Trump’s war of choice in Iran hands Putin an opportunity
CNN
Russia President Vladimir Putin knows how to find opportunity in crisis, and the metastasizing Iran war is the latest case in point.
Russian President Vladimir Putin knows how to find opportunity in crisis, and the metastasizing Iran war is the latest case in point.
Putin began the year projecting confidence about his campaign to subjugate Ukraine, despite incremental progress on the battlefield. But in early January, the Trump administration dealt a blow to Russia’s prestige with the ouster of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, a strategic partner of Moscow, in a daring commando raid.
And when the new war erupted in the Gulf region, Putin initially looked to be a loser: US-Israeli decapitation strikes killed Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, another longtime ally of Russia, and decimated Iranian military targets. The strategic partnership Moscow inked with Iran last year appeared to be a mere scrap of paper.
Khamenei, it’s worth remembering, was only the latest friend of the Kremlin to fall: In early December 2024, just over a year before the toppling of Maduro, the regime of Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad, a longtime client of Moscow, came crashing down.
Specks of orange light streak across the night sky, an unnerving spectacle that’s become more common as Iran increasingly outfits some of its ballistic missiles with cluster munitions.
A day later than its manager originally proclaimed, the United States punched its ticket to the quarterfinals of the World Baseball Classic.
Iran might be outgunned and outspent by the US and Israel but it has one major advantage — its control over the Strait of Hormuz.
Russia President Vladimir Putin knows how to find opportunity in crisis, and the metastasizing Iran war is the latest case in point.
As strikes continue across the Middle East for a second week, US President Trump has given conflicting messages about how long the war will last, while Iran signals it’s prepared for a long fight.
For much of last year, Washington sought to starve Moscow’s war machine of cash, in part by removing one of its most loyal customers: India.
Two teenagers mistakenly left a knapsack containing marijuana and cash at a donation area outside a New Zealand charity shop then returned in a panic to retrieve the bag, police said Monday.
A top Iranian official warned in an exclusive CNN interview that the government is prepared for a long war with the United States, on the same day Iranians were directed to pledge their allegiance to the country’s new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei.
An explosion hit a synagogue in the Belgian city of Liège early on Monday in what authorities said was an antisemitic attack that caused damage but no injuries.
Israel’s onslaught against Iran has entered a new phase, targeting energy resources in the country, as Iranian state media suggests the selection of a new supreme leader is close.
China’s top diplomat cast his country as a defender of peace and stability as war in Iran rages, while striking a conciliatory tone towards the United States ahead of a highly anticipated summit between its two leaders.
It’s been a week since the US and Israel launched their war with Iran, sparking a wider conflict across the Middle East that the United Nations warns could spiral out of control.
Rapper-turned-politician Balendra Shah’s party gained leads in early counting in Nepal’s general election, far outpacing his other rivals, including the country’s former prime minister who was forced to resign after a historic youth-led uprising last year.