Markets have been on edge since over fears of a widening of the conflict in the Middle East — a major oil-producing region.

The Middle East is on the "precipice" of a broader war that can be averted with a two-state solution allowing Israel and Palestine to exist side-by-side with Jerusalem as a shared capital, United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres told the Security Council on Thursday.

Israel and Iran have now thrust the Middle East into a dangerous new era by erasing the taboo against overt military strikes on one another’s territory.

Israel has been under pressure from the U.S. and Europe to moderate its response and faced the challenge of delivering a blow that would punish Iran for the attack without provoki