Two Americans out of Iran in 48 hours, talks the White House says are still live, and a Pentagon review into a school strike, begun in March — and still not public. If you're just joining us: the U.S.-Iran channel has stayed open even as the strikes kept landing. Trump said a deal had nearly been reached, Iran pushed for more talks, and technical negotiations kept running — all of it tangled up with tit-for-tat strikes and fights over Hormuz and oil exports. Diplomacy is alive, but it's leashed to the pressure at sea and in the air. This is Iran War Daily. A hostage on a plane, a press secretary reading 'devastating blows' off a card, and a finished investigation nobody will release. Let's start with who's talking to whom. Diyar Guldogan, writing in Anadolu Agency:
Iran continues to communicate with the US and has expressed interest in reaching a nuclear agreement despite recent US military strikes, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said on Thursday. Asked whether negotiations with Tehran were at a standstill or had effectively ended, Leavitt said President Donald Trump had told her that diplomatic contacts remain active.
The claim on the table is that Karoline Leavitt says Iran 'very much continues to talk.' She gives her source, too: she says she spoke with the president an hour earlier. So this is the White House press secretary characterizing Iranian intent. And notice the source here. This comes from Washington, not Oman or Doha, and not a foreign-ministry readout. Washington is narrating what Tehran wants. And listen to the phrase: 'because they are suffering devastating blows.' That's the talking point right there — Washington saying the strikes ARE the negotiating strategy. So the talks update is this: contacts are supposedly still live, even after renewed strikes and the port blockade. Combat and negotiation, same clock, same week. Someone's paying for both. Leavitt also pins the strikes on Iran violating the MOU — specifically, firing on commercial vessels in Hormuz. That's her stated cause. Whether that firing is corroborated is a separate question. Abigail Williams, Garrett Haake and Babak Dehghanpisheh, writing in NBC News:
Trump, who described the release as a “gesture of Goodwill by Iran!” has ramped up pressure on Tehran in recent days and signed off on several new rounds of U.S. military strikes. Mizan, the news site of the Iranian judiciary, said Thursday in a post on Telegram that no American citizen had been released from custody.
At the announcement level, the release is now double-sourced: Trump on Truth Social, and separately, the detainee's lawyer. She'd been held since December 2024, and both say she's safely out of Iran. Second American out in 48 hours, in the same stretch where we just heard the White House say Iran 'very much continues to talk.' Two releases and a talking point — that timing isn't an accident. Here's the wrinkle: Iran's judiciary news site, Mizan, posted Thursday that no American was released or exchanged. So we've got Washington and her own lawyer on one side, Tehran's official judiciary flatly denying it on the other. Right, so Tehran wants the goodwill without the receipt. They'll let her walk but they won't put their name on it — because admitting a swap mid-strike is a domestic problem for them. And still no channel is on the record. Doha, Islamabad, Oman — none of them is claiming credit. Trump calls it a 'gesture of Goodwill' while he's also signed off on new rounds of strikes. That's the contradiction sitting on the page. That's where I'd press them. Is this release coordinated with the talks, or is Tehran buying goodwill before whatever deadline gets floated next week? Because none of the hard files — the nuclear track, the proxies — moved with her onto that plane. The Jerusalem Post writes:
US military leadership has held off on ordering an intelligence review to help determine the events surrounding the US-attributed strike that hit a school in Iran in the initial strikes during Operation Epic Fury, CNN reported on Thursday, citing three sources familiar with the matter.
So the investigation's done. Interviews with the service members involved — done back in March. CNN's three sources say the results are just sitting there. A completed review nobody will release. Let's be precise about the stages. The battle damage assessment ran within a week: did the strike hit the school, and was it a U.S. strike? The initial answer was yes. The next step was the DIA's holistic review, and as of early July, that still hadn't been ordered. Right, and that's the step that asks the uncomfortable questions. Funny which one gets the pause button. And the date matters — February 28. Same day as the strike that killed Khamenei, per the Post. So this school hit is inside the opening salvo of Epic Fury, not some stray follow-on. Which is why the timing gnaws at me. We just heard the White House say Iran wants a deal because they're taking devastating blows. And meanwhile the one review that would put a number on what those blows actually hit is parked in a drawer. The specific gap is authority. CNN says leadership held off on ordering it. So I'd want this answered: who, by name or by chair, is sitting on that order, and on what basis? If Iran War Daily is part of your routine, take a moment to subscribe wherever you’re listening. And if you can leave a review, it really helps other people find the show.
You’ll find links to every story we covered today in the show notes, so if one caught your ear, it’s easy to go deeper from there.
That’s Iran War Daily for today. This is a Lantern Podcast.