US secretary of state Marco Rubio said the US launched its offensive against Iran because it knew Israel was going to attack and “that would precipitate an attack against American forces”.

The war in the Middle East has intensified Monday with attacks from Iran and Iranian-backed militias hitting Israel and Arab states.

Newsweek has created a list recording every country where a strike has been reported in the U.S.-Iran conflict.

Demonstrators in Sacramento gathered on Monday as part of a coordinated nationwide day of action protesting the escalating U.S.-Israeli war with Iran.

The Israeli military says strikes on Beirut and parts of southern Lebanon are a response to attacks on northern Israel by Iran-backed Hezbollah.

Iran and Iranian-backed militias fired missiles at Israel while Israel and the United States pounded targets in Iran as the war expanded.

Across Iran’s capital, explosions rang out overnight as the U.S. and Israel pounded Iran with airstrikes. Iran and its allies have hit back against Israel and neighboring Gulf states.

Israel reportedly hacked nearly all of Tehran’s traffic cameras to spy on Ali Khamenei. Israeli spies spent years surveilling the ayatollah’s bodyguards by accessing the Iranian capital’s traffic camera network, sources claimed.