Cover: Edited version of US Air Force, US Navy, and US Marine Corps aircraft along with US Army Patriot missile batteries line up on the runway for an elephant walk during a routine operational readiness exercise at Kadena Air Base in Japan on May 6, 2025. (US Air Force)
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian sits beside Iranian officials and other leaders during his swearing-in ceremony in Tehran on July 30, 2024. On the first row, second to the left, is Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze. (Getty Images)
Cover: Edited version of US Air Force, US Navy, and US Marine Corps aircraft along with US Army Patriot missile batteries line up on the runway for an elephant walk during a routine operational readiness exercise at Kadena Air Base in Japan on May 6, 2025. (US Air Force)
Maxar satellite imagery from December 12, 2024, of Iran's new drone ship (known as the Shahid Bagheri) is anchored offshore near the Iranian naval port of Bandar Abbas in the Persian Gulf. (Maxar Technologies via Getty Images)
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi talks with Iranian Foreign Minister Seyyed Abbas Araghchi in Beijing, China, on December 28, 2024. (Pang Xinglei/Xinhua via Getty Images)
Russia's President Vladimir Putin shakes hands with North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un during a meeting in Pyongyang, North Korea, on June 19, 2024. (Gavriil Grigorov/AFP via Getty Images)
Commuters drive past a billboard bearing pictures of Masoud Pezeshkian, Mohammad Bagheri, and Benjamin Netanyahu in Tehran on October 27, 2024. (Atta Kenare 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)