U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo delivered letters (NPR) to UN leaders accusing Iran of violating the 2015 nuclear agreement, in an effort to reimpose UN sanctions on Tehran. Other parties to the nuclear deal, including U.S. allies France, Germany, and the United Kingdom, criticized the U.S. move (CNN). They said it was incompatible with their support for the agreement, while China called it a “political show.” 

Iran’s ambassador to the United Nations said the United States cannot trigger a sanctions snapback because it withdrew from the agreement in 2018. As bilateral tensions remain high, Iran also unveiled two new missiles, including one named for (Al-Monitor) commander Qasem Soleimani, who was killed in a U.S. drone strike in January.

Supporters of critically ill opposition leader Alexey Navalny accused Russian authorities (Politico) of preventing his evacuation to Germany for medical treatment. German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron offered asylum to Navalny, who was allegedly poisoned.

United Kingdom: Hashem Abedi, who helped his brother plan (BBC) the deadly 2017 Manchester Arena bombing, was sentenced to at least fifty-five years in prison.

Hong Kong’s High Court rejected the first challenge (SCMP) from someone jailed under the new national security law. The man was accused of riding his motorcycle into a group of police officers at a July protest. The plaintiff’s lawyers had alleged the controversial legislation was inconsistent with Hong Kong’s Basic Law.

In this In Brief, CFR’s Jerome A. Cohen explains the national security law imposed by Beijing.

Vietnam: Vietnamese authorities arrested four men for allegedly defrauding (Reuters) thousands of Americans by selling them nearly $1 million in personal protective equipment and never delivering the products.

Amid bilateral tensions, India will begin requiring (Bloomberg) prior security clearance for certain Chinese visas, according to unnamed senior officials. The country could also reduce ties between its universities and Chinese institutions, they said. 

Kyrgyzstan: A Bishkek court upheld an eighteen-year prison sentence for former Kyrgyz Prime Minister Sapar Isakov, who has been found (RFE/FL) guilty of corruption.

The U.S. State Department condemned (DW) assassinations of anti-government activists and attacks on protesters in Iraq. In a meeting with Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi in Washington yesterday, President Donald J. Trump pledged to withdraw U.S. troops from Iraq but gave no timeline.

This CFR In Brief lays out what to know about Iraq’s new government.

Three members of an Iranian vessel who were captured off the coast of Somalia in 2015 have been freed. In a separate incident, regional officials reported that armed men hijacked (Reuters) a Panama-flagged tanker. The attack would be the first successful ship seizure by pirates since 2017.

Mali: A military spokesperson said the country’s de facto leaders will install a transitional government (Al Jazeera). The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) regional bloc announced it will send a delegation to Mali, where the president was ousted in a military coup this week.

On CFR’s Africa in Transition blog, John Campbell writes that the coup is unlikely to lead to fundamental change in Mali.

A former head of the state oil company PEMEX, who is facing corruption charges, accused three former presidents (teleSUR) of graft. President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador called the allegations a “serious denunciation” and said those accused should testify.

Colombia: President Ivan Duque said intelligence shows (Al-Monitor) that the government of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro is working to secure missiles from Iran, which has previously supplied it with oil.

Former Vice President Joe Biden accepted the Democratic Party’s nomination for president, closing out the party’s virtual national convention yesterday. In his address, Biden encouraged Americans (WaPo) to choose “a path of hope and light.”

CFR tracks the 2020 presidential candidates’ foreign policy positions.