The US is betting that a sustained blockade can force Iran to make concessions on Hormuz. Iran is betting that rising economic pressure from the strait's closure will force the US to blink first.

The incoming spy chief was a corporate lawyer before chairing America's financial watchdog. Does he have the skills needed to oversee 18 powerful US intelligence agencies?

Washington has a long record of fighting the wrong war for the wrong objective

Come November, the Egyptian-American epidemiologist could become the first Muslim senator in US history, despite $70mn spent to defeat him in the Democratic primary

The Federal Reserve worked with the Bank of Japan last week to help lift the yen, after it hit nearly 40-year lows against the dollar. Has it succeeded?

Washington - or a turn elsewhere?

The deal's two biggest sticking points are proliferation concerns and a precondition to normalise relations with Israel. The first can be overcome and the second may be less of a factor from October

Nuclear expert Robert Einhorn tells Al Majalla that the US President approved the agreement a week before it was formally signed, then added a condition after signature, leaving diplomats stumped

Benjamin Netanyahu has kept conspicuously quiet about a US-Saudi nuclear partnership that could allow enrichment in the Gulf. How he handles it could impact Israel's upcoming election

Judging by a recent podcast, the US Vice President has been doing some serious thinking