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.

President Donald Trump said early on Sunday that if Iran attacks the United States in any way, it would face the might of the US military “at levels never seen before.”

The push to do a deal on the country’s nuclear program could be revived, even after the Israeli strikes scuppered the latest round of talks.

Trump told the Wall Street Journal that he knew all about Israel’s plan ahead of time, that he wasn’t given a mere “heads-up.”

An Israeli drone strike on Iran’s South Pars gas field—the world’s largest—has triggered a serious energy disruption and widened the conflict. The fire damaged one of the processing units in Phase 14,

Experts suggest the U.S. has a strategic opportunity to leverage Iran's weakened position for a nuclear deal after Israel's targeted strikes on Iranian nuclear and military sites.

The United States is the main international backer of Israel, Iran's biggest regional foe. It is also a close ally of Sunni Gulf monarchies which for years pursued their own rivalry with the Islamic Republic, seeing it as their main regional threat.

President Trump is trapped between the “America First” isolationists and others in his party who are cheering on Israel’s strikes against Iran.