The U.S. Air Force launched an unarmed Minuteman III ICBM from Vandenberg Space Force Base in Southern California early Wednesday as part of the service’s continuing effort to evaluate the weapon and its crew. Officials said the launch into the Pacific Ocean had been previously scheduled and was not in response to any world events.

The timing did come, however, as Russia is engaged in its largest nuclear exercises in years. The May 19-21 drills, involving 64,000 military personnel and 7,800 pieces of equipment, include the launch of ballistic and cruise missiles, according to the Moscow Times. Russian ally Belarus said it had held its own nuclear weapons exercises in coordination with the Russian military earlier this week.

For the U.S. Minuteman III test, engineers tracked the missile’s flight path to evaluate its propulsion, guidance and reentry systems under what Air Force officials said was “extreme” physical stress. “This launch allows us to authenticate the complete performance profile of the Minuteman III,” said Lt. Col. Karrie Wray, commander of the Air Force’s 576th Flight Test Squadron.

A lasting U.S.-Iran peace deal feels further out of reach, with the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps threatening on Wednesday to expand the war far outside the Middle East if the U.S. and Israel carry out renewed strikes. “If aggression against Iran is repeated, the promised regional war will this time be taken beyond the region,” the IRGC wrote.

The comments echoed those of Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, who said Wednesday that “many more surprises” await Iran’s enemies if they attack again. 

Mr. Trump and Vice President J.D. Vance gave a clear ultimatum to Iran Tuesday, demanding that Tehran agree to a peace deal that prevents it from getting a nuclear weapon or face another military bombardment. Mr. Trump issued a short timeline for potential U.S. military strikes. He gave Tehran “two to three days” to make a deal to end the war or face “another big hit.”

U.S. Special Operations Forces — including the Army Green Berets, Delta Force and Navy SEALs — are at the heart of joint service U.S. military missions that span all domains, including space and cyberspace, while integrating cutting-edge artificial intelligence capabilities. That was the core message Navy Adm. Frank M. Bradley, the head of U.S. Special Operations Command, offered in remarks Tuesday at the annual “SOF Week” convention in Tampa, Florida.

National Security Correspondent Ben Wolfgang is reporting from the convention, where Adm. Bradley cited the January raid to capture Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro as an example of the integrated and technologically complex missions the forces will spearhead in the future as technology and devastating new weapons make it much more difficult for the U.S., or any other nation, to mass ground forces and assets in the traditional sense.

Adm. Bradley described a future in which complex, more narrowly targeted missions will help the U.S. achieve its national security aims without being dragged into full-blown, costly wars. The success of the Venezuela mission has widely reinforced the belief that special forces will remain central to U.S. power projection for decades to come, including the strategically vital Indo-Pacific region.

The Chinese Communist Party has waged a “relentless campaign against American interests: stealing intellectual property on an industrial scale, infiltrating critical infrastructure through cyber operations and flooding American communities with fentanyl while its state media and an algorithm with 179 million American users flood American minds with disinformation,” writes Clifford D. May.

Mr. Trump has said his summit with Mr. Xi last week resulted in agreements on Chinese purchases of American agricultural products and Boeing jets. “He also said Mr. Xi agreed that the Strait of Hormuz should remain an international waterway and that Iran’s rulers should not have nuclear weapons,” writes Mr. May, president of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and an opinion contributor to Threat Status.

“Will Mr. Xi stop providing Tehran with satellite intelligence to target U.S. forces? As President Ronald Reagan didn’t quite say: Distrust and verify,” Mr. May writes in a column for The Washington Times. “Xi Jinping is a Marxist/Leninist/Stalinist/Maoist. Among his titles: general secretary of the CCP, president of the People’s Republic of China and chairman of the Central Military Commission.”

Mr. Trump was “graciously received in China, with good discussions on trade and economic issues and the need to end the flow of fentanyl precursors into the U.S. The Iran war and developments on the Korean Peninsula were also discussed, but Mr. Xi’s focus was on Taiwan,” writes Joseph R. DeTrani, also an opinion contributor to Threat Status.

“The U.S. position on Taiwan has been consistent: a peaceful resolution of issues between China and Taiwan, with the U.S. providing Taiwan with defensive arms sales,” writes Mr. DeTrani, a former associate director of national intelligence. “The president of Taiwan, Lai Ching-te, has consistently said Taiwan is willing to engage in exchanges and cooperation with China on an ‘equal and dignified basis.’ Because of strict preconditions from China, there have been no exchanges.

“Instead,” Mr. DeTrani writes in an op-ed for The Times, “China has conducted routine patrols and large-scale military exercises in the waters and airspace surrounding Taiwan. The most recent large-scale exercises focused on anti-access, area denial and blockades.”

• May 20 — Georgia at a Geopolitical Crossroads: Iranian Influence and Strategic Competition, Hudson Institute

• May 20 — Sen. Bernie Moreno, Ohio Republican, on Colombia’s 2026 Elections, Atlantic Council

• May 20-21 — Special Operations Forces Week 2026, Global SOF Foundation

• May 21 — Fatih Birol, International Energy Agency Executive Director, on the Strait of Hormuz Crisis and Global Energy Security, Chatham House

• May 22 — What Are the Biggest Space Threats in 2026? Center for Strategic & International Studies

• May 22 — Beneath the Surface: Addressing Information Challenges in Africa’s Critical Mineral Sector, Stimson Center

• May 26 — High Wire: The Sheinbaum Administration and the Future of U.S.-Mexico Relations, Brookings Institution 

• June 24 — IndoPac 2026 | Naval Dominance: Shipbuilding, Autonomy & C2, Threat Status Events