By Alexandra Sharp
Welcome back to World Brief, where we’re looking at new
U.S. strikes against Iran, a high-level Quadrilateral
Security Dialogue conference, and Russia’s impending
assault on Kyiv.
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Motorists in Tehran drive their vehicles past a political billboard featuring U.S. President Donald Trump and the Strait of Hormuz on May 26.Atta Kenare/AFP via Getty Images
Mixed messaging appears to be the theme of ongoing talks to end the Iran war. Mere hours after U.S. President Donald Trump wrote that negotiations were “proceeding nicely,” the U.S. military launched what it called “self-defense” strikes on southern Iran early Tuesday local time, prompting Tehran to accuse Washington of violating the two countries’ tenuous cease-fire.
According to U.S. Navy Capt. Tim Hawkins, Tuesday’s assault aimed to “protect our troops from threats posed by Iranian forces.” U.S. Central Command “continues to defend our forces while using restraint during the ongoing cease-fire,” he said, noting that the operation targeted missile launch sites and Iranian boats that were attempting to set mines. Tehran said that at least four members of its naval forces were killed.
Iran has vowed swift retaliation for the White House’s “grave violation” of the truce. “Undoubtedly, the Islamic Republic of Iran will not leave any act of hostility unanswered and will not hesitate in defending Iran’s sovereignty,” Iran’s foreign ministry said. “The commission of these acts of aggression, coinciding with the ongoing diplomatic process mediated by Pakistan, once again exposes the ill intent and bad faith of the U.S. ruling establishment to the people of Iran, the people of the region, and the international community.”
The country’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps pledged to “respond decisively” to any attacks that violate the cease-fire. It claimed to have shot down a U.S. MQ-9 drone and fired at another U.S. drone and F-35 fighter jet, forcing them to turn around. The United States has not confirmed those claims.
The Trump administration, however, insists that it is committed to the peace process. “We’ll see if we can make progress,” U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters in India on Tuesday. “It’s a lot of talking back and forth going on about specific language in the initial document, so it’ll take a few days.”
Yet stopping the Iran war appears to not be the White House’s only objective. On Monday, Trump demanded that Egypt, Jordan, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey join the Abraham Accords—which would normalize relations with Israel—upon the signing of an Iran deal. He also extended that offer to Tehran, posting online that “it would be an Honor to have them also be part of this unparalleled World Coalition.”
Lumping the Abraham Accords in with a potential peace deal is not expected to be received warmly. Already, Islamabad has rejected the proposal, with one Pakistani source telling Reuters on Tuesday that the two issues are “not interlinked and cannot be made so.” No other country, including Israel, has publicly responded to Trump’s demand.
In fact, Israel appears to be ramping up its campaign against
Hezbollah, an Iranian proxy group in Lebanon. “We are not removing our foot from the pedal,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday. “On the contrary, I said to press on the pedal even more.” Israeli forces claim to have killed more than 600 Hezbollah militants in Lebanon in recent weeks despite agreeing to a cease-fire there. On Tuesday alone, Israel’s military said that it struck more than 100 alleged Hezbollah sites.
An ailing Quad. The top diplomats of Australia, India, Japan, and the United States convened in New Delhi on Tuesday for a four-day meeting that aims to resuscitate the flagging Quadrilateral Security Dialogue. But as Washington shifts its military focus away from Asia, the other Quad members are struggling to keep the bloc relevant.
Australia’s Penny Wong, India’s S. Jaishankar, Japan’s Toshimitsu Motegi, and the United States’ Rubio unveiled the Quad’s first joint infrastructure project on Tuesday: the development of a shared port in Fiji that aims to remedy insufficient capacity in the Pacific Islands. The group also agreed to a critical minerals framework that coordinates supply chain investments, and it launched an energy security initiative that seeks to fill the rare earths gap that China created when it halted shipments to Japan.
“We are beginning to show real achievements and real accomplishments,” Rubio said on Tuesday. “We are deeply committed to this partnership. It is a linchpin and a cornerstone of our global strategy as a nation in the United States.” Yet Washington’s strained ties with the other three Quad members, particularly India, and the continued lack of a Quad leaders’ summit have undermined the Trump administration’s pledged commitment to the region.
Looming assault on Kyiv. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov urged Washington to evacuate U.S. diplomats and citizens from Kyiv, the Kremlin confirmed on Tuesday, after Moscow vowed to launch “systematic and consistent strikes” on the Ukrainian capital. The looming operation is in retaliation for a Ukrainian drone strike last Friday that allegedly hit a student dormitory in the Russian-occupied Luhansk region of Ukraine, killing at least 18 people. Kyiv denied the allegation, claiming that it hit an elite Russian drone command unit.
According to Moscow, the coming attacks on Ukraine’s capital will target military facilities, command posts, and “decision-making centers,” with a specific focus on sites that manufacture drones. “Due to the fact that the above-mentioned facilities are scattered across Kyiv, we are notifying foreign citizens, including the personnel of diplomatic missions and international organizations of the need to leave the city as soon as possible,” Russia’s foreign ministry said in a statement. The threat comes just days after Russian strikes on Kyiv killed at least four people and injured more than 100 others.
But Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha remains undeterred, calling on civilians not to give in to “Russian blackmail.” Katarina Mathernova, the European Union’s ambassador to Ukraine, also stressed that the bloc is “not going anywhere,” writing on X that “Russia wants fear. Panic. Isolation of Ukraine. It will not work.”
Splintered party unity. Lawmakers in Senegal elected ousted Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko to be parliament’s new speaker on Tuesday. With 132 votes in favor, the move was seen as a rebellion against President Bassirou Diomaye Faye, who fired Sonko last Friday and dissolved his cabinet. Sonko remains the leader of the ruling Pastef party.
Faye largely owes his position to Sonko. The party’s leader (and Faye’s one-time mentor) was seen as the obvious choice to lead Senegal heading into its 2024 presidential election; however, the country’s top courts barred Sonko from running due to a defamation conviction, paving the way for Faye to win instead. He appointed Sonko as prime minister the following month. But in recent months, the once-close allies have struggled to agree on several key issues, including negotiations for a critical International Monetary Fund (IMF) loan, prompting Faye to dismiss Sonko.
On Monday, Faye appointed Ahmadou Al Aminou Lo, a former banking executive, to be Senegal’s new prime minister. Lo now has to form a government that will help Faye pass the IMF deal and reduce the country’s debt crisis. But Sonko’s new role in parliament may be a thorn in Faye’s ambitions and could further splinter the Pastef party.
Pope Leo XIV unveiled his first, highly anticipated encyclical on Monday, in which he warned of the dangers that artificial intelligence poses to humanity. The 83-page papal letter, addressed to “all people of good will,” urged foreign governments to closely regulate AI systems and argued that this technology should never be used to make lethal decisions. In addition to citing past encyclicals and other Roman Catholic texts, Leo invoked the words of Gandalf, the fictional wizard from The Lord of the Rings, to support his argument: “It is not our part to master all the tides of the world, but to do what is in us for the succor of those years wherein we are set, uprooting the evil in the fields that we know, so that those who live after may have clean earth to till.”
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