In an interview with DW, China expert William Figueroa said that Beijing lacks the capability for power projection in the Middle East, however, the Iran- Israel conflict poses some risk to China's energy security.

Israeli officials have been pushing the United States to join the fray and use its huge bunker-busting bomb to crush Iran’s nuclear capabilities.

Hostilities between Israel and Iran have entered the fifth day after Israel refused any diplomatic overtures from Iran overnight to stop the ongoing conflict. In response, The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has issued an evacuation directive,

U.S. officials told multiple outlets that the Navy directed the USS Thomas Hudner, a destroyer capable of intercepting ballistic missiles, from the western Mediterranean Sea toward the eastern Mediterranean Sea, where it will join the USS Arleigh Burke. A second destroyer was also ordered to change course to be available if requested.

Explosions were heard in the Iranian capital, Tehran, as Israel launched a preemptive strike. Israel is under a state of emergency, as Iran retaliated Friday night with missile attacks.

Shapiro served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for the Middle East until January—charged with, among other things, considering scenarios in which tensions between Israel and Iran escalated into all-out war and preparing U.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio was the first to respond to the attack publicly with a statement Thursday evening — but others have yet to comment.

The U.S. Embassy in Israel was damaged Monday after it was struck in a new missile barrage from Iran, as Israel claims "full air superiority" over Tehran.

The United States is reportedly expecting a "mass casualty response" if Israel bombs Iran's nuclear facilities. On Wednesday, the State Department ordered the departure of all nonessential personnel from the U.