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.

Iran retaliated by launching waves of drones and ballistic missiles at Israel, where explosions lit the night skies over Jerusalem and Tel Aviv and shook the buildings below. The Israeli military urged civilians, already rattled by 20 months of war sparked by Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack, to head to shelter for hours.

National security experts warn that Israel's attack on Iran shows why Chinese land and asset purchases in the U.S. pose a significant threat to American security.

The obsession began long before headlines declared centrifuges spinning in Natanz or uranium being enriched to near-weapons grade. It dates back to 2002, when secret Iranian nuclear facilities came to light.

Sirens sounded in Israel as Iran launched dozens of ballistic missiles in retaliation for Israel's strikes on its nuclear facilities.

On Saturday, residents in Tehran reported hearing explosions, and the Iran air defense fired nonstop rounds in the Pastour neighborhood. Precise casualty figures in Iran were difficult to confirm. But Iran’s U.N. ambassador, Amir Saeid Iravani, told the U.N. Security Council that Israel’s strikes in Iran had killed 78 people and injured 329 others.

The United States has pulled some diplomatic staff and military families out of the Middle East, citing unspecified regional security risks.