Blinken scheduled to travel to Middle East on Tuesday night

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is scheduled to travel to the Middle East on Tuesday, Axios reporter Barak Ravid said on social media on Monday, citing a source.Blinken has stops planned in Qatar, Egypt, Israel and possibly Iran.

White House national security spokesperson John Kirby said on Monday that the U.S. has prepared for what could be significant attacks by Iran or its proxies in the Middle East as soon as this week and the U.S. had increased its regional force posture.