The retaliatory strikes came on Saturday, a day after Israel killed top Iranian military leaders and scientists and destroyed an aboveground nuclear enrichment plant near Natanz.

U.S. officials told multiple outlets that the Navy directed the USS Thomas Hudner, a destroyer capable of intercepting ballistic missiles, from the western Mediterranean Sea toward the eastern Mediterranean Sea, where it will join the USS Arleigh Burke. A second destroyer was also ordered to change course to be available if requested.

Iran's president, Masoud Pezeshkian, calls for unity among citizens as the country faces escalating conflict with Israel, urging them to set aside differences in the face of 'genocidal criminal aggression'.

"The full strength and might of the U.S. Armed Forces will come down on you at levels never seen before," Trump warned.

The U.S. was represented at the UN Security Council's emergency session on Friday by State Department Senior Bureau Official McCoy Pitt, who said the U.S. was advised by Israel that the actions carried out against Iran overnight were "necessary for its self-defense."

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.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio was the first to respond to the attack publicly with a statement Thursday evening — but others have yet to comment.