EU and US diplomats are holding important talks as the situation in the Middle East worsens.

Diplomats from the United States and the European Union are holding urgent talks to try to avert the threat of a major regional war in the Middle East. According to the Financial Times, the talks were prompted by the killing of Hezbollah Islamist leader Fuad Shukr and Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Israeli airstrikes on Beirut and Tehran. Western diplomatic pressure is mounting amid concerns about a wider regional conflict, with Iran and Hezbollah vowing to retaliate for the attacks.

Officials said the talks were aimed at persuading Tehran to either refrain from responding or take symbolic action after Israeli diplomats told Western counterparts they were halting military operations. “Since last night, everyone has been pressuring Tehran not to respond and to keep quiet,” said one Western diplomat.

A former senior intelligence officer and now director of the Atlantic Council's Middle East Security Initiative named Jonathan Panikoff stressed that Washington's ability to influence the situation will likely be limited.

“In the near future, the reaction of Iran, Hezbollah and Hamas to the deaths of Shukr and Haniyeh will increase the likelihood of a regional war or a return to the 'eye for an eye' principle,” he added.