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.

Israel warned hundreds of thousands of Tehran residents to evacuate a central district of the Iranian capital Monday, as the assault it began last week continued for a fourth day. Iranian strikes also targeted Tel Aviv and other major cities.

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.

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.

Israel's attack on Iran raises questions like whether the US will get involved, how Iran will respond, and if a wider conflict may be triggered.

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.

Iran launched retaliatory strikes on Israel after Netanyahu said Israel began an operation to push back on Iran's "threat to Israel's very survival."

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

Israel launched “preemptive” strikes early Friday across Iran, amid growing regional tensions and concerns about Iran’s nuclear capabilities.