly destroying underground weapons tunnels
• 7:50
  and ballistic missile launchers.
• 7:52
  According to the Associated Press,
• 7:53
  Egypt's parliament approved the authorization Monday,
• 7:56
  opening the door for Cairo to provide additional military support
• 8:00
  as Saudi forces
• 8:02
  face continued missile and drone attacks from the Iran-backed Houthis.
• 8:06
  An official familiar with the plans says Egypt's intends to provide
• 8:10
  air defense systems and military aircraft to help protect Saudi territory.
• 8:15
  But Egyptian officials are emphasizing
• 8:17
  that their involvement will be strictly defensive.
• 8:20
  President al-Sisi of Egypt has ruled out sending ground troops into Yemen
• 8:24
  or launching offensive military operations against the Houthis.
• 8:28
  And there's a bit of historical context worth mentioning here.
• 8:31
  Back in the 1960s,
• 8:33
  Egypt sent tens of thousands of soldiers into Yemen's civil war
• 8:37
  under the rule of President Nasser.
• 8:39
  That intervention dragged on for years,
• 8:42
  cost Egypt heavily in troops and resources,
• 8:44
  and became one of the country's most damaging military campaigns.
• 8:48
  In fact,
• 8:48
  some Egyptian lawmakers raised concerns about the new mission
• 8:52
  before Monday's vote,
• 8:54
  questioning its potential costs,
• 8:55
  duration.
• 8:56
  And the risk of being pulled into another prolonged conflict.
• 9:00
  But Egypt is also looking to protect its own interests.
• 9:04
  Saudi Arabia is a major economic partner and financial supporter of Cairo,
• 9:08
  while continued instability in the Red Sea
• 9:11
  threatens commercial shipping through Egypt's Suez Canal.
• 9:15
  And as we've been reporting,
• 9:16
  the Houthis are continuing their campaign against Saudi airports,
• 9:20
  cities,
• 9:20
  and critical infrastructure.
• 9:22
  And that brings us to the latest military developments inside Yemen.
• 9:26
  According to Al Jazeera,
• 9:27
  the Saudi-led coalition announced Monday that
• 9:30
  it carried out a series of strikes against Houthi missile facilities,
• 9:34
  describing the operation as an effort to eliminate threats to the kingdom.
• 9:38
  Coalition officials claim their forces destroyed
• 9:40
  5 underground missile storage tunnels,
• 9:42
  4 ballistic missile launchers,
• 9:44
  and a separate missile storage facility.
• 9:46
  They also reported targeting Houthi supply routes,
• 9:49
  military equipment,
• 9:50
  and fortified positions near the front lines.
• 9:53
  Those figures come from the Saudi military
• 9:54
  and have not been independently verified.
• 9:57
  Meanwhile,
• 9:58
  the Houthis are claiming additional attacks against Saudi Arabia,
• 10:01
  including a ballistic missile launch toward Riyadh's
• 10:04
  King Khalid Airport
• 10:05
  and drones targeting oil pumping stations.
• 10:08
  Saudi officials confirmed intercepting another
• 10:11
  missile headed toward the capital,
• 10:12
  but have not verified the Houthi claims
• 10:14
  that the targeted infrastructure was successfully struck.
• 10:18
  Riyadh's international airport,
• 10:20
  King Khalid Airport,
• 10:21
  only recently began reopening after an earlier deadly Houthi attack,
• 10:25
  and the kingdom has been working to restore
• 10:28
  normal commercial operations there despite the continuing threat.
• 10:32
  Now
• 10:32
  Egypt is preparing to join a growing group
• 10:35
  of countries helping Saudi Arabia defend itself,
• 10:38
  including Turkey,
• 10:38
  Pakistan,
• 10:39
  Britain,
• 10:40
  and other partners.
• 10:41
  Greece has also indicated that it will maintain a Patriot air defense battery
• 10:46
  protecting Saudi energy infrastructure near the Red Sea.
• 10:50
  The Saudi-led coalition says its operations
• 10:52
  against Houthi missile infrastructure are continuing
• 10:55
  as the kingdom attempts to reduce the threat of further attacks.
• 11:00
  All right.
• 11:00
  Turning now to rising tensions on the Korean Peninsula,
• 11:03
  where North Korea is positioning artillery near
• 11:05
  its heavily fortified border with the South
• 11:08
  following that deadly landmine incident last month.
• 11:12
  According to Reuters,
• 11:13
  3 North Korean self-propelled howitzers were
• 11:15
  spotted near the demilitarized zone on Monday
• 11:18
  with their gun barrels
• 11:20
  pointed south.
• 11:21
  The weapons were identified as 122 millimeter artillery pieces.
• 11:25
  And were observed from the South Korean city of Gimpo.
• 11:28
  Nearby,
• 11:29
  roughly 20 to 30 North Korean soldiers were conducting fencing work inside the DMZ,
• 11:34
  while other troops reportedly carried out military drills close to the border.
• 11:38
  And one of the howitzers carried a particularly hostile,
• 11:42
  although somewhat overly dramatic,
• 11:44
  message.
• 11:44
  According to Sky News,
• 11:45
  the words destroy the US imperialist aggressors,
• 11:49
  the sworn enemies of the Korean people.
• 11:52
  End quote.
• 11:53
  We're painted directly onto the weapon.
• 11:54
  It's tough to fit all that onto a bumper sticker.
• 11:57
  Military analysts say it's unusual for North Korea
• 11:59
  to display artillery so openly near the border,
• 12:02
  suggesting that Pyongyang may be deliberately sending a
• 12:05
  warning to South Korea and the US,
• 12:08
  as we've been reporting here on the PDB,
• 12:09
  tensions along the border have been building for weeks.
• 12:12
  The latest confrontation began in September
• 12:15
  when a landmine explosion inside the DMZ seriously injured South Korean soldiers.
• 12:20
  Seoul accused North Korea of planting the
• 12:22
  explosives across the military demarcation line,
• 12:26
  while the U.S.led United Nations command concluded
• 12:28
  that the incident violated the armistice agreement
• 12:31
  that ended fighting in the Korean War.
• 12:34
  Pyongyang has denied responsibility,
• 12:36
  accusing South Korea of fabricating the incident
• 12:39
  to interfere with North Korean construction activities along the border.
• 12:43
  And we have seen how quickly these confrontations can escalate.
• 12:47
  Back in August,
• 12:47
  South Korean troops fired warning shots
• 12:50
  after North Korean soldiers crossed a
• 12:52
  military boundary during construction work.
• 12:54
  Similar incidents occurred in previous years,
• 12:56
  with North Korean personnel withdrawing
• 12:59
  after South Korean forces fired warning shots.
• 13:02
  Those encounters didn't develop into sustained firefights,
• 13:04
  but
• 13:05
  they illustrate the danger of having heavily
• 13:07
  armed troops operating in such close proximity.
• 13:10
  And for that.
• 13:11
  I award myself today's statement of the obvious award.
• 13:15
  Now North Korea is taking its complaints to the United Nations.
• 13:18
  Over the weekend,
• 13:19
  Pyongyang sent a letter to the UN Security Council
• 13:22
  accusing South Korea of violating its sovereignty
• 13:25
  and firing on North Korean personnel.
• 13:27
  The regime warned that further incidents
• 13:29
  could provoke military retaliation and said Seoul
• 13:32
  would bear responsibility for the consequences.
• 13:35
  South Korea meanwhile has proposed new military
• 13:38
  talks aimed at clarifying the disputed boundary
• 13:41
  and preventing accidental clashes.
• 13:43
  Seoul also wants the
• 13:45
  U.S.led UN command involved in those discussions.
• 13:48
  So far,
• 13:49
  Pyongyang
• 13:50
  has shown no indication
• 13:51
  that it intends to accept the proposal.
• 13:54
  And in today's back of the brief,
• 13:56
  Elon Musk finally explains why Ukraine's Starlink access was restricted.
• 14:01
  He's blaming Kiev's offensive drone operations.
• 14:05
  More on that
• 14:06
  when we come back.
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  In today's back of the brief,
• 17:20
  Elon Musk is offering his first public explanation
• 17:24
  for why Ukraine's access to Starlink was restricted earlier this month.
• 17:28
  The SpaceX founder says Ukrainian forces violated the service's rules
• 17:32
  by using it to carry out offensive drone strikes against Russia,
• 17:36
  but Kei is pushing back against that accusation even as
• 17:40
  officials confirm the restrictions have now been lifted.
• 17:42
  As we've been reporting,
• 17:43
  Ukrainian forces experienced nearly 2 weeks of disruptions to their
• 17:47
  satellite communication systems,
• 17:49
  particularly those supporting high-speed drone operations.
• 17:53
  The restrictions reportedly prevented equipment
• 17:55
  traveling faster than roughly 100
• 17:57
  MPH
• 17:58
  from maintaining a connection
• 18:00
  interfering with Ukrainian battlefield operations.
• 18:03
  Last week,
• 18:04
  the Wall Street Journal reported that Musk had personally ordered the slowdown,
• 18:08
  catching officials in Kiev and
• 18:10
  parts of the Trump administration by surprise.
• 18:12
  Does that imply that some parts were not surprised?
• 18:14
  And so perhaps Elon Musk
• 18:16
  did confer
• 18:17
  to some degree with the White House before taking that decision.
• 18:20
  It's all speculation
• 18:22
  now.
• 18:22
  Musk has addressed the controversy in a series of posts on X.
• 18:26
  He accused Ukraine of violating Starling's terms of service
• 18:29
  by using the commercial satellite network to conduct offensive drone strikes.
• 18:33
  Musk argued that the system was intended for civilian and defensive purposes,
• 18:38
  not for launching attacks against Russian targets.
• 18:40
  Well,
• 18:41
  it is a war after all,
• 18:43
  and Russia is the invading force.
• 18:45
  He also drew a distinction between StarLink and StarShield.
• 18:48
  That's the military-focused satellite system
• 18:51
  developed by SpaceX.
• 18:52
  According to Musk,
• 18:53
  StarShield is controlled by the US government and
• 18:56
  can be used for offensive military operations,
• 18:59
  while commercial Starlink
• 19:00
  is subject to restrictions on how the technology can be used.
• 19:04
  However,
• 19:05
  Ukrainian officials dispute Musk's explanation.
• 19:09
  Military technology advisors working with President Zelensky
• 19:11
  say the commercial Starlink network already has
• 19:14
  technical restrictions that prevent it from supporting
• 19:17
  the kinds of long-range offensive drone missions
• 19:19
  that Musk described.
• 19:21
  They argue that Ukraine relies on StarShield for those operations,
• 19:25
  not civilian Starlink terminals.
• 19:27
  Meanwhile,
• 19:28
  Ukraine's Defense Ministry announced Saturday that satellite connectivity
• 19:32
  had been fully restored
• 19:34
  following nearly two weeks of restrictions.
• 19:37
  Officials say their equipment can once again now maintain stable connections
• 19:41
  at speeds exceeding 250
• 19:43
  MPH,
• 19:44
  restoring capabilities that
• 19:45
  are particularly important
• 19:47
  for Ukrainian drone operations.
• 19:49
  Zelensky thanked President Trump and other American officials
• 19:52
  for their assistance in resolving the problem.
• 19:55
  The controversy has also attracted attention in Congress,
• 19:59
  where Senator Richard Blumenthal has launched an inquiry into the restrictions
• 20:03
  and the authority exercised over the
• 20:05
  satellite systems supporting Ukraine's military.
• 20:09
  And that my friends,
• 20:10
  is the president's daily Brief for Tuesday,
• 20:12
  the 27th of October.
• 20:14
  Now,
• 20:14
  if you have any questions or comments,
• 20:15
  and I hope you do,
• 20:16
  just reach out to me at PDB@hefirsttv.com.
• 20:20
  I'm Mike Baker and I'll be back later today
• 20:22
  with the PDB afternoon bulletin.
• 20:24
  Until then,
• 20:25
  stay informed,
• 20:26
  stay safe,
• 20:28
  stay cool.