Key Takeaways:

  1. Iran and the P5+1 reached a framework agreement on Tehran’s nuclear program, entitled the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). The JCPOA limits uranium enrichment to Iran’s Natanz facility at 5,060 centrifuges. U.S., EU, and UN Security Council nuclear-related sanctions will be lifted in a phased fashion, though the details remain unclear.
  2. Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) seized control of, and still holds parts of, a Yemeni provincial capital and freed at least one senior operative. AQAP has benefitted directly from the emerging civil war in Yemen as forces opposed to the al Qaeda group focus on the fight between the Iranian-backed al Houthi movement and the Saudi Arabia-led Operation Decisive Storm.
  3. Al Shabaab militants stormed a university in Garissa, Kenya. The militants sorted Christians from Muslims students and executed them during the attack. Kenyan security forces were only able to end the siege after 15 hours. At least 147 people were killed, and al Shabaab has threatened additional attacks in Kenya.