Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping enter the hall during a signing ceremony on May 20, 2026, in Beijing, China. (Getty Images)
Supporters of the Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMF) chant slogans and wave flags at a rally celebrating the end of the US military presence in Iraq on September 30, 2026, in Baghdad, Iraq. (Getty Images)
Presidential candidate Flavio Bolsonaro for the Partido Liberal speaks to the press after the votes are tallied on election day on October 4, 2026, in Brasilia, Brazil. (Getty Images)
Diplomatic envoys of ASEAN countries to China watch an intelligent robot during a visit to the China-ASEAN AI Application Center on July 22, 2026, in Nanning, China. (Getty Images)
Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi holds a news conference in New York after she addressed the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly on September 22, 2026, in New York City, US (Getty Images)
Migrants storm a barbed-wire fence as they attempt to cross the land border with Spain's African enclave of Ceuta near Fnideq in northern Morocco on September 15, 2024. (Getty Images)
U.S. President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu participate in a joint statement in the East Room of the White House on January 28, 2020 in Washington, DC. (Sarah Silbiger/Getty Images)
US Deputy Secretary of State Anthony Blinken attends a press conference about the 2016 annual report on international religious freedom at the US Department of State August 10, 2016 in Washington, DC.
Many days after the decision of Hagia Sophia to be opened for worship, the citizens who come to have souvenir photos are seen in Istanbul, Turkey on July 14, 2020.
MH-60R Sea Hawks attached to Helicopter Maritime Strike Squadron HSM-77 (the “Saberhawks”) hover in formation between the aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan (foreground) and USS Nimitz while under way in the South China Sea, July 7, 2020. The Nimitz and R
Supreme Leader of Iran, Ali Khamenei makes a speech during his meeting with senior officials and members of the air force in Tehran, Iran on February 08, 2020. (Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
Senior Fellow, Washington Institute for Near East Policy
Mehdi Khalaji
Commentary
Caption
The Islamic organization Hizb ut-Tharir holds its Friday prayer at the Parliament Square on March 21, 2019 in Copenhagen, Denmark. The goal of Hizb ut Tharir is the implementation of the Islamic Sharia law. (Ole Jensen/Getty Images)