Iran’s leaders are discovering they’re on their own against the US and Israel, without the network of proxies and allies that allowed them to project power in the Middle East and beyond.

China and Russia positioning themselves as voices of reason, calling for de-escalation of a conflict the United States is contemplating on entering — these are the optics Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin sought to project during a phone call on Thursday.

“If the Middle East is unstable, the world will not be at peace,” Chinese President Xi Jinping said Thursday. “If the conflict escalates further, not only will the conflicting parties suffer greater losses, but regional countries will also suffer greatly.”

The Chinese leader said his country opposes "any act that infringes upon the sovereignty, security, and territorial integrity of other countries."

Footage of two nighttime explosions in the northeastern Chinese city of Tianjin in 2015 has been falsely described by social media users as showing an Iranian strike on the port of Haifa, Israel, during aerial battles between the two regional rivals.

After the US hits three nuclear sites in Iran, Israel says it's striking military targets - while the Iranian Red Crescent accuses it of hitting hospitals.

Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian warned of a "more devastating" retaliation should Israel's nine-day bombing campaign continue, saying the Islamic republic would not halt its nuclear programme "under any circumstances".