Iran’s government is extremely nervous and has been engaging in urgent diplomatic efforts with countries in the Middle East to gauge whether they can reduce the scale of Israel’s response to its missile attack earlier this month and – if that fails – help protect Tehran,

Bracing itself for a retaliatory strike for the ballistic missile attack, Iran has been urging its Arab neighbors not to allow Israel to use their airspace.

The cabinet was expected to authorize initiating a retaliatory attack, officials said. They didn’t make their decision public.