Israel and the U.S. launched attacks Saturday despite ongoing negotiations between Washington and Tehran over Iran’s nuclear program. The strikes have killed Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and more than 1,000 Iranians, according to state media. China has condemned the offensive as a violation of international law and called for a halt to the fighting as Iran retaliated against targets in countries hosting U.S. forces.
The conflict comes just two months after U.S. forces struck targets across another China ally—Venezuela—and captured former President Nicolás Maduro, catching Beijing off guard. Chinese military planners may apply lessons learned from these episodes to the Pacific, where Beijing seeks to supplant the U.S. as the dominant military power and where both sides are preparing for potential conflict, such as a over Beijing-claimed Taiwan.