Loud & Clear

On today's episode of Loud & Clear, Brian Becker and John Kiriakou are joined by Mohammad Marandi, an expert on American studies and postcolonial literature who teaches at the University of Tehran.The US and UK are asking their European allies to participate in a program whereby allied navies would escort western tankers through the Straits of Hormuz. The Iranian government condemned the idea as provocative and Oman, the country which usually mediates between the US and Iran, said that it is in touch with both sides. Germany has said it has no concrete plans to join the effort. Democratic presidential candidates will debate again tonight and tomorrow in Detroit. The event will be hosted by CNN. The second-tier candidates will likely try to break out of the pack on the issues of healthcare, student debt, and social justice, with pundits watching Kamala Harris, Pete Buttigieg, Beto O’Rourke, Amy Klobuchar, and Julian Castro most closely. Bob Schlehuber, a Sputnik News analyst and the producer of the Sputni