Alex Raufoglu is RFE/RL's senior correspondent in Washington, D.C.
The unraveling of the 60-day memorandum of understanding (MoU) was always likely to expose unresolved disputes over who controls one of the world's most strategic waterways, Noam Raydan, the William Sudhaus Senior Fellow at The Washington Institute for Near East Policy, tells RFE/RL.
RFE/RL spoke with Zineb Riboua, a research fellow with the Hudson Institute, about Iran's post-Khamenei power structure, the expanding influence of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Core (IRGC), and why she believes growing repression reflects weakness rather than confidence.
As NATO leaders gather in Ankara for a summit expected to shape the alliance's future direction, European capitals are looking to what many see as the meeting's defining challenge: whether the alliance can demonstrate political unity at a moment of profound geopolitical change.
The United States launched a new round of military strikes against Iran and revoked a key sanctions waiver covering Iranian oil sales after accusing Tehran of attacking commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, putting a fragile cease-fire into peril.
US President Donald Trump has departed for Ankara, where NATO leaders are gathering for what could become one of the alliance's most consequential summits in years.
US President Donald Trump will meet Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelenskyy on the sidelines of this week's NATO summit in Ankara. Washington seeks to revive stalled diplomacy over Russia's war while pressing European allies to take greater responsibility for the continent's defense.
As NATO leaders prepare to gather for next week's summit, a group of senior European conservative lawmakers visited Washington with a message they hope will resonate inside the Trump administration: Support for Ukraine and concern over Iran are not mutually exclusive.
As Washington debates whether the recent cease-fire with Iran reflects strategic restraint or strategic drift, retired US Colonel David Des Roches says the broader trajectory of the conflict tells a different story.
Russia carried out one of its largest attacks on Ukraine’s capital this year, reigniting demands in Washington and Europe for tougher military and economic measures against Moscow.
As Washington and Tehran test the limits of a fragile interim understanding, the diplomacy around Iran has become increasingly complex. To unpack the latest developments, RFE/RL spoke with Marc J. Sievers, a former US diplomat based in Abu Dhabi who has served across the Middle East.
US Permanent Representative to NATO Matthew Whitaker said Washington expects its alliance allies to demonstrate stronger alignment on defense spending, Ukraine support, and broader security challenges at next week’s summit in Ankara.
US Vice President JD Vance has again signaled that the White House is prepared to use force against Iran if diplomacy fails, raising the stakes around a 60-day memorandum of understanding (MOU) that has halted open hostilities but left the core disputes unresolved.
Despite a US-Iran memorandum that opened a 60-day diplomatic window, missile exchanges and maritime threats suggest the negotiations are faltering under growing military pressure. RFE/RL spoke with Hudson Institute Senior Fellow Mary Kissel about whether diplomacy can deliver lasting security.
As Moscow increasingly invokes the “spirit of Anchorage” to claim a framework for ending the war in Ukraine already exists, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has flatly pushed back, opening a fierce diplomatic battle over what actually occurred during last year’s high-stakes summit.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio wrapped up a three-day swing through the Persian Gulf on June 25 with messages aimed at reassuring Washington's allies in the region, reaffirming an intention to pursue diplomacy with Iran, and insisting on freedom of navigation through the Strait of Hormuz.
- US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that a new round of US-Iran technical negotiations will resume in Switzerland at the end of June, as he wrapped the second day of a high-stakes Persian Gulf tour aimed at calming regional concerns over Washington’s tentative accord with Tehran.
At the start of a Gulf tour, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio sought to assure regional allies that a framework cease-fire agreement with Iran will take their security concerns into account.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio will travel to the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, and Bahrain this week on his first official visit to the Gulf since the outbreak of the Iran war and just days after Washington and Tehran signed a framework agreement aimed at bring peace to the region.
After briefly appearing to falter, US-Iran implementation talks are back on track, with senior American and Iranian delegations converging on Switzerland for what could prove a decisive phase in turning a fragile wartime memorandum into a broader political settlement.
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