Alex Raufoglu is RFE/RL's senior correspondent in Washington, D.C.
How serious does intelligence have to be for a CIA director to personally travel to Moscow to deliver a warning?
Ukraine's top sanctions official arrived in Washington on August 31 seeking to keep alive a sweeping Russia sanctions bill that cleared the Senate with overwhelming bipartisan support but now faces a tougher test in the House of Representatives.
US forces struck two Iranian rocket launchers on Larak Island in the Strait of Hormuz after the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) was observed preparing to launch rockets carrying sea mines into the vital waterway, a US official confirmed to RFE/RL.
The US said it was aware of threats by Iran's armed forces to put Persian-language media outlets including RFE/RL's Radio Farda on a list of potential military targets, and pointed to what it said was Tehran's record of harassment and attempted attacks against journalists and dissidents abroad.
Six months after US-Israeli strikes, the Iran conflict remains unresolved. Despite military losses, Iran retains leverage over the Strait of Hormuz. Experts say key questions involve economic pressure, diplomacy, shipping, and support from Russia and China.
Bosnian Serb wartime military commander Ratko Mladic, known as the "Butcher of Bosnia," has died aged 84 in The Hague, where he was serving a life sentence for genocide and crimes against humanity.
CIA Director John Ratcliffe’s surprise trip to Moscow this week was intended to warn Russia against attacking NATO countries -- particularly Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania -- sources familiar with the visit have told RFE/RL.
CIA Director John Ratcliffe made an unannounced visit to Moscow on August 25, US officials confirmed to RFE/RL, a rare trip that comes as Washington’s efforts to end Russia’s war against Ukraine have stalled and tensions over Moscow’s relationship with Iran have intensified.
US sanctions experts say the Trump administration's new campaign to economically isolate Iran could be an effective escalation -- but only if Washington backs its threats with action.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced a new effort to ramp up the pressure on Tehran, saying the United States is "launching an economic onslaught against Iran’s financial connections around the globe."
The Caspian Sea is emerging as a potentially important logistics corridor in the expanding Russia-Iran partnership, marking a possible change in the military relationship between Moscow and Tehran as they look to move goods beyond the reach of Western naval power.
Ukraine has shattered assumptions about Russian military might, exposing severe weaknesses and forcing Moscow to adapt. After more than four years of full-scale war, can a battered but still dangerous Russia claim superpower status?
The US is threatening to hit Iran with what Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent called “measures like have never been seen in the history of economic isolation on a country." What could those measures be – and will they work?
As Washington once again wrestles with the question of how far the United States should go in supporting Ukraine, a resolution from one of the country's most geographically distant states -- Hawaii -- has added a new voice to the debate.
The world's leading autocracies -- China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea -- are increasingly drawing on one another's resources to withstand Western pressure. For Washington, the strategic dilemma is the extent to which their alignment alters the balance of power across multiple theaters.
A former US Marine who has been held in a Russian prison since 2022 and had been reported to be in serious medical condition in recent weeks has been freed and is being flown back to the United States.
The US House of Representatives moved to advance a sweeping Russia and Iran sanctions package on August 10, just days after the Senate approved it by an overwhelming 86-11 vote,
The US Senate on August 7 overwhelmingly approved legislation aimed at tightening economic pressure on Russia over its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
For much of Russia's full-scale invasion, Ukrainian officials arrived in Washington seeking weapons, ammunition, and financial support. Last week, however, the message was markedly different as Kyiv looked to be more a partner than a beggar.
Ukraine's failure to intercept a single Russian missile during a large-scale overnight attack this week has raised fresh concerns over Kyiv's dwindling supply of air-defense interceptors as Moscow escalates its ballistic missile strikes on the nearly defenseless capital and other regions.
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