The USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier conducts US blockade operations in the Arabian Sea on April 16, 2026. | US Navy via Getty Images
Two months into the US-Iran war, the fighting has hardened into a standoff, with no end in sight. Both countries claim to have the upper hand, but there is only one clear winner so far — and it isn’t either of them.
“China’s watching this war very closely,” James Palmer, deputy editor of Foreign Policy and author of its China Brief newsletter, tells Today, Explained co-host Noel King.
Palmer talked with Noel about the lessons China is drawing from...
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