U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan on Sunday downplayed the importance of the election of hardliner Ebrahim Raisi as the new Iranian president, saying that whether the United States ultimately rejoins the international pact to restrain Tehran’s nuclear program will depend on decisions made by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. …

Hard-line cleric Ebrahim Raisi has been declared the presumptive winner of Iran’s June 18 presidential vote, which was marred by the disqualification of prominent moderates that paved the way for Raisi’s path to presidency. Concerns have been raised that Raisi’s rise to power could bring more social and political restrictions …

The Department of the Air Force announces the availability of the Final Environmental Assessment for the Ground Based Strategic Deterrent Test Program and the program’s Finding of No Significant Impact. The analysis can be found at gbsdtesteaoea.govsupport.us. The GBSD program would modernize the aging U.S. land-based intercontinental ballistic missile Minuteman …

The head of Libya’s unity government on Sunday declared the main coast road across its inactive front line reopened, but eastern-based forces allowed no traffic through, underscoring unresolved divisions that threaten a fragile peace process. Prime Minister Abdulhamid Dbeibeh used a mechanical digger to remove the earth roadblock at the …

Over the past three decades, various initiatives for regional cooperation in the South Caucasus have been proposed, including the “Peaceful Caucasus Initiative” (Eduard Shevardnadze), “Stability Pact for the Caucasus” (Suleyman Demirel, on January 16, 2000), “Caucasus Stability and Cooperation Platform” (Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, August 13, 2008), and “United Caucasus” (Mikheil …

While Obama looked the other way, China militarized a string of atolls in seas around it as part of a long-term plan to forge an aggressive profile against its neighbor and the United States. The Chinese challenge can and must be met both in the global arena and inside the …

The actions of the Beijing government since the earliest days of concern about the disease have shown in stark relief how a closed, authoritarian society tries to deny and shift blame for its misdeeds. How it seeks to co-opt international health agencies. How it tries to bribe foreigners to do …

According to the WSJ report “the Biden administration is sharply reducing the number of US antimissile systems in the Middle East in a major realignment of its military footprint there. The US is moving up to eight Patriot air defense batteries from key countries in the Middle East, according to …

The Secretary of Defense announced during a Thursday congressional session that the request for military assistance has been approved and the US will transfer the requested amount over to Israel. The United States has pledged to replenish and reinforce Israel’s Iron Dome system following the most recent escalation between Israel …

Is the term accurately a descriptive for Iran’s far-right extremist theocratic leaders, or is it used to whitewash and excuse Iran’s politics? A global narrative present in major media outlets uses the term “hardliner” to describe Ebrahim Raisi, the winner of Iran’s presidential election on Saturday. The term “hardliner” was …