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.

Israel’s strike on an Iranian-controlled compound in Syria in April 2024 prompted Tehran to fire a huge barrage of missiles at Israel. Iran launched a similar assault last fall after Israel assassinated Ismail Haniyeh, a Hamas leader, as he visited Iran last summer, and then killed Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of Hezbollah.

Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has warned that Israel faces a ‘bitter and painful’ fate following the attack.

As the head of the secretive Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Major General Hossein Salami, was one of the most powerful men in Iran, overseeing its most potent military arm and reporting directly to its Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Before Israeli strikes on Friday, Washington and Tehran had held several rounds of talks on Iran's nuclear programme, as concerns mounted about its rapid expansion. Iran has significantly ramped up its nuclear programme in recent years,

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

Since the Hamas-led atrocities in southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, the West has refused to acknowledge that Israel has been subjected to a seven-front war of extermination waged by Iran and its proxies.

In contrast to his first term, Trump is keeping Netanyahu at a distance and has already, on a number of occasions, disregarded the Israeli leader's recommendations.