Israel and Iran have opened a new chapter in their long history of conflict. Israel launched a major attack with strikes early Friday that set off explosions in the Iranian capital of Tehran.

US president has surrounded himself with ‘America First’ adherents, possibly influencing his appetite for war.

In May 2025, the US and Israel then advanced a new aid mechanism for Gaza run by private security contractors operating in Israeli-approved “safe zones”. Aid is conditional on population displacement, with civilians in northern Gaza denied access unless they relocate.

The ongoing exchange of attacks has brought the regional death toll to at least 24 in Israel and 224 in Iran. Israel’s military has “achieved full aerial control above Tehran” and destroyed roughly one-third of Iran’s surface-to-surface missile launchers, an Israeli government spokesperson said Monday.

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.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Sunday that if the Israeli strikes on Iran stop, then “our responses will also stop.”