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An oil tanker is being unloaded with imported crude oil at the Qingdao Port Oil Terminal in Shandong Province, China on April 7, 2026. (Getty Images)
Middle East
Middle East
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(Screenshot via YouTube)
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An Iran-flagged passenger vessel Atlas Pishro cruises near ships anchored in the Strait of Hormuz on May 2, 2026. (Getty Images)
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A flight of US Army AH-64 Apache attack helicopters, armed with rockets and Hellfire missiles, taxis in the Central Command Area on May 1, 2026. (US Army)
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(Screenshot via CNN)
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A team of US Army M3 Cavalry Fighting Vehicles standing guard in the US Central Command area of responsibility on May, 5, 2026. (US Army)
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(Screenshot via YouTube)
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Vessels are pictured anchored in the Strait of Hormuz off Bandar Abbas in southern Iran on May 4, 2026. (Getty Images)
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President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping shake hands after their talks at Gimhae Air Base in Busan, South Korea, on October 30, 2025. (Getty Images)
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Senator Chuck Grassley listens during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, on February 3, 2026. (Getty Images)
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People carry Israeli and American flags during the United for Israel march, led by the Pursuit NW Christian Church, on the University of Washington campus in Seattle, Washington, on May 12, 2024. (Getty Images)
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US forces patrol the Arabian Sea near the container ship MV Touska close to the Strait of Hormuz on April 20, 2026. (Getty Images)
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The low winter sun shines on the White House and the bronze equestrian statue of Andrew Jackson in Lafayette Square on January 12, 2026. (Getty Images)
Experts
James Barnett
Research Fellow
Michael Doran
Senior Fellow and Director, Center for Peace and Security in the Middle East
