Michael Crowley, Eric Schmitt and Edward Wong
The New York Times

Inside the Frantic US Efforts to Contain a Mideast Disaster

As Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken flew to Mongolia on July 31, his mind was on events far away, in the Middle East. Hours earlier, Israel had assassinated a top Hamas leader in Tehran, and Iranian officials were vowing retaliation for the murder of a close ally on their soil. Using a secure…