What the US is doing in the Middle East, in 3 confusing sentences
American warplanes are backing an Iran-led offensive in Iraq, bombing Sunni ISIS militants who are holed up in Saddam Hussein's hometown of Tikrit. The US has started providing "air strikes, airborne intelligence, and Advise & Assist support to Iraqi security forces headquarters."
At the same time, Washington is providing "intelligence sharing, targeting assistance, and advisory and logistical support" for Saudi Arabian strikes on Iran-backed Houti rebels who are rampaging across Yemen.
The US officially says that it is backing most Sunni rebels fighting Bashar al-Assad in Syria, but White House policy is actually aligned with the Iran-backed regime as both consider ISIS the largest threat.
Amid the unfolding chaos, US and Iranian negotiators are trying to hammer out a historic nuclear deal.
A few tweets from this morning illustrate the geopolitical tangle in the region:
Noah Browning, a Reuters correspondent for Israel and Palestine, put it succinctly:
Buzzfeed World editor Miram Elder riffed on what this means for nuclear talks:
And geopolitical expert Ian Bremmer put it all into perspective:
Here's a map of the sectarian makeup of the region:
