Verdict with Ted Cruz - August 25, 2026


BONUS POD： Economic D-Day Pushes Iran to the Brink


Episode Stats


Length

15 minutes

Words per minute

164.69

Word count

2,609

Sentence count

150


Transcript

Transcript generated with Whisper (turbo).
00:00:00.000 This is an iHeart Podcast.
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00:00:24.540 Why should you listen to Armstrong and Ketty on demand?
00:00:28.020 We're not boring.
00:00:28.860 A lot of news is boring.
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00:00:35.120 Hey, I'm Jack Armstrong.
00:00:36.160 He's Joe Getty.
00:00:36.820 We're Armstrong and Getty.
00:00:37.920 We try to bring you the truth.
00:00:39.080 And help you figure out this crazy modern world.
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00:00:48.480 Listen to Armstrong and Getty On Demand on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
00:00:54.280 If they facilitate transactions and are part of the ecosystem that turns Iranian oil into money, into repression, they will be targeted.
00:01:06.860 We are level setting with every country to tell them our expectations.
00:01:12.140 We know who they are. They know who they are.
00:01:15.020 So when the hammer of U.S. Treasury actions falls upon them, they will have no one to blame but themselves.
00:01:22.680 You're listening to the 47 Morning Update with Ben Ferguson.
00:01:26.820 Good Tuesday morning. Nice to have you with us on the 47 Morning Update.
00:01:30.480 And we've got big news coming out of Iran.
00:01:33.620 Economic disaster.
00:01:35.400 As President Trump has announced the economic D-Day against Iran,
00:01:38.840 and it's the most crushing economic operation ever taken.
00:01:42.760 So what is happening in Iran right now?
00:01:44.980 And what are the new threats coming from Iran at the president?
00:01:48.220 We break it all down for you,
00:01:50.140 as there's a very good chance that Iran is just about to crumble.
00:01:54.740 Before we get to that, though, I want to talk to you about how you can make a huge difference every day
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00:03:34.060 Patriot. That's 972 Patriot and make that switch today. It's the 47 Morning Update and it starts
00:03:40.340 right now. Story number one. Iran's supreme leader is under mounting pressure at this hour
00:03:46.040 over the war as the regime's grip on the Strait of Hormuz has weakened and cash is finally starting
00:03:52.820 to get tight and the top political leaders are publicly urging the Islamists in charge to find
00:03:59.560 a way out of the conflict that is how dire the situation has become in iran and they cannot fake
00:04:06.240 it any longer now the latest phase of the conflict has seen more and more ships quietly slipping
00:04:12.700 through the strait of hormuz with nearly 200 vessels sailing through the strait last week alone
00:04:17.540 that is coming from data from the uk maritime trade operation center that is a massive number
00:04:24.700 of ships compared to what we've been seeing over the last several months now to put in perspective
00:04:29.700 for you the flow represents a 400 spike in the last two weeks with maritime analysts noting that
00:04:39.000 the traffic finding safe passage that has been aided by u.s navy escorts effectively means
00:04:44.880 iran has lost partial control of the strait and while more ships and oil are getting out
00:04:51.520 Iran's own oil exports have dropped to near zero under the renewed American blockade on its ports
00:04:58.580 and President Trump's economic D-Day measures as he described them.
00:05:03.420 I'm going to have more on those D-Day measures in a moment.
00:05:06.820 But before we get to that, I also want you to hear what the president had to say in the Oval Office
00:05:12.500 when he was being asked questions about what he could still do with dealing with Iran.
00:05:17.580 The Secretary says that we could see the most impactful sanctions on Iran this week.
00:05:22.840 When will they come, and what else could be sanctioned on Iran?
00:05:26.440 Well, we have things that we could sanction.
00:05:28.760 We have very draconian sanctions, and we'll see what happens.
00:05:33.360 Right now, the strait is open.
00:05:35.960 A lot of boats are coming through.
00:05:37.440 People aren't reporting that, and that may slow down a little bit at some point.
00:05:41.660 But right now, a lot of boats are coming through.
00:05:44.040 The naval blockade has been extremely effective.
00:05:46.840 zero i mean literally while it's up and it's been for quite a while you know except for a couple of
00:05:52.880 little pauses where we opened it purposely at uh with a deal but the deal didn't terminate you know
00:05:58.220 the deal didn't turn out to be what they said you know when they tell us one thing and they do
00:06:02.400 another but the blockade has been 100 successful no boats have gotten into iran but they are getting
00:06:08.500 in for other places but we'll see we're going to see what happens uh it'll either be extremely good
00:06:14.560 and oil prices are going to drop like a rock
00:06:16.560 or we'll continue to do exactly what we're doing.
00:06:19.540 You know, they were talking about $350 a barrel
00:06:22.840 and it's today $84, $85.
00:06:26.200 And we are getting a lot of oil out.
00:06:29.240 But the other thing that's happened is
00:06:30.880 people have found other alternatives,
00:06:33.180 which they never thought about.
00:06:34.500 Texas, Alaska, Louisiana, and other places.
00:06:38.300 In addition, a lot of pipelines,
00:06:39.660 record numbers of pipelines are being built.
00:06:42.080 So I think the Homo Straits is not going to be quite as important as it was in the past.
00:06:47.100 Now, this comes as President Trump announced economic D-Day against Iran.
00:06:51.980 It was the most crushing economic operation, as he described it, ever taken.
00:06:56.020 And he announced that the U.S. not only is targeting Iran and its allies with the crushing economic operation,
00:07:02.340 that he says we've ever taken against any country.
00:07:05.960 He said, quote, no one has given the Islamic Republic of Iran a greater opportunity to make a deal than me.
00:07:11.560 tragically for them they have failed to take it therefore i'm announcing the most crushing economic
00:07:18.340 operation ever taken against any country this will be economic warfare and isolation on an
00:07:24.320 unprecedented scale now trump said iran is hanging on by a thread and based on the data he's absolutely
00:07:31.020 right and it is a direct result of the u.s military strikes that have devastated the country's navy
00:07:36.660 air force and military infrastructure the president also declared that any country that
00:07:41.940 allows its financial institutions its businesses its airports or government entities to provide
00:07:48.000 any type of lifeline to iran will itself face tremendous economic consequences swap lines
00:07:55.840 cash transfers exchange houses ship registries front companies it all needs to stop now the
00:08:03.780 president said, you know who you are. That was obviously a shot across the bow of any country
00:08:09.700 that's trying to help Iran. Now, Trump likened the operation to the economic D-Day that would
00:08:15.060 require our allies to stand with the United States of America to isolate and defeat the Iranian
00:08:20.560 threat. Now, President Trump's declaration also comes after the 60-day period for negotiations
00:08:26.320 to end the war. It was established under an interim peace deal signed in June. It expired on Monday
00:08:32.500 without a breakthrough then on tuesday the president indicated that no further talks with
00:08:37.220 the regime are planned and the u.s naval blockade of iranian ports in the strait of hormuz remains
00:08:42.500 in full force and effect quote unquote these maniacs on the ropes and these historic measures
00:08:49.880 will cripple them and their ability to project terror worldwide the president continued saying
00:08:55.720 iran will never have a nuclear weapon thank you for your attention to this matter now if you think
00:09:01.700 the president's wrong well look at the facts because iran's currency has plummeted to new lows
00:09:07.300 on monday as the u.s is set to announce the further sanctions on the islamic republic
00:09:12.440 whose citizens are now rushing to exchange lines to save their cash the rial dropped to 2.02 million
00:09:21.420 to one u.s dollar when the currency markets opened on monday meaning the currency is now
00:09:27.220 worth about half of what it was at the start of the year that is not a good thing if you live in
00:09:33.300 iran the continued plunge during nearly six months of war has led iranians in tehran to sprint for
00:09:39.860 the exchange markets in hopes of getting u.s bills there is no hope for a deal and peace is what a
00:09:46.040 73 year old said to the associated press as he waited an exchange line in downtown tehran
00:09:51.200 He said Iran's real has been in a free fall since last November due to fears and years of Western sanctions and persistently high inflation, all factors that have only gotten worse during the war.
00:10:04.920 Now, while Iran's official central bank rate stands at one point five million real to the dollar, the market rate is what the average Iranian pays.
00:10:12.820 President Trump's disseminated Iran's economy to a point where the rail has now been weaker and inflation has rarely been higher, is how U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in an opinion piece in the Financial Times on Sunday, saying the regime's final refuge now lies in the self-deception of fearful nations that still believe accommodating aggression can secure a durable peace.
00:10:38.360 He went on to add now, Besson warned that the additional financial penalties will come
00:10:43.360 and they will effectively collapse the regime with Trump echoing the same threat on social
00:10:49.380 media.
00:10:50.260 Iran is completely collapsing with the United Arab Emirates.
00:10:54.520 We also have even more breaking news on this.
00:10:57.260 And this is where, you know, when the president speaks, the world listens.
00:11:00.960 The UAE for the first time in years is now cutting off trade with Iran.
00:11:06.220 That means they're nixing billions and billions of dollars, and it could have a crippling effect on Tehran.
00:11:13.760 A U.S. ally in the Middle East, they're now saying, we stand with you.
00:11:18.180 And the UAE, which serves as Tehran's largest supplier of goods, they have now, quote, suspended all trade over the weekend,
00:11:26.920 nixing at least $6 billion in cash that went to the regime from exports, as well as access to vital supplies from the outside world.
00:11:35.840 Dubai, the UAE's thriving commercial pub, is by far Iran's largest supplier of goods.
00:11:42.120 The UAE's government finally just got fed up with Iran following their repeated missile attacks
00:11:47.880 that have triggered not only evacuations for the first time during the war,
00:11:51.380 but also had a negative impact on trade for the country as well as tourism.
00:11:56.460 The move not only threatens the 21.3 billion trade relation between the two nations,
00:12:01.780 but it also leaves Iran without its primary way to collect U.S. dollars.
00:12:07.020 That is what a retired U.S. general and former Assistant Secretary of State said in an interview to the Post.
00:12:12.460 If the Emiratis cease trade and block dollar flows, it could have a crippling effect on the Iranian economy.
00:12:19.240 Dubai essentially serves as Iran's window to the world after years of being slapped by Western sanctions.
00:12:25.820 with traders buying and re-exporting consumer goods as well as food and industrial equipment
00:12:32.020 to iran and yeah that was profitable for the uae but they don't want to lose their
00:12:37.380 ally with the u.s even more shocking about this move by the uae just to put in comparison
00:12:44.080 at one point the two nations had strengthened their economic cooperation and only it was
00:12:49.680 just two years ago in 2024 the UAE was surpassing China as Iran's most vital trading partner
00:12:57.740 Iran imported about 14.8 billion worth of goods from the UAE during the first 10 months
00:13:05.180 of the 2025 fiscal year that accounts for 30 percent of its total imports according to the
00:13:11.780 two countries trade data Iran imported about 14.8 billion worth of goods from the UAE during the
00:13:17.680 first 10 months of 2025 and that means that has all disappeared now now Dubai's ports are the
00:13:25.420 primary way Iran gets goods like phones computers tobacco and nuts meanwhile Iran exports around
00:13:32.520 6.5 billion worth of goods to UAE during the same fiscal period nearly 15 percent of its non-oil
00:13:40.020 exports. And most notably, Iran also depended on the UAE for 70% of its fuel oil exports,
00:13:48.740 making UAE its largest market for their product. Refined oil has also come back in the opposite
00:13:55.760 direction from Dubai as well, with gasoline and diesel imports from the UAE helping to
00:14:00.920 offset Iran's supply deficit. Now, what does this actually mean? Well, it's pretty simple.
00:14:06.240 This is a massive blow and it leaves Iran with fewer means to make money and import goods and its economy is now continuing to plummet under the strain of the U.S. sanctions.
00:14:18.600 In many ways, the embargo being put on by the UAE is actually even more significant than the embargo being put on by the United States.
00:14:27.120 The strain comes as the Treasury Secretary announcing the start of Operation Economic
00:14:32.960 Outcast, calling on all nations to follow the UAE's lead and to cut off all business
00:14:39.240 with Iran.
00:14:40.520 Besson said, quote, the president is making phone calls to world leaders as we speak with
00:14:45.160 specific requests to cease their interactions with the regime.
00:14:48.960 We are already seeing results.
00:14:51.560 So it's clear the president of the United States of America wasn't flinching.
00:14:55.500 And it's clear now that Iran is teetering on total economic collapse, which is exactly what the president said he was wanting to do.
00:15:03.940 Thank you for listening to the 47 Morning Update with Ben Ferguson.
00:15:08.120 Please make sure you hit subscribe wherever you're listening to this podcast right now.
00:15:13.320 And for more in-depth news, also subscribe to the Ben Ferguson podcast, and we will see you back here tomorrow.
00:15:20.780 Why should you listen to Armstrong and Getty on Demand?
00:15:24.180 We're not boring.
00:15:25.260 A lot of news is boring.
00:15:26.260 And tedious.
00:15:27.120 And depressing.
00:15:27.700 And makes you angry.
00:15:29.100 You don't want to live your life like that.
00:15:31.360 Hey, I'm Jack Armstrong.
00:15:32.420 He's Joe Getty.
00:15:33.080 We're Armstrong and Getty.
00:15:34.180 We try to bring you the truth.
00:15:35.340 And help you figure out this crazy modern world.
00:15:37.740 How about something about a comedic tone?
00:15:42.260 We have a winner.
00:15:43.740 Yes.
00:15:44.740 Listen to Armstrong and Getty on demand on the iHeartRadio app,
00:15:47.780 Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.