PDB Afternoon Bulletin | September 18th, 2026: Trump Nears "Big Decision" on Major Strikes Against Iran & Pakistan Rocked by Deadly Terror Attack

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The warning comes as the regime stages a massive show of defiance and new attacks underscore the continuing instability in the Strait of Hormuz. Later in the show, a deadly suicide bombing in Pakistan, raising fears of renewed fighting with neighboring Afghanistan. But first, today's afternoon spotlight. President Trump says he's approaching what could be one of the most consequential decisions of the war with Iran. Whether to make another push for diplomacy or dramatically escalate the conflict. And he isn't exactly being subtle about what that second option could look like. Speaking with Axios on Thursday, Trump said, quote, I have a big decision coming up. Do I want to go in and annihilate them or do I not? It's a big decision. Anything could happen with me. End quote. Now, despite those comments, the president also offered, at the same time, a very different assessment of where the war is going. Trump has repeatedly suggested this week that the war could soon be coming to an end and told Axios Thursday that Iran remains in direct contact with Washington and is still eager to reach a deal. Of course, we've heard the president say that Iran wants a deal on numerous occasions in the past. Desperate for a deal. Very badly want a deal. Likewise, he's threatened to hit the regime harder than ever before on numerous occasions. The rhetoric is nothing new. And possibly, he's not going to do that. Possibly because of that, Tehran isn't showing any signs that they intend to capitulate. On Friday, hundreds of thousands of Iranians poured into the streets of Tehran for the largest government-organized demonstration since the war began in February. Iranian state television claimed that more than 300,000 people participated in the rally – well, if the Iranian state television says it, it's got to be true – where volunteers dressed in combat uniforms marched through the capital while some demonstrators chanted Death to America and Death to Israel. Not exactly original slogans, but at least they're consistent. The event was part of a government campaign encouraging ordinary Iranians to receive basic military training and prepare to defend the country. The head of Tehran's Revolutionary Guard Corps, the IRGC, claims that more than 600,000 people have already registered, with officials expecting that number to eventually surpass one million. Now, those are Iranian government figures, of course. And because this was a government-organized demonstration, heavily promoted by state media, we shouldn't confuse a massive rally in Tehran with a reliable measure of how the broader Iranian population feels about the war. Look, after slaughtering thousands of their citizens earlier in the year and continuing to detain, imprison, and execute anyone that they deem a threat, the average citizen may feel somewhat compelled to turn up for a rally. When instructed by the regime. Military hardware was displayed in the streets during the rally, volunteers pledged to take up arms, and Iran's new Basij commander warned that the trainees would become a, quote, nightmare for the country's enemies. And that display of defiance comes despite the significant pressure that Washington has managed to put on Tehran. As we've been tracking here on the PDB, the U.S. naval blockade has largely choked off Iran's maritime trade, while sanctions and the disruption of normalization have been a big factor. Shipping routes are creating serious problems for the Iranian economy. Just yesterday, we talked about thousands of trucks backed up along Iran's borders as Tehran struggles to replace maritime commerce with much more expensive overland trade. The U.S. has also made progress getting more oil and gas tankers through the Strait of Hormuz. But some progress and a return to normalcy are two very different things. Traffic to the strait remains well below pre-war levels. And Friday brought another reminder of just how dangerous the waterway remains. Two separate attacks on ships were reported in the strait within hours of one another. In one case, British maritime authorities said a tanker was struck by a projectile. The IRGC separately claimed responsibility for striking a vessel that it accused of making an illegal crossing through the waterway. So, while Washington has succeeded in increasing a portion of normal tanker traffic and preventing ships from reaching Iranian ports, Iran continues to disrupt commercial shipping, leaving owners and insurers wary about using that critical trade corridor. And that leaves Trump with a decision that U.S. officials increasingly say cannot be postponed indefinitely. According to Axios, the president and Defense Secretary Pete Exet have ordered American forces in the region to maintain their current posture through the end of the year, keeping the military prepared for another major round of combat. If President Trump chooses that option. But maintaining that posture, of course, comes with its own costs. And some U.S. officials now describe the conflict as an increasingly unsustainable holding pattern without a clear endgame. Which brings us to next week. Trump travels to New York for the United Nations General Assembly, where Iran and the broader war are expected to heavily loom over this visit. On Tuesday, the president is scheduled to meet with the leaders of the Gulf states, saying that he wants to hear directly from those countries about where they stand before determining what comes next. Those governments have already demonstrated just how much influence they can have over Washington's calculations. As you may recall, Trump considered resuming major combat operations against Iran back in August, but he held off after Saudi Arabia and Qatar reportedly warned that Iran could retaliate against their oil and gas infrastructure. Well, as it turns out, even without a return to major combat, the Iranian regime still targeted Saudi Arabia, instructing their Iranian proxy group, the Houthis, in Yemen to escalate their conflict with the Saudi-backed Yemeni government forces and to directly attack Saudi energy infrastructure inside the kingdom. Now, Trump will arrive at the U.N. facing broader skepticism as well. Reuters reports that many European and Asian allies continue to resist American requests to become involved in the conflict, while Gulf governments are not. The U.S. and Saudi governments are increasingly concerned about regional instability and the threat to two of the world's most important shipping corridors, with the Iran-backed Houthis now expanding their ability to disrupt the Bab al-Mandeb Strait in the Red Sea. So, when Trump meets America's Gulf partners next week at the U.N. General Assembly, the choice confronting him may be considerably more complicated than simply whether to, quote, annihilate the Iranian regime or to pursue diplomacy. And by that, I mean it will definitely be more complicated than some binary choice. There are no simple binary issues in the Middle East. All right, coming up next, a deadly bombing in Pakistan is threatening to further inflame tensions with neighboring Afghanistan. I'll be right back. Hey, Mike Baker here. Now, let me ask you a question. How often do you have to jumpstart your day with nicotine or caffeine just to get yourself going? And then, of course, you end up with the jitters or lack of focus, even ruined sleep. Well, that's where Ultra Pouches come in. They're a total game changer for clean energy and focus. After a month of use, the difference is night and day. They're completely nicotine-free and caffeine-free. 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and more than 50 wounded in an attack on a police compound in the northwestern city of kohak five police officers are among the dead according to pakistani police the attack began when a suicide bomber in a vehicle struck the entrance to the compound additional militants then tried to push deeper inside the compound moving toward buildings used by pakistan's counterterrorism department and special branch police say six attackers were ultimately killed during the operation the group claiming responsibility is the hafiz gol bahadur group now this group is part of the broader militant landscape along pakistan's border with afghanistan it's separate from the pakistani taliban known as the ttp although the groups operate in the same general jihadist ecosystem and have overlapping enemies and relationships and today's attack comes amid a broader surge in violence just yesterday six pakistani soldiers were killed when a roadside bomb hit their convoy in nearby hangu pakistani forces also carried out operations in hangu and north waziristan that killed 10 suspected ttp militants so pakistan's security forces are dealing with attacks on multiple fronts across the northwest and this is where today's bombing becomes something we need to watch beyond pakistan itself for years now islamabad has accused the taliban government in neighboring afghanistan of allowing pakistani militant groups to operate from afghan territory kabul denies it but the dispute has become increasingly dangerous because pakistan has already demonstrated that it's willing to strike inside afghanistan when it believes militants operating there are responsible for attacks on pakistani territory and that has led to direct exchanges between the two countries with afghanistan accusing pakistan of violating its sovereignty and pakistan arguing that kabul has failed to prevent militant groups from using afghan territory as a sanctuary now to be clear there's no evidence at this point anyway that the afghan government directed or participated in today's attack but that may not be the question that determines what happens next the question for islamabad will be whether pakistani authorities conclude that the people behind this bombing were trained or sheltered or directed from across the afghan border if they do pakistan again has shown before that it's prepared to respond militarily and that of course creates a dangerous escalation ladder a terrorist attack inside pakistan leads islamabad to blame militants operating from afghanistan pakistan strikes across the border the afghan taliban responds and suddenly what began as an internal security crisis risks becoming another round of direct fighting between two neighboring countries one of them a nuclear armed nation and that my friends is the pdb afternoon bulletin for friday the 18th of september now if you have any questions or comments and i hope you do just reach out to me at pdb at the first tv.com and to listen to the show ad free 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