An Air Force Global Strike Command unarmed Minuteman III ICBM launches during an operation test on February 23, 2021, at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. (US Space Force)
A protester flashes victory signs as traffic slows during demonstrations in Hamedan, Iran, on January 1, 2026. The demonstrations erupted after shopkeepers in Tehran’s Grand Bazaar shut their businesses to protest the sharp fall of Iran’s currency and worsening economic conditions. (Getty Images)
President Donald Trump holds up a copy of a 2025 National Trade Estimate Report as he speaks at an event at the White House on April 2, 2025, in Washington, DC. (Getty Images)
Worshippers take part in a fitness session after prayer in a mosque of the Bagcilar district in Istanbul on February 8, 2024. (Yasin Akgul via Getty Images)
A member of the Iraqi Counter-Terrorism Service raises the victory gesture as others hold upside-down the black flag of the Islamic State in Mosul, Iraq, on June 30, 2017. (Fadel Senna/AFP via Getty Images)
Gloria and Ken Levy Fellow, Washington Institute for Near East Policy
Aaron Y Zelin
Commentary
Long Read
Caption
Afghan security forces patrol during ongoing clashes between security forces and Islamic State militants in eastern Nangarhar province on July 26, 2016. (Noorullah Shirzada/AFP via Getty Images)
Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei leads Friday prayer in Tehran, Iran, on October 4, 2024. (Iranian Leader Press Office/Handout/Anadolu via Getty Images)