Overview

• Ian Andersen, a Minnesota native on a seven-continent cycling fundraiser, was trapped north of Tehran after Israel struck Iranian nuclear sites and missiles began falling.
• He and a local guide spoke Spanish to evade checkpoints before Azerbaijani officials granted an emergency green light following U.S. Embassy intervention.
• Now in Baku, Andersen plans to ferry across the Caspian Sea to Kazakhstan and then bike into Uzbekistan to resume his global odyssey.
• The Israel-Iran war has killed at least 250 people and injured hundreds more as both sides exchange missile strikes.
• Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov warned that direct U.S. military assistance to Israel could further destabilize the Middle East.