Seven days in January: How US and Iran approached the brink of war

The operation that took out Qassim Suleimani propelled the US to the precipice of war with Iran and plunged the world into seven days of roiling uncertainty. The story of those seven days, and the secret planning in the months preceding them, ranks as the most perilous chapter so far in Trump’s three years in office: his decision to launch a strike on Iran, and his attempt through allies and a back channel to keep the ensuing crisis from mushrooming out of control.