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.

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.

Iran’s economy, crippled by 32% inflation and $33bn reserves, struggles to match Israel’s $223bn war chest. Sanctions and stagnant growth tilt prolonged conflict in Tel Aviv’s favour.

Israel attacked Iran’s Natanz nuclear site after it announced that it is activating a third nuclear enrichment facility. IAEA confirmed that the Fordow Fuel Enrichment Plant, Isfahan nuclear site and Bushehr nuclear plant,

Reza Pahlavi, writing in Persian, stated that war, likely between Israel-US and Iran, would be "Khamenei's war and the Islamic Republic's war," and not Iran or the the Iranian people's war.

Israel carried out large-scale air strikes on Iran early Friday, targeting Tehran’s military and nuclear sites. The strikes killed several top Iranian military officials and nuclear experts. Among the deceased were Mohammad Bagheri,

For years, Israel and Iran engaged in a shadow war, a series of mostly quiet, often deniable attacks, with Iran frequently operating through allied proxy groups.

Israel launched strikes on Iran’s capital early Friday, with explosions booming across Tehran as Israel said it targeted nuclear and military sites.