Israel's military chief Lieutenant General Eyal Zamir said on Tuesday that the army was prepared to respond "with force" to any attack by Iran.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi will travel to Beijing on Tuesday for talks, the foreign ministry said, amid stalled negotiations with the United States to end the Middle East war.

"During the visit, he will meet his Chinese counterpart (Wang Yi) to discuss bilateral ties and regional and international developments," the ministry said in a brief statement.

U.S. President Donald Trump urged Iran Tuesday to "do the smart thing" and make a deal, saying even as a Middle East ceasefire teetered that he did not want to kill more Iranians.

The United Arab Emirates said Tuesday its air defenses were engaging missiles and drones coming from Iran for the second consecutive day, weeks into a fragile ceasefire in the Middle East war.

"UAE air defense systems are actively engaging with missiles and UAV threats," the defense ministry said in a statement on X, adding that they had "come from Iran".

The United States is "not looking for a fight" over the Strait of Hormuz and its ceasefire with Iran still holds, but any attack on commercial shipping will be met with a "devastating" response, the Pentagon chief said Tuesday.

The warning from Pete Hegseth came on the second day of a U.S. effort to facilitate the transit of commercial ships through the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran had closed in response to the U.S.-Israeli war against the Islamic republic.

World leaders on Tuesday piled pressure on Tehran to stick to diplomacy to bring an end to the Middle East war, after a salvo of attacks in the region left a ceasefire crumbling.

Iran's powerful chief negotiator warned the United States against any further escalation in the Strait of Hormuz, after a spate of attacks risked reigniting the Middle East war.

U.S. President Donald Trump warned Iranian forces on Monday that they would be “blown off the face of the Earth” if they attempted to target U.S. ships in the Strait of Hormuz or Persian Gulf.

Iran had "no pre-planned programme" to attack oil facilities in the United Arab Emirates, Iranian state TV said Monday, after the UAE blamed the Islamic republic for a drone strike at an energy installation in Fujairah.

Authorities in the emirate said the strike injured three Indian nationals who were taken to hospital. The UAE meanwhile said it had been targeted by a fresh Iranian barrage which it described as a "dangerous escalation", amid a ceasefire in the Middle East war.

Two people were injured when a residential building was targeted in Oman's Bukha along the coastline of the Strait of Hormuz, state media reported on Monday.