Aerial attacks between Israel and Iran continued overnight into Tuesday, marking a fifth day of strikes following Israel's Friday attack. That surprise operation hit at the heart of Iran's nuclear program, striking key facilities and killing several nuclear scientists as well as high-ranking military leaders, according to Israeli officials.

When Israel launched its series of strikes against Iran last week, it also issued a number of dire warnings about the country’s nuclear program, suggesting Iran was fast approaching a point of no return in its quest to obtain nuclear weapons and that the strikes were necessary to preempt that outcome.

MOSCOW (Reuters) -The Kremlin said on Tuesday that it saw that Israel did not want mediation efforts over its conflict with Iran, now in its fifth day amid what Moscow said was "galloping escalation".

Both countries have closed their airspaces, leaving few options for citizens of other countries seeking to leave.

Britain’s foreign intelligence service, MI6, will be led by a woman for the first time in its history. Blaise Metreweli, who is currently head of the technology and innovation teams, will become chief of the Secret Intelligence Service in the fall. For fans of the James Bond movies, that means Q just became M.

Gold prices rose on Tuesday as the conflict between Israel and Iran prompted investors to seek refuge in safe-haven assets, as they also await the upcoming Federal Reserve policy meeting. Spot gold was up 0.

Syria was once among the closest allies of the Islamic republic, but the new government resents Tehran’s support for the Assad regime and has pledged not to allow attacks on Israel from its territory.

Israeli strikes on Iran and Tehran’s vows of reprisals have brought the two Middle East adversaries closer to an all-out war, which also threatens to draw in the United States, at least to some degree.