The South China Sea is home to competing claims by several nations, including China, which asserts sovereignty over upwards of 80 percent of the busy waterway as its territory. China's expanding presence in the maritime zone of the Philippines has led to dramatic clashes and pushed the U.S. treaty ally to boost security ties with Washington and other partners in the region.
The Iranian government is in the midst of a deadly crackdown on the largest-scale anti-government protests in years, with death toll estimates ranging from 3,400 to more than 12,000. Trump has threatened to respond and has not ruled out military force—though on Wednesday he said he had it "on good authority" that the killing had stopped, with "no plan for executions" of protesters.
