Overview
- In Yerevan, Vice President J.D. Vance signed a civilian nuclear cooperation pact with Armenia, with news reports citing a $9 billion investment, and announced an $11 million drone technology sale.
- Vance and President Ilham Aliyev signed a U.S.–Azerbaijan strategic partnership in Baku covering economic and security cooperation, with plans for defense and AI collaboration, energy security work, counterterrorism, and U.S. patrol vessels to bolster Azerbaijan’s coastal protection.
- U.S. forces have surged into the Gulf, with the Abraham Lincoln carrier strike group in theater, added Patriot and THAAD batteries across partner bases, and officials describing one of the largest rapid deployments in years to present strike options to President Trump.
- Fresh satellite images show entrances at tunnel facilities within Iran’s Isfahan nuclear complex appearing buried under earth and a marked uptick in U.S. aircraft and equipment at bases such as Al Udeid in Qatar and Muwaffaq Salti in Jordan.
- Indirect U.S.–Iran contacts via Oman continue as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu presses Washington on Iranian missiles and, according to Israeli reports, warns of unilateral action if a ‘red line’ is crossed, while Vance stresses that red-line decisions rest with President Trump.