NPR News: 07-15-2026 3PM EDT

Lakshmi Singh· Host0:01

Live from NPR News, I'm Lakshmi Singh. Iran's threatening to block all oil exporting routes in the region in response to the US blockade of Iranian ports in the Strait of Hormuz. State media reported the Iranian Revolutionary Guard warned in a statement today that the region's oil and gas exports will either be available to everyone or to no one. Meanwhile, former Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is denying reports that Israel cultivated him as a possible future leader of Iran. The report was first published in The New York Times. We have more from NPR's Hadil Al-Shalchi.

Hadil Al-Shalchi0:40

Former Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad called The New York Times report an attempt to, quote, "disturb public opinion in Iran." The report claimed that Ahmadinejad and the Mossad head met secretly in twenty twenty-five, and that the CIA was later informed that it had established contact with him. The report goes on to say that Israel believed that Ahmadinejad's break with the Islamic Republic was genuine and that he could be installed as Iran's new leader. In the statement, the former Iranian president denied that he's under house arrest, contrary to what the report says. The liberal Israeli news outlet Haaretz published its own version of the same report. Hadil Al-Shalchi, NPR News, Istanbul.

Lakshmi Singh· Host1:19

US senators have been directing tough questions at President Trump's nominee to head the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. NPR's Ping Wang reports on the confirmation hearing.