FOR THE first month of their war on Iran, America and Israel mostly spared civilian infrastructure. In March bombers painstakingly picked around oil terminals and ports while attacking Kharg Island, an energy entrepot. A week later Donald Trump told Israel to stand down after its strikes on South Pars, a gasfield, provoked Iranian retaliation against…
Life for Hong Kong-based Iranian biomedical researcher Behzad Nasiri Ahmadabadi is filled with anxiety as he spends each day waiting for a call from his family that may not come amid the conflict in the Middle East. The stress is similar for Iranian student Ali*, who spends his days scrolling through news reports from across…
WASHINGTON—President Trump sought to reassure skeptical Americans that the war in Iran is in the national interest, arguing that the operation was necessary to decimate a regime threatening the U.S. and insisting that economic pain would be short-lived. President Trump delivering an address from the White House about the Iran war late Wednesday. In a…
Traditional American allies in Europe – France, Spain, Italy – aren’t just declining to join military operations against Iran. In recent days, they have blocked the use of bases and airspace by U.S. military assets in the campaign. Not since the run-up to the 2003 U.S.-led invasion of Iraq has there been such a chasm…
WASHINGTON—President Trump has told associates in recent days that he wants to avoid a protracted war in Iran and that he hopes to bring the conflict to an end in the coming weeks. WASHINGTON, DC – MARCH 25: U.S. President Donald Trump attends the National Republican Congressional Committee’s annual fundraising dinner at Union Station on…
Republicans should not panic, insists the White House. “NO PANICANS!”, it tweeted on March 14th. Nonetheless, signs of panic can be detected. President Donald Trump holds a model of a B-2 stealth bomber as he speaks after signing an executive order in the White House (AP) Although President Donald Trump says he has “destroyed 100%…
When Gary Dirks arrived in China in 1995, the country’s government was looking to source more of its energy at home. Dirks was the incoming country head for BP, but efforts to find more oil and gas in the country had largely fizzled. So government leaders pivoted, Dirks said. China invested heavily in its domestic…
WASHINGTON/BEIJING, Jan 28 (Reuters) – With the downfall of China’s top general, the United States has lost an important contact on Beijing’s top military body and now faces a People’s Liberation Army that increasingly lacks steady, experienced commanders, said former U.S. officials and analysts. China’s defense ministry said on Saturday that Zhang Youxia, second-in-command under…
BEIJING/WASHINGTON, Jan 26 (Reuters) – China’s investigation into its top general is taking President Xi Jinping’s years-long corruption purge into his innermost circle, underlining that even close personal ties do not offer protection when it comes to loyalty to the party leadership. China experts said Xi’s move against his long-term ally and Politburo member Gen….
China’s air force now seriously threatens the US and Western counterparts in key areas, representing “a potentially revolutionary challenge” to the Indo-Pacific region, a new report says. It has long been assumed that the US had a superior air force to China and would comfortably handle any aerial battle in any conflict involving Taiwan. China…