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.

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.”

Because the missiles were part of a US $7.4 billion arms package approved by Congress in February, the transfer required no new notification.

There is a very strong sense of betrayal and anger in many parts of the ‘America First’ base because they have truly turned against the idea of the US being involved in or supporting any such wars,” said Trita Parsi,

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 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.

The U.S. did not provide any assistance or have any involvement in the Israeli strike, a U.S. official told ABC News. ABC News' Chief Washington Correspondent Jonathan Karl spoke to President Donald Trump on the phone early Friday morning and asked him about the attack on Iran.

Iran’s most important nuclear sites at Natanz and Fordow have escaped significant damage from Israeli strikes, according to reports and satellite imagery.

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

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.