Over the past couple of years, Call Me Back has grown into something much bigger than we ever expected,

a place for clarity, context, and honest conversations at a time when those things can seem hard to find.

That's what ARC Media is all about, building a truly independent voice, which means no one shaping what we say or how we say it.

To help support our rapidly expanding operations, we created Inside Call Me Back, our members-only

feed. If Call Me Back has been meaningful to you and you want to be part of what we're building,

I hope you'll join us. You can subscribe at arcmedia.org or through the link in the show notes.

And to our insiders, thank you.

You are listening to an art media podcast.

This is a revolutionary regime.

It's burying its leader that was killed in an Israeli strike sanctioned by the United States.

So they are in no mood for compromises right now on what they see is an agreement that gave them a lot of advantages.

It's plausible that the Iranians themselves think that now is their time to escalate.

It's 11.30 a.m. on Wednesday, July 8th here in New York City at 6.30 p.m. on Wednesday, July 8th in Israel, where Rahm. A. Manual, a possible 28 presidential candidate, just delivered what some are

characterizing as a quote-unquote

tough love speech regarding the future of the U.S. Israel relationship.

We will have a lot more to say in the coming days when Ram joins me for a conversation on

Call Me Back. Five weeks ago, a memorandum of understanding, otherwise called the MOU, was signed between the United States and Iran that was meant to close out the war, reopen the Strait of Hormuz, and give a battered Islamic Republic of Iran a path back into the world.

That was May 25th.

Yesterday, Tuesday, it came apart. In the course of 24 hours, three tankers were hit in the Strait of Hormuz, a Qatari gas carrier, a Saudi vessel, and a third vessel.

Doha and Riyadh both blame Iran. U.S. Central Command answered with a new wave of strikes, more than 80 targets, air defenses,

radar sites, IRGC small boats, and Washington revoked the oil sanctions waiver. It had extended

Tehran under the deal. Standing in Ankara, Turkey, President Trump flatly said the MOU is, quote,

...