PODCAST:
April 9, 2026 ~ Chris Renwick and Lloyd Jackson spoke with Retired Army Lieutenant Colonel Rocky Raczkowski about the fragile ceasefire. They also discussed Israeli strikes in Lebanon and Iran’s control over the Straits of Hormuz.
IRAN ~ Israel continues to pound Lebanon with military strikes, putting a ceasefire deal between the U.S. and Iran in jeopardy as they spar over whether ceasing hostilities in Lebanon was part of the deal.
Over 200 people were reported killed by the Israeli military on Wednesday, with over 1,000 injured, coming just a day after the U.S. and Iran reached a fragile ceasefire deal. Both Vice President JD Vance and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Lebanon was never part of the deal, while Iran’s Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi disputes this.
“The Iran–U.S. Ceasefire terms are clear and explicit: the U.S. must choose—ceasefire or continued war via Israel. It cannot have both,” he wrote on X. “The world sees the massacres in Lebanon. The ball is in the U.S. court, and the world is watching whether it will act on its commitments.”
On Tuesday evening, President Donald Trump wrote on X that Iran proposed a ceasefire plan that he deemed “a workable basis on which to negotiate,” contingent on Iran reopening the Strait of Hormuz to the U.S., Israel, and their allies. Iran shortly after released a 10-point plan, which was presented to the U.S. and mediated by Pakistan. The demands included lifting sanctions on the nation, officially establishing Iran’s control of the Strait of Hormuz, the U.S. withdrawing its military presence from the region, unfreezing Iranian assets, and an end to attacks on Iran and its allies in the region, including Lebanon.
Direct peace talks between the U.S. and Iran are currently set for this weekend.
So far, over 2,076 people in Iran have been killed by the U.S. and Israel, according to Iran’s Health Ministry. Nearly 1,500 people have been killed by Israel during the country’s military campaign in Lebanon. Iran’s retaliatory strikes have killed dozens across the Middle East, including Israel, Bahrain, Qatar, Jordan, and Iraq.
