A senior European Union official says Iran is ready to resume suspended nuclear talks as soon early September, Western news agencies are reporting. AFP and the dpa news agencies reported on August 7 that representatives of the country have given assurances in recent days that the talks will be resumed …

U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and his Russian counterpart, Sergei Shoigu, have spoken by telephone about ongoing “strategic stability” talks launched last month after a recent presidential summit. Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said on August 11 Austin and Shoigu discussed “transparency and risk-reduction efforts following the July 28 resumption of …

With the Taliban sweeping through provincial capitals, and massing near Kabul, the Afghan government is thus far vowing to resist. In this Q&A, Crisis Group experts Laurel Miller and Andrew Watkins explain that outside powers’ priority should now be to minimise further human suffering. Have the Taliban won the war? …