The Kremlin continues to downplay the social and economic costs of Russia’s war in Ukraine and inflated military spending. Russian President Vladimir Putin told journalists on June 27, following the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) summit in Minsk, that sanctions cannot hurt Russia’s economy and that Russia’s economic indicators are “satisfactory.”[1] …

US and Israeli strikes severely set back Iran’s enrichment capabilities, but Iran’s enriched uranium stockpile poses a long-term threat. The United States dropped twelve 30,000lb GBU-57 bunker buster bombs on Fordow, directly targeted points above the centrifuge cascade hall, and likely destroyed all six IR-1 and seven IR-6 cascades that …

E_127_25Download Prior to the ceasefire between Iran and Israel, which was announced on June 24, 2025, seniorofficials in the Iranian administration and the security-military leadership continued tothreaten harsh responses to Israel’s ongoing attacks on Iran and the American attack on threenuclear facilities in Iran. The officials called the attacks a …