Alex Raufoglu is RFE/RL's senior correspondent in Washington, D.C.
The US House of Representatives voted on June 3 to advance legislation providing new military assistance to Ukraine, overcoming opposition from the administration and marking the first major Ukraine support measure to gain traction in Congress since Donald Trump's return to office.
Diplomatic efforts to contain the widening Middle East crisis entered a critical phase this week as US officials sought to keep alive negotiations with Iran amid mounting tensions. RFE/RL spoke with Dania Arayssi, program head and senior analyst at the New Lines Institute for Strategy and Policy.
As Washington and Tehran edge toward a preliminary peace deal, renewed fighting in Lebanon has cast uncertainty over the diplomatic track.
Tina Fordham, founder of Fordham Global Foresight and a geopolitical strategist, speaks in an RFE/RL interview about the state of Iran negotiations, the market's assessment of the talks, and the broader geopolitical consequences of the standoff.
To understand where Iran negotiations stand and whether diplomacy can still prevent escalation, RFE/RL spoke with Ethan A. Goldrich, a veteran US diplomat who served under multiple administrations, most recently as deputy assistant secretary of state overseeing Near Eastern affairs from 2021-24.
As conflicting signals continue to emerge from Washington and Tehran over reports of a possible interim agreement, the White House has struggled to clarify whether the US and Iran are actually on the verge of a deal.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has issued an unusually direct appeal to President Donald Trump and the US Congress, warning that Ukraine urgently needs additional Patriot missile systems as Russia intensifies ballistic missile attacks on Ukrainian cities.
Former Pentagon official Michael Patrick Mulroy says both Washington and Tehran have incentives to avoid renewed war, but warns the Strait of Hormuz will remain a long-term pressure point even if an agreement is reached.
Ukraine’s ambassador to the United States, Olha Stefanishyna, told RFE/RL that Ukraine is "desperate" to strike an agreement with the United States on military support to intercept ballistic missiles launched from Russia, adding that Ukraine is prepared to finance the additional systems.
After 88 days of digital isolation, described by NetBlocks as the “longest nationwide Internet shutdown in modern history,” Iran has begun partially restoring Internet access. To unpack what this means, RFE/RL spoke with Charles Dunne, a former senior US diplomat and national-security official.
A series of conflicting signals from Tehran and Washington has highlighted the fluid status of ongoing US-Iran negotiations. To break down the strategic calculations, political pressures, and maritime realities on the ground, RFE/RL spoke with former US Ambassador Christopher Henzel.
RFE/RL interviewed Jason H. Campbell, a senior fellow at the Middle East Institute and former Pentagon official during Trump’s first administration, about a potential peace deal between Washington and Tehran.
The Trump administration says the US and Iran are closer to a nuclear agreement than at any point in recent years, even as senior officials insist a final deal is still days away and key details remain unresolved.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio ended a tense round of NATO talks in Sweden with a blunt message to European allies: Washington’s military footprint on the continent will shrink over time, but the US insists its commitment to NATO’s collective defense remains intact.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio defended how Washington shifted military forces around the world amid confusion over whether a brigade-size contingent of US troops would be rotated out of Poland.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio arrived in Sweden for a meeting of NATO foreign ministers as European allies seek reassurances over US troop drawdowns and Washington's shifting rhetoric on the alliance.
In an interview with RFE/RL, Representative Don Bacon, a Republican from Nebraska, backed tough sanctions on Russia, saying that the United States should keep applying financial pressure. He said Ukraine's recent attacks on military targets inside Russia appear to be "a game-changer" in the war.
Republican Congressman Don Bacon warned that uncertainty over US commitments to NATO risks emboldening Russia, Iran, and China, arguing Washington must maintain strong alliances and military deterrence amid growing global instability.
RFE/RL, Mark Cancian, senior adviser with the Defense and Security Department at CSIS, told RFE/RL the US is focused on finding an "exit" from the crisis -- even as major disagreements remain over sanctions, nuclear restrictions, and Iran's claims over the Strait of Hormuz.
Washington is sharply divided over the latest US sanctions waiver for Russian oil. Michael Parker, a former investigator and section chief in the US Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), explains why sanctions relief remains Washington’s sharpest diplomatic bargaining tool.
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![If a deal is made to end the Iran war, Christopher Henzel says the Iranian regime will likely "point to [it] as a victory."](https://gdb.rferl.org/84a8911f-1976-4cc0-b568-e4d6a0c6a6f4_cx0_cy8_cw0_w100_r1.jpg)
![If a deal is made to end the Iran war, Christopher Henzel says the Iranian regime will likely "point to [it] as a victory."](https://gdb.rferl.org/84a8911f-1976-4cc0-b568-e4d6a0c6a6f4_cx0_cy8_cw0_w66_r1.jpg)
