Russia warns Trump against bombing Iran as Trump mulls joining war

Iran’s supreme leader told his people on Wednesday that Tehran would ‘never surrender’ after U.S. president Donald Trump demanded an ‘unconditional’ exit from the conflict, now in its sixth day.

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said in an address read by a television presenter that Iran would ‘stand firm against an imposed war, just as it will stand firm against an imposed peace’.

‘This nation will not surrender to anyone in the face of imposition,’ he said in his first televised comments since Israel launched its surprise attack on Friday.

Khamenei also alluded to Trump’s recent statements, saying that ‘intelligent people who know Iran, the Iranian nation, and its history will never speak to this nation in threatening language’.

‘The Americans should know that any US military intervention will undoubtedly be accompanied by irreparable damage,’ he added.

Khamenei said that Israel had made a ‘huge mistake’ with its campaign, promising that they will be ‘punished’.

FILE PHOTO: Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei speaking in a televised speech on June 13, 2025

Israeli media outlets are reporting the new airstrikes launched in Tehran this afternoon are close to where Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is hiding in an underground bunker.

Footage circulating on social media shows multiple blasts in Lavizan, a neighborhood in the eastern part of the capital where it is said the supreme leader could be seeking refuge.

Khamenei gave a televised address today to declare Tehran would ‘never surrender’ after U.S. president Donald Trump demanded an ‘unconditional’ exit from the conflict.

The fresh airstrikes have also reportedly struck Tehran’s Nobonyad Square, home to the headquarters of the Iranian Defense Ministry and several factories.

These pictures show Tehran is once again under attack as Israel launches new strikes in the Iranian capital.

The IDF has confirmed the Israeli Air Force is attacking military targets across the city with blasts heard at around 3.30pm local time (1pm UK time).

Israel will ease domestic restrictions imposed on its population due to the ongoing war with Iran and will ‘reopen its economy’, defence minister Israel Katz said today.

Under the changes small gatherings will be permitted and workplaces will be allowed to operate if an adequate shelter can be reached in time.

Schools remain closed nationwide until further notice.

The eased restrictions take effect from 6pm tonight and were ordered following an assessment by the IDF Home Front Command and Mr Katz.

‘While we continue our intense fight against Iran until the threats are removed, we will also reopen the economy, ease restrictions, and restore Israel to paths of creativity, activity, and security,’ Katz was quoted as saying in a statement.

The activity scale in most areas of the country has been adjusted from ‘essential activity’ to ‘limited activity,’ the Home Front Command says.

By Katelyn Caralle, Senior U.S. Political Reporter

A massive Iranian rocket intercepted by Israel’s defense systems was unearthed on Monday.

Residents and authorities in a northern Israeli town had to dig up a missile shell that was buried nose-down nine-feet into the ground.

Video exclusively obtained by the Daily Mail shows a resident finding the weapon in a field of fruit trees.

And an image after it was dug up exhibits the immense size of the 15-foot shell.

The missile did not detonate on the ground or cause destruction to the nearby town of 800 people.

Instead, it was intercepted by Israel’s multi-tiered ballistic defense systems.

A person from the village told the Daily Mail that residents think it was taken down by either the Arrow system or THAAD, which are both part of defense provisions put in place to stop rockets from blowing up in populated Israeli towns.

Sir Keir Starmer will chair a meeting of the emergency Cobra committee on Wednesday to discuss the security situation in the Middle East, the PA news agency is reporting.

This is a breaking news post and will be updated

JD Vance was captured on his phone after he emerged from the West Wing of the White House following a meeting with the National Security Council in the Situation Room.

Vance was pictured on Tuesday after he broke his silence about the military strikes on Iran, bracing supporters of President Donald Trump for possible American military action in the conflict.

The vice president weighed in as supporters of the MAGA movement raged against each other over Israel’s bombing campaign, as some suggested the president had been duped by ‘deep state’ operatives in the intelligence agencies to start a war in the Middle East and betraying his ‘American first’ agenda.

Vance appeared aware of the raging online debate, citing ‘a lot of crazy stuff on social media’ and urged Trump supporters to trust the president.

Family members of British diplomatic staff in Israel have been ‘withdrawn’ as Iran and Israel continue to exchange fire.

Relatives of staff working at the UK embassy in Tel Aviv and consulate in Jerusalem were ‘temporarily withdrawn as a precautionary measure’, the Foreign Office said, adding that staff at the mission remain.

The UK Government continues to advise British nationals in Israel to follow the advice of local authorities and remain near shelter, Downing Street has said.

A Number 10 spokesman said:

This is a fast moving situation. We are keeping all our advice under constant review and the FCDO (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) continues to plan for a variety of developments as you would expect.

The safety and security of British nationals is our top priority. Our key message to British nationals in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories is to follow the advice of local authorities on staying close to shelter.

The spokesman added that Foreign Office teams were present at the border with Jordan to help Britons with onward travel, but would not say that the Government was advising British nationals to leave Israel.

Multiple explosions were heard in the Iranian capital Tehran on Wednesday, AFP journalists said, with black smoke seen rising in the east.

The series of blasts was heard shortly before 3:30pm local time (1pm UK time), on the sixth day of the most intense exchange of fire between arch-foes Iran and Israel.

This is a breaking news post and will be updated

Multiple explosions were heard in the Iranian capital Tehran on Wednesday, AFP journalists said, with black smoke seen rising in the east.

The series of blasts was heard shortly before 3:30 pm (1200 GMT), on the sixth day of the most intense exchange of fire between arch-foes Iran and Israel.

Iranian police said on Wednesday they had arrested a suspect in Alborz Province after stopping a truck and seizing ‘several small suicide drones’.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) claimed earlier today to have seized 127kg of explosives in the Navvab area of Tehran.

Germany’s Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul on Wednesday called Iran to resume talks over its nuclear programme as the conflict between Israel and the Islamic republic raged.

Wadephul said he had delivered the message to his Iranian counterpart in a phone call on Monday together with the French and British foreign ministers and the European Union’s chief diplomat.

‘We, the E3 states, remain ready to negotiate a solution,’ Wadephul said, with reference to the European grouping of Britain, France and Germany.

‘Iran must now act urgently,’ he said, calling for ‘verifiable and confidence-building measures’, such as a commitment from the government in Tehran not to pursue nuclear weapons capabilities.

‘It is never too late to come to the negotiating table if you come with honest intentions,’ Wadephul said in a press conference alongside the Jordanian foreign minister.

Smoke and fire rise at an impacted facility site following a missile attack by Iran on Israel, at Haifa, Israel June 15, 2025

Iran’s supreme leader appeared in a televised broadcast on Wednesday to read a speech rejecting U.S. calls for surrender and threatening ‘irreparable damage’ should Washington try to intervene in the conflict.

Video was shared on state TV after a presenter initially read out the speech earlier today.

The message warned that any military involvement by the Americans would cause ‘irreparable damage’ to them, in an official statement read by a state TV anchor.

The remarks from Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has only been seen once since the strikes began, came after U.S. President Donald Trump demanded ‘UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER’ in a social media post and warned Khamenei that the U.S. knows where he is but has no plans to kill him, ‘at least not for now.’

Khamenei dismissed the ‘threatening and absurd statements’ by Trump.

Iranian state television (IRIB) broadcast a message from Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei to the nation, in Tehran, Iran, 18 June 2025

President Donald Trump’s emergency command aircraft was caught making a mysterious flight from Louisiana to a military base in Maryland on Tuesday.

The Boeing E-4 ‘Nightwatch’, also known as the ‘Doomsday plane,’ serves as a flying command post for key officials during times of crisis, particularly designed to survive a nuclear attack and coordinate military actions.

The craft took off from Shreveport at 5:56pm ET, traveled along the coast, looped around the border of Virginia and North Carolina, before landing at Joint Base Andrews at 10:01pm.

The flight lasted over four hours, sparking speculation online about its purpose.

Some observers believe the mission may be linked to increased presidential security amid rising fears of nuclear escalation in the Middle East.

Russia has warned that ‘we are millimetres away from catastrophe’ due to ongoing Israeli strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities.

‘Every day, several times a day, missile strikes are carried out on nuclear facilities of peaceful civilian infrastructure in Iran, which are under the control of IAEA observers who are there,’ Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova told reporters today.

‘We must now … understand that we are millimeters away from catastrophe.’

Iran’s ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva earlier slammed states for not condemning Israeli acts which he said exposed people to the risk of hazardous leaks.

‘The deliberate targeting of Iran’s nuclear facilities not only constitutes a grave violation of international law and U.N. Charter but also risks exposition of all people in our neighbourhood to possible hazardous leak,’ said Ali Bahreini, Iran’s ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva.

This is not an act of war against our country, it is war against humanity.’

Smoke rises in the direction of Khojir complex as the Israel-Iran air war continues, in Tehran, Iran June 18, 2025

Tehran’s streets are empty, with businesses closed and communications patchy at best.

With no bona fide bomb shelters open to the public, panicked masses spend restless nights on the floors of metro stations as strikes boom overhead.

No air raid sirens went off as Israeli strikes began pounding Tehran before dawn Friday. For many, it was an early sign civilians would have to go it alone.

On Monday U.S. President Donald Trump told the roughly 10 million people living in Iran’s capital to evacuate ‘immediately’, sparking fears of intensifying attacks.

So what is life like for residents?

The Associated Press interviewed five people in Iran over the phone. All spoke either on the condition of anonymity or only allowed their first names to be used, for fear of retribution from the state against them or their families.

Shirin, 49, who lives in the southern part of Tehran, said every call or text to friends and family in recent days has felt like it could be the last. ‘We don’t know if tomorrow we will be alive,’ she said.

One student, a refugee from another country, said she spent 12 hours in the station with her relatives.

Everyone there was panicking because of the situation. Everyone doesn’t know what will happen next, if there is war in the future and what they should do. People think nowhere is safe for them.

A 29-year-old woman, who left the capital on Monday, has told how Iran’s leaders had failed to keep them safe.

It’s a kind of failing of the past that they didn’t build shelters. Even though we’ve been under the shadow of a war, as long as I can remember.

Israel’s foreign minister posted a letter on X on Wednesday that he said he has sent to the head of the UN Security Council and UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.

In the letter, Gideon Sa’ar argues that Israel had no choice but to attack Iran after ‘decades’ of what he called ‘clandestine acts of hostility’.

The letter, dated June 17, claims that Israel’s Operation Rising Lion was launched following ‘a critical development in Iran’s nuclear weapons programme and aimed also at thwarting the imminent threat of additional Iranian missile and proxy attacks’.

Sa’ar claimed that Iran had ‘systematically’ deceived the international community and obstructed IAEA safeguards.

‘Rather than complying with its obligations,’ he wrote, ‘Iran responded with a further escalation by expanding its enrichment and other activities to obtain nuclear weapons.’

‘It is not merely rhetoric. Iran has a strategic plan to eliminate Israel, which includes concrete plans and actions to achieve this goal,’ he insisted.

The Natanz nuclear enrichment facility in central Iran on June 14, 2025 after it was hit by Israeli strikes

Israel claimed to have hit 1,100 Iranian targets over five days of conflict on Wednesday.

Military spokesperson Effie Defrin said at a news conference today that Israel was ‘operating systematically to neutralise the nuclear threat’.

‘The Air Force is operating freely in Iran – this is unprecedented,’ he said.

The military shared footage of what appeared to be an air strike in Iran.

The Israeli army, meanwhile, said in a post on X that the Air Force had struck ‘more than 40 missile infrastructures aimed at the State of Israel, missile storage sites, and military operatives of the Iranian regime’ this morning.

Vladimir Putin is eyeing the conflict between Israel and Iran as an opportunity to thrust himself to the forefront of the international stage, more than three years into his invasion of Ukraine.

The Russian president has pitched himself as a possible mediator – though Moscow’s closeness to Iran and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine raise doubts about what kind of role he can play, experts say.

The assault on Ukraine and the war in Gaza have strained Moscow’s traditionally good relations with Israel, home to a large Russian-born community.

At the same time, Russia has deepened military ties with Iran.

But while Moscow was quick to condemn Israel’s strikes on Iran last Friday, Putin also wasted little time phoning both Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian to offer his role as a peacemaker.

Nicole Grajewski, an analyst at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, said:

By positioning itself as an indispensable intermediary, Moscow aims to reassert diplomatic relevance despite its pariah status in Europe

Russia also wants to protect its ally Tehran, facing a potentially existential military clash.

She added:

Russia does not want to see regime change in Iran, especially if it results in a pro-Western government

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov has warned that direct U.S. military assistance to Israel could radically destabilise the situation in the Middle East.

Ryabkov was quoted by the Interfax news agency on Wednesday as saying that Russia cautions the U.S. against supplying such assistance to Israel – or even considering it.

He said Moscow was in contact with both Israel and Iran.

Iran’s president Masoud Pezeshkian has urged the country to remain united behind the regime following talks with his cabinet earlier today.

In remarks carried by the Tasnim news agency, Pezeshkian said:

If the people stand with us, no problem will endanger the country, and for this reason, it is essential that all actions aim to preserve national unity. I believe that with national cohesion and unity, we will overcome any crisis.

It comes as Iran’s exiled Crown Prince called on citizens to rise up and ‘reclaim’ their country.

Reza Pahlavi, son of the last Shah of Iran, said in a video statement on Tuesday: ‘The Islamic Republic has reached its end and is in the process of collapsing.’

Israel could look to topple the elusive nuclear facility ‘Fordow’ with a daring commando raid, a former researcher for Israel’s ministry of defence has suggested.

Ehud Eilam told the Wall Street Journal that Israel might turn back to more covert means to cripple the facility, built an estimated 80-90 metres underground.

Israel could otherwise carry out a cyberattack or targeted assassinations to weaken the site, believed to be out of reach for Israel’s bunker busters.

The alternative – without the support of heavy American bombers – would be to send a large number of smaller penetrator bombs to hack away at the reinforcements around the compound, Eilam suggested.

The Iranian Fars news agency reported yesterday that a cyberattack had disrupted Iran’s Bank Sepah. An Israeli-linked group later claimed responsibility.

Earlier this week, Israeli officials cryptically promised a ‘surprise’ on Thursday night similar to its pager attack on Hezbollah leadership, though it remains unclear what that might look like.

The Fordow nuclear facility in Iran, 14 June 2025

Iran will respond ‘strongly’ to any aggression from either Israel or Washington, Tehran’s ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva said Wednesday.

‘We will respond strongly and we will stop aggression from any side, be it Israel or the United States,’ Ali Bahreini told a press conference.

‘And we have given a message to the United States that we will respond very firmly and will stop the aggression by anybody – including the United States,’ he said.

Iran said early Wednesday that it fired hypersonic missiles at Israel in the latest round of overnight strikes between the arch foes.

Bahreini also criticised the attitude of Western and European nations.

‘When you look at the positions of different countries, Western countries, European countries, not only they are not condemning the attacks and aggression, they are trying to justify the aggression,’ he said.

Pictured: Israeli strikes on Tehran as hostilities continue to escalate

Israeli gunfire and strikes killed at least 30 people across the Gaza Strip on Wednesday, local health authorities said, as some Palestinians there said their plight was being forgotten as attention shifted to the air war between Israel and Iran.

The deaths included the latest in near daily killings of Palestinians seeking aid in the three weeks since Israel partially lifted a total blockade on Gaza that it had imposed for almost three months.

Medics said separate airstrikes on homes in the Maghazi refugee camp and Zeitoun neighbourhood in central and northern Gaza killed at least 14 people, while five others were killed in an airstrike on a tent encampment in Khan Younis in southern Gaza.

Eleven others were killed in Israeli fire at crowds of displaced Palestinians awaiting aid trucks brought in by the United Nations along the Salahuddin road in central Gaza, medics said.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said it was looking into the reported deaths of people waiting for food.

Palestinians children mourn over the body of their father, Mohammed Ghaben, who was killed while heading to an aid distribution hub, during his funeral in Gaza City, Wednesday, June 18, 2025

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei will speak in a televised address to be aired shortly, Iran’s state media reported on Wednesday.

Khamenei’s last appearance was on Friday shortly after Israel attacked Iran.

Israel and Iran have exchanged attacks for a sixth consecutive day as President Donald Trump considers whether to join the conflict by lending American support to Israel.

If you’re just joining us this morning, here’s what you need to know:

• U.S. officials have indicated that Iran has 24 to 48 hours to surrender and save itself from an American military onslaught as President Trump weighs up whether to join Israeli strikes
• Despite Trump’s threats, Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei supreme leader has vowed to show ‘no mercy’ against Israel
• The Iranian foreign ministry also warned American intervention in the Middle East would be ‘a recipe for all-out war in the region’
• It comes as thousands of people fled Tehran and other major Iranian cities as Iran and Israel launched new missile strikes at each other overnight.
• Israel has reported no-one has died as a result of the latest attacks which includes 10 missiles it intercepted early this morning
• The first aircraft carrying Israelis stranded abroad since the conflict broke out landed at Ben Gurion Airport today as citizens look to return to their homes
• The UN’s nuclear watchdog said two centrifuge production facilities – machines used to enrich uranium – in Iran had been hit in strikes

Stick with us throughout the day as we bring you the latest developments.

The Israeli military said on Wednesday that one of its drones had been downed while operating over Iran, the first such loss it has acknowledged since the start of hostilities last week.

An army statement said the drone had gone down in Iran after being hit by a surface-to-air missile.

‘No injuries were reported and there is no risk of an information breach,’ it added.

Iranian state television broadcast pictures of the wreckage of what it said was an armed Israeli Air Force Hermes drone in the central city of Isfahan.

The Israeli air force has been launching daily raids on Iran since last Friday, with the country targeting missile sites in particular along with other military and nuclear-related sites.

Military spokesman Effie Defrin insisted that Israel was ‘operating freely’ over Iran with air strikes that have involved ‘dozens of aircraft of various types.’

The Israeli military said on Monday it had achieved ‘total air superiority in the skies over Tehran’.

The UN’s nuclear watchdog said on Wednesday that two centrifuge production facilities in Iran had been hit in strikes.

A workshop in Karaj and the Tehran Research Centre were said to have been hit.

It was unclear when the strikes were carried out.

‘The IAEA has information that two centrifuge production facilities in Iran, the TESA Karaj workshop and the Tehran Research Center, were hit,’ the International Atomic Energy Agency said on social media this morning.

‘Both sites were previously under IAEA monitoring and verification as part of the JCPOA [nuclear deal abandoned by Trump in 2018].’

‘At the Tehran site, one building was hit where advanced centrifuge rotors were manufactured and tested,’ it added.

At Karaj, two buildings were said to have been destroyed where different centrifuge components were manufactured.

The Israeli military said today that its air force had struck a plant manufacturing centrifuges in Tehran for Iran’s nuclear programme

Some 50 jets were said to have attacked 20 targets, it added.

Iran’s nuclear chief, Mohammad Eslami, was quoted by the Iranian Fars news agency as saying earlier today that the country’s nuclear facilities remain in ‘good condition’.

‘The morale of our colleagues at the nuclear facilities is excellent and they are working hard,’ he said.

Israel has targeted multiple facilities, many of which are reinforced, heavily guarded or buried underground, since its initial strike on Friday.

A satellite image shows new vehicle tracks and dirt piles over underground centrifuge facility at the Natanz nuclear facility in Iran after airstrike in Iran in this handout image dated June 15, 2025

Family members of British staff at the embassy in Tel Aviv, Israel have been temporarily withdrawn, with the conflict showing no signs of abating.

Relatives of officials at the consulate in Jerusalem are also expected to leave.

Staff will continue their work at both the embassy and the consulate for the time being.

The U.S. has closed its embassy in Jerusalem until at least Friday, per the State Department.

Israel said that it had intercepted 10 missiles into Wednesday as Iran’s retaliatory barrages diminish.

An anti-missile system operates as missiles are launched from Iran, as seen from Tel Aviv, Israel, June 18, 2025

Israel and Iran exchanged fire again on June 17, the fifth day of strikes in their most intense confrontation in history, fuelling fears of a drawn-out conflict that could engulf the Middle East.

American jets have already been used to shoot down drones and projectiles headed towards Israel, U.S. officials told Reuters.

The U.S. military is deploying more fighter aircraft to the Middle East and extending the deployment of other warplanes as part of efforts to bolster U.S. military forces in the region, three officials said.

One of the officials said the deployments include F-16, F-22 and F-35 fighter aircraft.

Two stressed the defensive nature of the deployment of fighter aircraft, which have been used to shoot down drones and projectiles.

The Pentagon did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The aircraft carrier USS Nimitz (CVN 68) conducting flight operations in the South China Sea, on May 28, 2025

A F-35 A Lightning II generation US-made jet fighter takes off during the first day of the 55th edition of the International Paris Air Show at the Paris-Le Bourget Airport near Paris, France, 16 June 2025

Almost 800 Chinese nationals have been evacuated from Iran since Israel launched military strikes against the country last week, Beijing said today.

Speaking at a news conference, foreign ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun said:

“Currently… 791 Chinese nationals have been relocated from Iran to safe areas. More than 1,000 other people are in the process of relocating and withdrawing.

Guo added some Chinese citizens have also safely evacuated from Israel.

Chinese President Xi Jinping said China opposes any actions that infringe upon the sovereignity and security of other nations in his first public remarks on the conflict on Tuesday during a summit with five Central Asian nations in the Kazakh capital of Astana

‘All parties should work to de-escalate the conflict as soon as possible and prevent the situation from worsening further,’ Xi said, in comments quoted by Chinese state broadcaster CCTV.

Iran’s ambassador told the U.N. Human Rights Council on Wednesday that Israeli attacks represented an act of ‘war against humanity’ and slammed states for not condemning the acts which he said exposed people to the risk of hazardous leaks.

‘The deliberate targeting of Iran’s nuclear facilities not only constitutes a grave violation of international law and U.N. Charter but also risks exposition of all people in our neighbourhood to possible hazardous leak,’ said Ali Bahreini, Iran’s ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva.

This is not an act of war against our country, it is war against humanity.’

He criticised the failure of states to condemn Israel’s attacks.

‘We are hearing almost nothing from those self-proclaimed champions of human rights,’ he said.

No people were reported to have been killed or injured by Iranian strikes in Israel overnight as the two sides continued to exchange missiles.

Israel said that it had intercepted 10 missiles into Wednesday as Iran’s retaliatory barrages diminish.

It says that Iran has fired an estimated 400 ballistic missiles since Israel first attacked on Friday.

The strikes have killed at least 24 people in Israel and wounded hundreds.

Some Palestinian citizens of Israel – who represent around 21 per cent of the population – described being shut out of bomb shelters by neighbours and fellow citizens.

Samar al-Rashed, a 29-year-old single mother, told Al Jazeera she was racing for shelter with her five-year-old daughter on Friday when an Israeli resident stopped her.

I was stunned,’ she said. ‘I speak Hebrew fluently. I tried to explain. But he looked at me with contempt and just said, “Not for you.”‘

The other way, the latest Israeli strikes hit a facility used to make uranium centrifuges and another that made missile components, the Israeli military said.

Iran has not been publishing regular death tolls during the conflict and has minimised casualties in the past.

Its last update, issued Monday, put the death toll at 224 people killed and 1,277 others wounded.

A Washington-based Iranian human rights group said that at least 585 people, including 239 civilians, have been killed and more than 1,300 wounded since the crisis began.

American intervention in the Middle East would be ‘a recipe for all-out war in the region’, a spokesperson for the Iranian foreign ministry cautioned on Wednesday.

Speaking to Al Jazeera, Esmail Baghaei said he did not believe the U.S. was capable of controlling Israel.

Ali Bahreini, the ambassador of the Islamic Republic of Iran to the United Nations in Geneva, told reporters meanwhile that he saw the U.S. as ‘complicit in what Israel is doing.’

The U.S. has so far only taken indirect actions in the current conflict with Iran, including helping to shoot down missiles fired toward Israel.

It is deploying more fighter aircraft to the Middle East and extending the deployment of other warplanes, three U.S. officials told Reuters.

Israel launched its air war, its largest ever on Iran, on Friday after saying it had concluded the Islamic Republic was on the verge of developing a nuclear weapon.

Iran maintains its nuclear programme is peaceful.

Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei vowed on Wednesday that his country would show no mercy towards Israel’s rulers, hours after US President Donald Trump demanded Tehran’s ‘unconditional surrender’.

‘We must give a strong response to the terrorist Zionist regime. We will show the Zionists no mercy,’ Khamenei posted on X.

On Tuesday, Trump demanded the Islamic republic’s “unconditional surrender” and boasted that the United States could easily assassinate Khamenei

Iran’s president Masoud Pezeshkian has chaired a meeting of his cabinet at the presidential palace in Tehran this morning.

Photographs shared by the Tasnim news agency shows First Vice President Mohammad Reza Aref among other senior Iranian politicians and officials.

The meeting comes as U.S officials indicate Iran has 24 to 48 hours to surrender and save itself from an American military onslaught as President Donald Trump considers joining Israel ‘s war.

Iran’s exiled Crown Prince called on citizens to rise up and ‘reclaim’ their country as questions mounted over the future of the regime in Iran.

Reza Pahlavi, son of the last Shah of Iran, said in a video statement on Tuesday: ‘The Islamic Republic has reached its end and is in the process of collapsing.’

‘Khamenei, like a frightened rat, has gone into hiding underground and has lost control of the situation.’

‘What has begun is irreversible. The future is bright, and together, we will pass through this sharp turn in history.’

The Iranian regime came to power in the 1979 Iranian Revolution as Pahlavi’s father, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, was overthrown.

The Shah, in kind, had cemented his power after a 1953 coup led by the Iranian army and backed by the U.S. and U.K. that overthrew then-prime minister Mohammad Mosaddegh.

The IDF has this morning claimed the Israeli Air Force has intercepted 10 drones launched from Iran.

In two posts on its X page, the IDF said alerts were activated following the ‘intrusion of hostile aircraft’ in the Golan area before three drones were intercepted between 9.04am and 9.19am local time.

It then followed up with another post to say seven unmanned aerial vehicles launched from Iran were picked up before crossing into Israeli territory between 9.57am and 10.17am.

Iran vowed to defend its people against Israeli aggression on Wednesday as the conflict entered its sixth day.

Ali Bahreini, the ambassador of the Islamic Republic of Iran to the United Nations in Geneva, said on Wednesday that Israel had blindly targeted populated areas without warning since launching its surprise attack last Friday.

He insisted that Israel had committed an act of aggression, attacking the country without cause.

Iravani said that Tehran, in turn, would show ‘no reluctance in defending our people, security and land’, adding that Iran would respond ‘seriously and strongly’ and ‘without restraint’.

The comments came as the Israeli military said it had begun another wave of attacks in the Tehran area. Many thousands of people have been displaced from their homes since the crisis erupted.

A woman weeps after receiving a message that a relative of hers has been killed in Iran in Israeli strikes, in Iraq’s city Muslim Shiite holy city of Karbala, on June 17, 2025.

Despite Israel’s early success, questions have already arisen over whether the Jewish state is capable of reaching its targets as described by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Speaking on Monday, Netanyahu said Israel was ‘pursuing three main objectives’ in Iran: ‘The elimination of the nuclear programme, the elimination of ballistic missile production capability, and the elimination of the axis of terrorism.’

‘Without active US military participation, Israel’s operational ceiling remains constrained,’ said Dr Andreas Krieg, an expert in Middle East security and senior lecturer at King’s College London’s School of Security Studies, told MailOnline.

‘Destroying Iran’s deeply fortified sites like Fordow or Isfahan requires bunker-busting capabilities that only the United States currently possesses. Israel cannot ensure the decisive elimination of Iran’s enrichment capability without them.’

Krieg also claimed that continued attacks by Israel may have the opposite of their intended effect. Read more below:

Oil prices slipped Wednesday following the previous day’s surge but investors remained on edge fearing a US intervention in the Israel-Iran conflict after Donald Trump called for Tehran’s ‘unconditional surrender’.

The comments sent oil prices spiking more than four percent Tuesday on fears an escalation of the conflict could hammer supplies from the crude-rich region.

But while both main contracts slipped Wednesday, investors remain on edge over any negative developments.

Of particular concern is the possibility of Iran shutting off the Strait of Hormuz, through which around an estimated fifth of global oil supply traverses, according to a Commerzbank note.

‘Iran is reportedly ready to target US regional bases should Trump greenlight strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities,’ said Stephen Innes at SPI Asset Management.

‘Washington’s refuelling jets are already en route, and if Fordow gets hit, expect the Strait of Hormuz to become a maritime minefield, Houthi drones to swarm Red Sea shipping lanes, and every militia from Basra to Damascus to light up American forward outposts.’

Equity markets Hong Kong, Singapore, Sydney, Mumbai, Wellington, Manila and Jakarta all sank, though Tokyo, Seoul, Taipei and Bangkok edged up.

London edged up at the open even as data showed UK inflation slowed less than expected in May.

Five people suspected of being Mossad agents have been detained on charges of tarnishing the Iran’s image online, Iranian news agencies have reported.

The suspects were arrested in western Iran.

‘These mercenaries sought to sow fear among the public and tarnish the image of the sacred system of the Islamic Republic of Iran through their calculated activities online,’ the Tasnim and ISNA news agencies quoted a statement from the Revolutionary Guards as saying.

It has previously been reported Iran has arrested dozens of people on suspicion of spying as fears grow in the Islamic Republic over the extent of its infiltration by Israel’s intelligence service.

CNN reported 28 people in Tehran have been arrested and accused of spying for Israel since Israeli strikes began on Friday.

On Monday, one man arrested on that charge two years ago was hanged.

Thousands of people were fleeing Tehran and other major cities, Iranian media reported, as Iran and Israel launched new missile strikes at each other overnight.

The Israeli military said two barrages of Iranian missiles were launched toward Israel in the first two hours of Wednesday morning. Explosions were heard over Tel Aviv.

Israel told residents in a southwestern area of Tehran to evacuate so its air force could strike Iranian military installations.

Thousands of people were fleeing the capital and major cities, with heavy traffic congesting roads and some routes suspended, Iranian media reported.

Israel issued its first evacuation order for parts of the capital – a city of almost 10 million people – on Monday.

Some Iranians had already made the difficult decision to leave before Israel issued its first evacuation order.

‘I packed up keepsakes from loved ones and necessities, watered my plants, and hit the road. Leaving home is unbearably hard when you don’t know if you’ll ever return,’ one resident posted on social media.

Tehran has been pounded by Israeli strikes since the burgeoning crisis erupted on Friday.

Iran’s semi-official Mehr news agency reported clashes early today between security forces and unidentified gunmen in the city of Rey, south of Tehran.

It added the assailants may be linked to Israel and intended to carry out ‘terrorist operations in densely populated areas of the capital’.

Smoke from an explosion billows in the sky following an explosion from Israeli airstrikes in Tehran, on June 17, 2025

Israel is running low on defensive ‘Arrow’ missile interceptors, the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday, citing an unnamed U.S. official.

The official said that the U.S. has been aware of the capacity problem for months and trying to bolster Israel’s defences with systems on the ground, at sea and in the air.

Israel relies on the Iron Dome, David’s Sling and Arrow systems to counter incoming missiles.

The top-tier Arrow missile system has the best range of the three, capable of intercepting projectiles as far as 2,400km (1,491 miles) away.

A lack of Arrows would significantly hamper the country’s ability to counter long-range ballistic missiles from Iran.

U.S. officials have indicated that the next 24 to 48 hours will be critical in determining whether Washington and Tehran can find a diplomatic solution to the burgeoning crisis in the Middle East.

As Trump met with advisors in the White House Situation Room on Tuesday, insiders told ABC News that the President has grown frustrated by Iran’s response.

The President will also not want the situation to develop to a point where it appears Iran has called his bluff, the outlet reports.

The U.S. officially maintains that it is still in a ‘defensive’ position, despite a flurry of activity from the military moving ships and planes to the frontiers of the region.

But American commanders have now put troops on high alert throughout the region, with no clear signs of the conflict abating.

The Iron Dome, the Israeli air defense system, intercepts missiles fired from Iran, over Tel Aviv, Israel, 17 June 2025

Four U.S. B-52 Stratofortress bombers are now stationed at the Diego Garcia base in the Indian Ocean, within striking distance of Iran.

They join six B-2 stealth bombers that flew into the base as tensions over nuclear talks with Iran began to mount in April.

There are about 3,500 miles between the base and Iran, but the U.S. has this week begun moving more refueling planes east, apparently anticipating a potential conflict.

US Air Force tankers were deployed across the Atlantic on Sunday en route to the region.

Crucially, bombers would be able to deliver bunker busters like the Massive Ordnance Penetrator (GBU-57), capable of penetrating up to 200ft and putting Iran’s remaining nuclear sites in jeopardy.

While the U.S. has massively scaled back its forces in the region, there are still an estimated 46,000 active personnel across the Middle East.

The U.S. also has military facilities across at least nineteen sites, eight of them considered permanent.

A first aircraft carrying Israelis stranded abroad since the conflict broke out landed at Ben Gurion Airport on Wednesday, the airports authority said.

‘Just a short while ago, the first flight of Operation Safe Return landed at Ben Gurion Airport,’ a statement for Ben Gurion said, adding that the flight had been operated by national carrier El Al and brought Israelis home from Larnaca in Cyprus.

Between 100,000 and 150,000 Israelis have been stuck overseas since Friday due to cancellations as Israel and Iran continue to trade blows, Transport Minister Miri Regev said on Tuesday.

The ministry said all of Israel’s commercial aircraft had been sent abroad to prevent them during the air war with Iran.

After suspending flights last week, El Al said it was ‘preparing rescue flight’ starting Wednesday with planes departing from Larnaca, Athens, Rome, Milan and Paris.

A flight status display shows cancelled flights in the departure terminal at Ben Gurion Airport near Tel Aviv, Israel, 16 June 2025

Tucker Carlson humiliated Republican senator Ted Cruz during an intense grilling over Iran in which he sensationally claimed America is ‘carrying out military strikes.’

Former Fox firebrand Carlson has shared a snippet of his sit-down with Cruz, who has been calling for Trump to help Israel overthrow the Iranian regime in what would be a significant escalation in the ongoing conflict.

The Iranian embassy in Sierra Leone has hit out at US President Donald Trump for his post claiming the United States knows where Ayatollah Khamenei is hiding out, and suggesting forces may ‘take him out.’

‘This is what world politics have stooped to! Trump is now openly threatening to assassinate Ayatollah #Khamenei, the head of state of a sovereign nation, on social media,’ the embassy lamented.

‘Apparently there’s just no limit to the political shamelessness of these western so-called “leaders.”‘

Crude oil prices ended the day Tuesday up more than 4 percent amid the war in Iran and continued to tick up in premarket trading on Wednesday.

Brent crude futures rose 19 cents, or 0.25%, to $76.64 a barrel by 0029 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures rose 23 cents, or 0.31%, to $75.07 per barrel, Reuters reports.

Iran is OPEC’s third-largest producer, extracting about 3.3 million barrels per day of crude oill.

But analysts say other members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries could use their spare capacity to make up for a drop in Iranian output

Israeli forces struck a centrifuge production site and several weapon production facilities, it announced early Wednesday.

‘More than 50 Air Force fighter jets, under precise intelligence guidance from the Intelligence Branch, have completed a series of strikes on military targets in the Tehran area in recent hours,’ the Israel Defense Forces said.

The IDF has said that the weapon production facilities that were struck Tuesday night included a site for the production of raw materials and components to build surface-to-surface missiles, as well as facilities for making systems and components for surface-to-air missiles designed to hit aircrafts.

It also said the centrifuge production site was being used by Iranian offiicals to expand the scope and pace of enriching uranium to build nuclear weapons.

By attacking the site, Israel hoped to set back Iran’s ‘nuclear weapons development program,’ despite the country’s officials claiming that its nuclear program is solely for energy use.

The CEOs of TotalEnergies, Shll and EnQuest have warned that further attacks on critical energy infrastructure could have serious consquences for global supply and price.

Oil and gas facilities have been hit in both countries in recent days, although key energy infrastructure and crude flows have thus far been spared in the airstrikes.

‘How we navigate over the coming days and weeks, the situation is something that is particularly top of mind for myself, and the leadership team,’ Shell CEO Wael Sawa told CNBC.

A pro-Israel hacker group called Predatory Sparrow has taken responsibility for Iranian ATMs not working.

The group bragged on X and Telegram that it had deleted key files from Bank Sepah after locals reported their ATMs were not functional on Tuesday.

It is unclear whether the hacktivists are associated with the Israeli military.

The Iranian president and the crown prince of the United Arab Emirates, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahya, spoke over the phone on Tuesday, according to the Times of Israel.

In the UAE, state-run media reports that the crown prince ‘expressed the UAE’s solidarity with Iran and its people during these challenging times.’

He also reportedly ’emphasized that the UAE continues to engage in intensive consultations with all concerned parties to help de-escalate tensions and support efforts to restore security and stability in the region.’

A human rights group has reported that Israeli strikes have killed at least 585 people across Iran and wounded 1,326 others.

Washington-based Human Rights Activists says it identified 239 of the dead as civilians and 126 as security personnel.

Iran is reportedly drawing up plans to strike US bases.

Officials who spoke to the New York Times claimed that the country would attack U.S. bases in the Middle East, starting with those in Iraq, if the United States joined Israel’s war.

Iran would also target any American bases that are in Arab countries and take part in an attack, the two officials said.

Chinese President Xi Jinping spoke out for the first time about the war between Israel and Iran, saying he was ‘deeply concerned’ about Israel’s ‘military action,’ the New York Times reports.

He noted that his country was willing to mediate an end to the fighting, and said China opposes any infringement on the ‘sovereignty, security and territorial integrity of other countries.’

‘Even attacks not directly targeting the US could have indirect effects and cause disruptions to companies in the US,’ Information Sharing and Analytics Centers said in a joint letter

In an X post on Tuesday night, Khamenei shared a disturbing image showing balls of fire raining down on an ancient city.

‘In the name of the noble Haidar, the battle begins,’ he wrote in Farsi, referring to Ali – whom Shia Muslims consider the first Imam and the rightful successor to the prophet Mohammed.

An Iranian missile or shrapnel appears to have fallen in a parking lot in central Israel, according to reports.

Israel’s Channel 12 reported that the incident set 20 cars ablaze, and fire crews are trying to put out the fire.

Images shared on social media claim to show the vehicles on fire.

Despite Trump’s threats, the Iranian supreme leader reiterates that Iran will harshly retaliate against Israel’s attacks.

‘We must give a strong response to the terrorist Zionist regime,’ Ayatollah Ali Khamenei wrote in English on X.

‘We will show the Zionists no mercy.’

A tunnel opening at an Iranian missile base near Tabriz before and after Israeli strikes

Buildings at an Iranian missile base near Tabriz before and after Israeli strikes

By Geoff Earle, Deputy U.S. Political Editor

Isreal’s ambassador to the U.S. Michael Leiter spoke to the circumstances of Ayatollah Khamenei, hours after Trump called him an ‘easy target’ but said the US was not going to ‘take him out’ or kill him.

On Friday he ‘looks over his left shoulder for his nuclear scientists and found none,’ he said of Iran’s supreme leader. ‘Then he looked over his right shoulder for his generals on the IRGC … he didn’t see any of them either,’ he told CNN hours after President Trump met with his security team.

He said Khamenei was ‘kind of alone right now.’

‘He appointed a new chief of staff, he lasted about four days. So the Ayatollah may be many stories underground right now in hiding,’ he said. ‘That’s where he belongs.’

The IDF has said the IAF is currently conducting a series of strikes in the area of Tehran.

Rocket trails are seen in the sky above the Israeli coastal city of Netanya amid a fresh barrage of Iranian missile attacks on June 17, 2025

Missiles launched from Iran are intercepted as seen from the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, June 18

Rocket trails are seen in the sky above the Israeli coastal city of Netanya amid a fresh barrage of Iranian missile attacks on June 17, 2025

A missile launched from Iran towards Israel is seen from Ramallah, Israeli-occupied West Bank, June 18, 2025

Israel’s ‘Iron Dome’ air defense system responds to incoming Iranian ballistic missiles as seen from Tel Aviv, Israel on June 18

An Iranian missile or shrapnel appears to have fallen in a parking lot in central Israel.

Israel’s Channel 12 reported that the incident set 20 cars ablaze, and fire crews are trying to put out the fire.

The US embassy in Jerusalem will be shut from Wednesday until at least Friday due to the security situation in the region, the State Department said.

‘Given the security situation and in compliance with Israel Home Front Command guidance, the US Embassy in Jerusalem will be closed tomorrow (Wednesday, June 18) through Friday (June 20),’ the State Department said on X.

‘This includes the consular sections in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv.’

The Israeli military says people should leave an industrial area of the Iranian capital known as District 18, near Mehrabad Airport.

‘In the coming hours, the [Israeli] military will operate in the area as it has in the past days in areas of Tehran to attack military infrastructure belonging to the regime,’ an Israeli army spokesperson said.

Iranian state television on Tuesday afternoon urged the country’s public to remove the messaging platform WhatsApp from their smartphones, alleging the app – without offering specific evidence – gathered user information to send to Israel.

In a statement, WhatsApp said it was ‘concerned these false reports will be an excuse for our services to be blocked at a time when people need them the most.’

WhatsApp uses end-to-end encryption, meaning a service provider in the middle can’t read a message.

‘We do not track your precise location, we don’t keep logs of who everyone is messaging and we do not track the personal messages people are sending one another,’ it added. ‘We do not provide bulk information to any government.’

Explosions have just been heard in Tehran and in the nearby city of Karaj, west of the Iranian capital, according to Iranian news websites cited by Reuters.

The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) says that the latest barrage of Iranian missiles appears to be over, and residents can leave bomb shelters.

In his first statement since Trump’s threat to assassinate him, Ali Khamenei writes on X: ‘In the name of the noble Haidar, the battle begins.’

Haidar is an alternative name for Imam Ali, the fourth Muslim caliph and a revered figure in Shia Islam.

The war has been raging since Friday morning, so it is not clear what the Iranian leader means with his comment, and whether it signals the start of more intense Iranian attacks.

US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke on the phone ahead of Trump’s Situation Room meeting, according to an Israeli source familiar with the matter.

Moments ago, explosions could be seen above Tel Aviv, Israel.

Israel’s Iron Dome rockets shot into the sky to intercept missiles fired from Iran.

Iranian state TV has warned of ‘a surprise tonight that the world will remember for centuries.’

It comes as Israel and Iran have both launched fresh strikes against each other as the fifth day of conflict between the arch foes rages on.

A short while ago, sirens sounded in several areas across Israel following the identification of missiles launched from Iran toward the State of Israel, according to the IDF.

The public is requested to follow the instructions of the Home Front Command.

The IAF is reportedly operating to intercept and strike where necessary to eliminate the threat.

The military added it is essential for the public to continue following the instructions of the Home Front Command.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards says it is attacking Israeli air bases used to strike Iranian territory, according to the Quds News Network.

‘These strikes will continue in a sequential, complex, multi-layered and gradual manner,’ it says.

Iranian security forces on Tuesday arrested a ‘terrorist team’ linked to Israel with explosives in a town southwest of the capital Tehran, Iranian state media reported.

Iran is preparing missiles to strike US bases in the Middle East if Donald Trump joins in its war with Israel, it has been reported.

The New York Times says US officials have reviewed intelligence reports that indicate Tehran and its proxies in Yemen, Syria and Iraq are getting ready to retaliate.

Bases in the region – including in the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Jordan – are on high alert, the newspaper said.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz on Tuesday expressed strong support for Israel in its military campaign against Iran as he spoke with German media on the sidelines of the G7 summit in Canada.

‘This is the dirty work Israel is doing for all of us,’ Merz said in an interview with the ZDF broadcaster.

‘We are also victims of this regime. This mullah regime has brought death and destruction to the world,’ he said.

In a separate interview with Welt TV, Merz also suggested Israel’s attacks on Iran could lead to the demise of the Islamic republic’s leadership.

‘I assume that the attacks of the last few days have already weakened the mullah regime considerably and that it is unlikely to return to its former strength, making the future of the country uncertain,’ Merz said.

‘To be honest, I can hardly imagine the mullah regime returning to its old functions,” he added.

‘Large parts of the military leadership and the so-called Revolutionary Guards are no longer alive, so things will not be the same as they were.’

Asked whether he thought the United States might get involved in the military campaign against Iran, Merz said he believed there was ‘no decision yet from the American government’.

‘It now depends very much on how far the mullah regime is prepared to return to the negotiating table,’ he said. ‘If not, there could be further developments of this kind.’

Pictured: German Chancellor Friedrich Merz gives a statement at the end of the Group of Seven (G7) Summit at the Pomeroy Kananaskis Mountain Lodge in Kananaskis, Alberta, Canada on June 17, 2025.

A member of Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthi movement said on Al Jazeera Mubasher TV on Tuesday that the group will intervene to support Iran against Israel like it did in support of Palestinians in Gaza.

Mohammed al-Bukhaiti, a member of the Houthi movement’s political bureau, also reiterated to Al Jazeera Mubasher TV that the group is coordinating with Tehran during its ongoing military escalation with Israel.

The Houthis, which have been launching attacks against Israel in support of Palestinians in Gaza, said on Sunday that they targeted Israel in coordination with Iran, the first time an Iran-aligned group has publicly announced joint cooperation on attacks with Tehran.

State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce said: ‘The president has made it clear that if Americans are hurt, or, in this case, a missile [is] shot at civilians or American soldiers, that there would be a repercussion.’

US President Donald Trump is considering joining Israel to strike Iranian nuclear sites, including in Fordow, sources familiar with the issue are quoted as saying by CBS.

They say this was expected to be discussed in today’s meeting in the Situation Room, adding that there is not a full agreement among Trump’s closest advisers.

The Washington Post reports, citing an unnamed source, that Israel may maintain its missile defence for 10 to 20 days only without new supplies of interceptors from the US.

‘They will need to select what they want to intercept,’ the source said. ‘The system is already overwhelmed.’

By Nikki Schwab, Chief Campaign Correspondent at the White House

President Donald Trump wrapped up his meeting in the Situation Room before 4 p.m. Tuesday.

The White House said the meeting lasted about an hour and 20 minutes.

The president was meeting with the National Security Council after rushing back from the G7 Summit in Canada amid turmoil in the Middle East.

Reza Pahlavi, the son of the U.S.-backed Shah who was driven from power during the 1979 Iranian revolution, has posted that the Khamenei government is ‘collapsing.’

The U.S.-educated Pahlavi posted online that ‘The Islamic Republic has reached its end and is in the process of collapsing’ and compared Ayatollah Ali Khamenei to a ‘frightened rat’ in hiding.

‘Do not fear the day after the fall of the Islamic Republic. Iran will not descend into civil war or instability. We have a plan for Iran’s future and its flourishing. We are prepared for the first hundred days after the fall, for the transitional period, and for the establishment of a national and democratic government—by the Iranian people and for the Iranian people,’ he wrote on X.

Watch his intervention below:

Amid growing civilian death tolls and air shutdowns in Israel and Iran, the State Department said it has set up a Middle East task force to coordinate support for US citizens.

It also will assist missions and personnel as Israel and Iran trade rocket fire and Israel continues its bombing campaign.

State spokeswoman Tammy Bruce said the task force would provided needed information to Americans.

State Department spokesman Tammy Bruce amplified President Trump’s warning for Iran not to harm U.S. forces.

She told reporters the U.S. was not part of the ‘initiation’ of the fight.

She read directly from his Tuesday online Truth Social post that ‘we don’t want missiles shot in civilians or American soldiers. Our patience is wearing thin. Thank you for your attention to this matter.’

Bruce added, ‘What he has made clear is that we were not a part of the initiation of this, certainly. We’re not a part of Israel’s attacks on Iran that that I think, was made very plain and clear, that if Americans are hurt, or, in this case, a missile shot at civilians or American soldiers, that there would be a repercussion

By Nikki Schwab, Chief Campaign Correspondent at the White House

A U.S. Marine was captured standing outside the West Wing around 2 p.m. Tuesday, the signal that President Donald Trump was down from the White House residence and at work.

The White House confirmed that the president’s meeting in the Situation Room with the National Security Council had started a little while later.

Trump rushed back Monday from the G7 Summit in Canada to deal with the tense situation in the Middle East, after Israel started bombing Iran overnight Thursday.

Now Trump must decide if the U.S. wants to join in the fight or continue seeking a diplomatic solution to keep Iran from developing a nuclear bomb.

The president arrived back in Washington, D.C. early Tuesday morning after leaving the G7 Summit a full day early, skipping planned meetings with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo.

By Geoff Earle, Deputy U.S. Political Editor

State Department Spokeswoman Tammy Bruce read from President Donald Trump’s online posts at a briefing while Trump huddled with top advisors in the situation room.

She was pressed on whether Trump was taking more ‘ownership’ over the clash between Israel and Iran, following Trump’s online statement that ‘we have control over the skies’ of Iran, while threatening Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

‘We know that he is our lead. We know that he is the guiding hand. We know that he is one of a few who know all the details, and he is clearly has a mission and an agenda that [involves] diplomacy and changing the world for the better for people,’ she said.

‘He’s making comments that are a reflection of what matters to him,’ she said.

‘One of the things we have learned about President Trump, when he tweets, when he speaks the world watches, and it’s the most clear framework that we can learn of his approach,’ said Bruce.

Russia’s Foreign Ministry on Tuesday denounced continued Israeli attacks on Iran as illegal and said a solution to the conflict over Tehran’s nuclear programme could only be found through diplomacy.

A ministry statement posted on Telegram noted Iran’s ‘clear statements’ on its commitment to adhere to the nuclear non-proliferation treaty and its willingness to meet with U.S. representatives.

The statement also said Moscow was waiting for the International Atomic Energy Agency to provide ‘unvarnished’ assessments of the damage caused to Iranian nuclear facilities by Israeli attacks.

Iran arrested on Tuesday a foreigner for filming ‘sensitive’ areas near the country’s Bushehr nuclear power plant for Israel, Iranian media reported.

The Iranian website eghtesadonline said the unnamed foreigner, whose nationality was not disclosed, resided illegally and filmed the power plant for Israel’s spy agency Mossad.

The Czech Republic and Slovakia have taken 181 people home on government planes from Israel following its conflict with Iran, authorities said on Tuesday.

The two countries are among the first to send evacuation planes to the Middle East since Israel closed its air space Friday after conducting strikes on Iran.

A Czech government plane carrying 66 people landed in Prague on Tuesday morning, while two Slovak planes have taken 115 evacuees to Bratislava over the past two days.

‘I am glad they are all OK. The transport was really demanding in the difficult environment,’ Czech Defence Minister Jana Cernochova said about the Czech flight on X.

The defence ministry said most of them were Czech nationals.

‘It was not possible to send the army plane straight to Israel,” the ministry said in a statement, citing the air space closure.

‘The evacuees were taken to an airport in a neighbouring country by buses. They crossed the border on foot.’

Czech media said a convoy with the evacuees had left Tel Aviv on Monday morning and boarded the plane in Sharm El Sheikh in Egypt.

A Slovak government plane with 73 passengers – mostly Slovaks, but also Poles, Czechs, Austrians, Slovenians and others – landed in Bratislava on Monday before 1700 GMT, said Foreign Minister Juraj Blanar.

Another Slovak plane brought 42 passengers of multiple nationalities to Bratislava from Larnaca, Cyprus on Tuesday.

Both Prague and Bratislava are contemplating sending further planes to the Middle East in the coming days.

This image shows the Commander of the Israeli Air Force, Maj. Gen. Tomer Bar, breifing pilots

Donald Trump has entered the White House Situation Room as he prepares to make the biggest decision of his presidency – whether to engage U.S. forces in Israel’s war with Iran.

Before meeting with his generals Trump issued a chilling death threat to Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, revealing the U.S. knows his precise location and that he is an ‘easy target.’

Trump’s stunning declaration came as it emerged four U.S. B-52 Stratofortress bombers are currently stationed at the Diego Garcia base in the Indian Ocean, within striking distance of Iran.

French President Emmanuel Macron said on Tuesday he was against military action against Iran that could lead to regime change and potential chaos, calling for a ceasefire with a return to negotiations over its nuclear programme.

Speaking to reporters, Macron said U.S. President Donald Trump appeared to have changed his opinion since he met G7 leaders in Canada on Monday where Macron claimed Trump was pushing for a ceasefire.

‘We don’t want Iran to get a nuclear weapon,’ Macron said. ‘But the biggest error would be to use military strikes to change the regime because it would then be chaos.’

Iran has launched more missiles towards Israel, the Israel Defence Forces says.

‘Defence systems are working to intercept the threat,’ it added.

The public have been instructed to shelter, Israeli authorites added.

Sirens are going off in different parts of the country, primarily in the north and Haifa. The public has been instructed to seek shelter.

Images appear to show fires in Tehran after an Israeli strike this evening.

In the pictures, shared on social media, explosions can be seen as thick black smoke rises into the air.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is the ‘greatest threat’ to security in the Middle East, Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said today, according to a social media post from the Turkish Presidency.

At least 2,725 people in Israel have been evacuated from their homes since the latest conflict with Iran began last week, according to Israel’s Government Press Office (GPO).

As of Tuesday, the death toll in Israel remains at 24, but more than 647 people are injured, with at least 10 in serious condition, the government said.

Iran and Israel are in their fifth day of tit-for-tat strikes. At least 224 people have been killed in Iran since hostilities began on Friday, when Israel launched unprecedented strikes against Iran, targeting its nuclear program and military leaders.

The Israeli Air Force carried out a wave of strikes against 12 Iranian missile storage and launch sites, the military says.

The IDF published footage purportedly showing the identification of Iranian preparations to launch ballistic missiles at Israel, and a strike on the site.

Another video shows a strike on an Iranian air defense system at one of the sites.

Israel’s Home Front Command says a ban on gatherings and in-person educational activity will remain in place until at least Wednesday at 8pm (17:00 GMT).

These images show people singing songs after eating dinner at an underground parking lot amid ongoing Iranian ballistic missile attack threats across the country, in Tel Aviv, Israel, on June 17 2025.

Democrat Bernie Sanders has urged restraint from the US President amid mounting speculation of a US strike on Iran amid reports the American military is deploying more fighter aircraft to the Middle East.

The Constitution of the United States is very clear. There is no ambiguity,’ the Vermont senator said.

‘It is Congress that determines whether we go to war, not the president.

‘Trump must not take illegal military action against Iran.’

During the short press briefing IDF spokesperson Effie Defrin also said Israel ‘faces threats on many fronts’.

‘While we are working to remove threats from Iran, we are still fighting their proxy, Hamas, in Gaza,’ he added.

He says Hamas is still holding 53 hostages ‘in brutal conditions’.

‘We will not rest until they are returned home,’ the spokesperson said.

Israeli Defence Force spokesperson Effie Defrin has just held a media briefing.

‘We have struck deep, hitting Iran’s nuclear, ballistic and command capabilities,’ he says.

Defrin also confirmed that Israel killed another major Iranian security member overnight, Ali Shadmani.

‘The IDF eliminated Ali Shadmani, the regime’s wartime chief of general staff. Shadmani held the role for only four days before meeting the same fate as his predecessor,’ Defrin said.

Shadmani filled the position after his predecessor Gholamali Rashid was killed in an Israeli strike last week.

Jordan’s King Abdullah II warned in an address to the European Parliament that Israel’s ‘attacks’ on Iran threatened to dangerously escalate tensions in the ‘region and beyond’.

Abdullah said that ‘with Israel’s expansion of its offensive to include Iran, there is no telling where the boundaries of this battleground will end’.

‘And that, my friends, is a threat to people everywhere,’ he told lawmakers in Strasbourg.

Four US Stratofortress bombers are currently stationed at the Diego Garcia base in the Indian Ocean, according to an AFP analysis of satellite imagery, as the conflict between Israel and Iran extended to its fifth straight day.

The base, leased to the United States by Britain, is one of its key military facilities in the Asia-Pacific region, and was used as a hub for long-range bombers and ships during the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

The four B52H Stratofortresses, which can carry nuclear weapons or other precision-guided munitions, were spotted on a southern tarmac at Diego Garcia on Monday at 0922 GMT.

Images provided by Planet Labs indicate they arrived in mid-May.

A C-17 Globemaster III troop and cargo transport plane is also at the base, according to the AFP analysis, as well as six jets likely to be KC-135 airborne refuelling tanker.

Pictured: An overview of the US-UK Diego Garcia military base on the Chagos Archipelago in the Indian Ocean. Four heavy bombers were stationed there on June 16, according to an AFP analysis of satellite images

The UK Defence Secretary, John Healey, says the deteriorating situation in the Middle East is ‘a dangerous moment’ for the entire region, the BBC reports.

The government has always supported Israel’s right to security – and had grave concerns about Iran’s nuclear programme, he added.

But he calls on all sides to show restraint. Healey says a diplomatic resolution rather than military action was the only route to a lasting peace.

The foreign minister of the United Arab Emirates, Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed, has warned of ‘uncalculated and reckless steps’ that could spill out beyond the borders of Iran and Israel, according to a statement by the foreign ministry on Tuesday.

Pictured: United Arab Emirates Minister of Foreign Affairs Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan shakes hands with Israel’s Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar during a meeting in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates on January 7, 2025

IRNA reports that ‘continuous and intense’ explosions are heard in the Iranian capital.

Iran’s Armed Forces chief of staff says in a video message posted by Iranian outlets to the residents of Israel that ‘especially Tel Aviv and Haifa need to evacuate as soon as possible to save their lives’.

According to Iran’s Press TV, Seyyed Abdolrahim Mousavi, said: ‘The operations carried out so far have been a warning for deterrence – the punitive operation will be executed soon.’

Donald Trump is expected to hold a meeting with top national security advisers in the Situation Room, two US officials told NBC News.

Siscussions will focus on the conflict between Iran and Israel.

The Situation Room is the White House’s information and alert centre and is staffed 24 hours a day.

The Israeli military says the projectiles were launch from southern Gaza and fell in open areas.

According to Iran’s Press TV, Seyyed Abdolrahim Mousavi, chief of staff of the Iranian Armed Forces, said: ‘The operations carried out so far have been a warning for deterrence – the punitive operation will be executed soon.’

The US military is deploying more fighter aircraft to the Middle East and extending the deployment of other warplanes, three US officials have told Reuters.

The deployments include F-16, F-22 and F-35 fighter aircraft, one official said.

Two of the officials stressed the defensive nature of the deployment.

The US could deploy warships capable of shooting down ballistic missiles to the Eastern Mediterranean, a fourth official said.

The United States already has a sizeable force in the Middle East, with nearly 40,000 troops in the region, including air defense systems, fighter aircraft and warships that can detect and shoot down enemy missiles.

Sonald Trump has just made a third social media in quick succession, in which he says: ‘UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER!’

In the previous two, Trump had said ‘we now have complete and total control of the skies over Iran’, and claimed to know where the Iranian leader is, saying: ‘We are not going to take him out (kill!), at least not for now’.

President Donald Trump said on Tuesday the U.S. knew exactly where Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was ‘hiding’, that he was an easy target but would not be killed, at least for now.

‘We know exactly where the so-called “Supreme Leader” is hiding. He is an easy target, but is safe there – We are not going to take him out (kill!), at least not for now,’ Trump said in a post on Truth Social.

‘But we don’t want missiles shot at civilians, or American soldiers. Our patience is wearing thin,’ Trump said.

The IDF has said sirens are sounding in southern Israel as Iran launches another barrage of ballistic missiles.

Although US forces have not announced direct engagement in the hostilities, Trump says: ‘We now have complete and total control of the skies over Iran.’

It is not clear who the “we” in the statement is referring to.

‘Iran had good sky trackers and other defensive equipment, and plenty of it, but it doesn’t compare to American made, conceived, and manufactured “stuff.”

‘Nobody does it better than the good ol’ USA,’ Trump wrote in a social media post.

Da Nang, a port city in Vietnam, had been bracing to receive the behemoth USS Nimitz aircraft carrier this week when the ship announced that it was changing course.

The 1092ft vessel had been conducting ‘routine’ security operations in the Indo-Pacific when it was called away from its duties and started heading west, towards the burgeoning firefight between Israel and Iran.

A White House spokesperson assured that U.S. forces in the Middle East remained in a ‘defensive posture’, despite the flurry of activity. But President Donald Trump has been more bellicose, warning Tehran that if the U.S. is attacked in any way, ‘the full strength and might of the US Armed Forces will come down on you at levels never seen before’.

Iran has threatened to drag the United States into the conflict by attacking their bases in the region should Washington intervene on Israel’s behalf. Britain and France, with smaller strongholds in the Middle East, were also name-checked in the warning.

Read the full story by MailOnline foreign reporter James Reynolds here:

Iran has launched eight missiles at Israel in its latest offensive, according to the official Iranian news agency.

Speculation is mounting of a US strike on Iran as military resources are deployed into position.

More than 40 extra jets are said to have been sent to the UK and Europe by Donald Trump in recent days.

They are thought to include stealth bombers and air-to-air refuellers – which could be critical for any operation in the Middle East.

The movements have raised expectations that action is imminent, after Mr Trump denied he was interested in securing a ceasefire between Israel and Iran and told residents to evacuate Tehran.

Read more here:

If you’re just joining us, we have been reporting live updates throughout the day as the conflict between Israel and Iran entered its fifth day.

Here’s what you need to know this afternoon:

• President Donald Trump said the U.S. knew exactly where Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was ‘hiding’, that he was an easy target but would not be killed, at least for now.
• The US military is deploying more fighter aircraft to the Middle East and extending the deployment of other warplanes, three US officials have told Reuters.
• A senior Israeli minister has said ‘very significant targets’ will be attacked in Tehran today as the IDF declares it has launched new airstrikes on Iranian missile launchers
• Defence minister Israel Katz also issued a specific threat to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei that he could face ‘a fate similar to Saddam Hussein’
• Iran has also launched attacks in central Israel as the new head of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) insisted ‘advance missiles’ have yet to be used and that the country is ready for a ‘long-term war’
• Donald Trump said he wants a ‘real end’ to Iran’s nuclear programme as he cut short his visit to the G7 summit in Canada
• Speaking on Air Force One, the US President also contradicted his national intelligence chief Tulsi Gabbard by declaring Iran was ‘very close’ to having a nuclear weapon despite previous assessments to the contrary
• US Vice-President JD Vance said Trump may ‘ultimately’ decide to take further action in Iran after warning country it cannot have uranium enrichment or nuclear weapon
• It also emerged more than 40 extra jets have been sent to the UK and Europe by Donald Trump in recent days fuelling speculation of a possible strike
• The UN’s nuclear watchdog has said it has seen ‘direct impacts’ on the underground section of Iran’s Natanz nuclear facility as Israel claim it is ‘on the verge’ of destroying ‘more than 10 nuclear targets’
• Meanwhile Iranian officials have been banned from using their mobile phones and other devices amid fears they are being tracked or hacked by Israeli intelligence

Stick with us throughout the afternoon as we continue to bring you the latest developments.

US Vice President JD Vance has said Donald Trump has ‘earned trust’ on how to deal with Iran as he insisted the President had shown ‘remarkable restraint’ in keeping Americans safe.

In a lengthy post on X, Vance said he wanted to address some ‘crazy stuff on social media’ surrounding Iran’s nuclear capabilities.

He claimed Trump had been ‘amazingly consistent’ that Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon and made clear the country cannot have uranium enrichment.

On the question of whether the US will become involved in the conflict, Vance said it was ‘ultimately’ a decision for the President.

He may decide he needs to take further action to end Iranian enrichment. That decision ultimately belongs to the president. And of course, people are right to be worried about foreign entanglement after the last 25 years of idiotic foreign policy.

But I believe the president has earned some trust on this issue. And having seen this up close and personal, I can assure you that he is only interested in using the American military to accomplish American people’s goals. Whatever he does, that is his focus.

Sir Keir Starmer has said he has ‘no doubt’ Donald Trump will stay out of the Israeli-Iranian conflict, adding ‘at no point’ did the President suggest he is considering entering the conflict.

The two leaders were together at the G7 summit in Canada, but the US president left early citing the situation in the Middle East.

This is a breaking news post. More to follow

Merz shaking hands with Donald Trump at the G7 summit

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has said the Iranian regime has been ‘weakened’ and is unlikely to return to its ‘former strength’.

Speaking at the G7 summit in Canada, Merz said Iran was facing an ‘uncertain’ future amid the ongoing conflict with Israel.

He suggested the destruction of Iran’s nuclear programme was on the agenda of world leaders if the Iranian regime insisted against making a deal on not seeking nuclear weapons.

Merz also added European nations would offer diplomatic assistance if talks did resume.

If a new situation were to arise, Germany, France, and the United Kingdom would again be prepared to provide diplomatic assistance, as they were until last Thursday.

Israel’s foreign minister has outlined the Israeli military’s three aims following new airstrikes against Iran.

Gideon Sa’ar said Israel had three key objectives against Iran, none of which involved regime change, although he suggested it may ultimately be the result of the IDF offensive.

Speaking in central Israeli city of Rishon Lezion, which was hit by Iranian strikes, Sa’ar told reporters:

First of all, to ‘severely damage the nuclear programme [of Iran] – we haven’t finished with that.’

He said the second objective was to ‘damage Iran’s ballistic missile programme’ and the third was to ‘eliminate the threat to Israel.’

Israel’s Defence Forces have said that most of the ballistic missiles launched from Iran a short while ago were intercepted by air defences.

The IDF said that ‘several’ missiles were fired, fewer than the 10 previously reported.

Israel’s Home Front Command has said civilians can now leave bomb shelters.

Israel’s military has warned of incoming missiles, with sirens reportedly sounding across Israel.

In a statement, the IDF said:

The defence systems are working to intercept the threat. You must enter the protected areas upon receiving the alert, and remain there until further notice.

Israel says its forces have targeted western Iran with a wave of strikes.

Explosions have also been heard in the central city of Isfahan, which hosts multiple nuclear facilities, as Israel kept up its strikes for a fifth day.

‘Several explosions were heard in the east and north of Isfahan and air defences were activated against the hostile targets,’ the Mehr news agency reported.

EU High Representative Kaja Kallas has warned that potential US military involvement in the Israel-Iran conflict would ‘definitely drag’ the entire Middle East into a wider, more dangerous conflict.

Writing on X, she added: ‘We all agree that Iran must never have a nuclear weapon. It is urgent to de-escalate the situation. The EU will play its part in diplomatic efforts.’

Israel’s El Al Airlines says it has received the government’s permission to start flights to bring back people stranded abroad during the conflict with Iran.

The Israeli flag carrier was referring to people who had flights to Israel cancelled when its air space was closed.

It said it expects to operate flights on Wednesday from Larnaca, Athens, Rome, Milan and Paris to bring people to Israel.

El Al said that no flights from Israel to foreign countries had yet taken place since flights were grounded.

Iranian media has told citizens to delete WhatsApp from their phones ‘as soon as possible’.

Multiple outlets claimed informed sources had warned that the app was sharing users’ location and communications with Israel. No evidence was provided to support the claims.

It comes after Iran’s cyber command banned the use of all connected devices for officials and their security details, apparently fearing they were being tracked or hacked by Israel, according to the Fars news agency.

A former diplomat has claimed Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (pictured) is ‘insistent and focused’ on dragging the US into his country’s war with Iran to help destroy nuclear sites.

Alon Pinkas said Israel’s determination to eliminate the Iranian threat of a nuclear attack will not succeed without American intervention.

Speaking to Al Jazeera, Pinkas, a former consul general of Israel, said:

Israel cannot destroy Iran’s nuclear-military infrastructure alone. That requires munitions, bombers, and delivery systems that Israel does not have, which is why Mr Netanyahu is so insistent and focused on dragging the US into the war.

Pinkas added any de-escalation in the conflict will be as a result of the US with Donald Trump ‘issuing contradictory statements every day’.

An Iranian television presenter who was forced to leave a live broadcast after an Israeli attack on the state broadcaster features on a new banner in Tehran.

The image of Sahar Emami, with her finger raised in apparent defiance, has been projected on a huge hoarding in Veliasr Square.

According to AFP, Emami features on the banner paired with a verse from the Persian poet Ferdowsi, which celebrates the courage of women “on the battlefield”.

Iranian media has portrayed Emami as a hero following the attack on the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB) headquarters on Monday.

Earlier we reported three people were killed when the state broadcaster was bombed which forced programming to be suspended temporarily.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni held a bilateral meeting with Donald Trump on the sidelines of the G7 summit in Canada yesterday, according to a statement issued by her office.

‘The meeting provided an opportunity to discuss the most recent developments in Iran, reaffirming that it would be opportune to reopen negotiations,’ it read

Meloni ‘also stressed the need at this time to work towards reaching a ceasefire in Gaza’ during the conversation, it added.

Meloni is pictured left at the summit with (left to right) France’s President Macron, Canadian PM Mark Carney and US President Trump.

The International Atomic Energy Agency, the UN’s nuclear watchdog, has said it has seen ‘direct impacts’ on the underground section of Iran’s Natanz nuclear facility.

Israel has repeatedly targeted the uranium enrichment plant which it considers a key site in the production of nuclear weapons.

The IAEA said it has studied satellite imagery produced after Israel’s attacks on Friday.

Looking at other sites, the watchdog said it had not seen any changes at the Esfahan nuclear site or the underground Fordo enrichment plant.

The head of the World Health Organisation Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has shared a statement expressing his concern about the escalating violence between Israel and Iran.

The WHO chief said his organisation’s ‘particular concern’ was the targeting of nuclear sites and the possible ‘long-term impacts’ this could have on the environment and people in Iran and beyond.

Israel’s Defence Minister has said it is ‘on the verge’ of destroying ‘more than 10 nuclear targets’ in Iran.

As we reported earlier, Israel Katz has said the Israeli Air Force will strike ‘very significant targets, strategic targets, targets of the regime and infrastructure’ in Tehran today.

Now, speaking to the Times of Israel regarding Iran’s nuclear sites, Katz has given more information on what targets Israel has in its sights.

He also said that the underground Fordo facility is ‘an issue that will certainly be addressed.’

Iran’s military leadership is ‘on the run’, Israel has reportedly claimed.

The Israeli army said it bombed a secret command centre before killing Iran’s new wartime chief of staff Ali Shadmani, the Times of Israel reports.

The IDF said it stands ready to pick off the remaining military top brass, according to reports.

The Israeli health ministry has said 154 people have been taken to hospitals across the country following Iranian strikes last night.

Officials said four were in what they described as ‘moderate condition’, while 130 are in ‘mild condition’. Fifteen are undergoing evaluation and five are being treated for anxiety.

In its last update, Iranian authorities say at least 224 people have been killed and more than 1,200 by Israeli air strikes.

Israel said 24 people had been killed.

Israel’s defence minister Israel Katz has declared ‘very significant targets’ will be attacked inside Tehran today.

He echoed Donald Trump’s call for people in the Iranian capital to evacuate as Israel prepares a new offensive.

Speaking in central Israel, Katz said:

Today we are going to attack very significant targets – strategic targets, government targets and infrastructure – inside Tehran. The IDF spokesman in Persian will call on residents to evacuate.

On Monday, Katz declared Iran’s state broadcaster the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB) would be attacked before the headquarters were bombed during a live broadcast.

Jordan’s King Abdullah has today warned the conflict between Israel and Iran poses a threat around the world.

In a speech in the European Parliament, King Abdullah said:

With Israel’s expansion of its offensive to include Iran, there is no telling where the boundaries of this battleground will end. And that is a threat to people everywhere. Ultimately, this conflict must end.

Donald Trump has claimed Iran was ‘very close’ to having a nuclear weapon as he dismissed testimony of the US National Intelligence Director Tulsi Gabbard.

In March, Gabbard told the Senate intelligence committee that US spy agencies did not believe Iran was building a nuclear weapon.

When questioned on her remarks, Trump said:

I don’t care what she said. I think they were very close to having it.

Israel has vowed to destroy Iran’s nuclear capabilities in its bombardment of the country, suggesting last week that Tehran was approaching a point of no return in its mission to build a nuclear weapon.

But US intelligence sources have reportedly claimed that Iran was up to three years from being able to produce a nuclear weapon and deliver it to a target of its choosing.

Furthermore, Israel’s strikes may have only set back Iran’s nuclear programme by a matter of months, an anonymous US official told CNN.

Israel says it has killed nine nuclear scientists and significantly damaged the Natanz uranium enrichment facility.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said they struck a centre of Mossad, Israel’s foreign intelligence service, in Tel Aviv earlier today.

In a statement aired on state television, the IRGC said they ‘struck the military intelligence centre of the Zionist regime’s army, Aman, and the Zionist regime’s terrorist operations planning centre, the Mossad, in Tel Aviv’, adding it was ‘currently on fire.’

Israel has not commented on the claims and they have not been verified, with pictures and information from the area reportedly being censored.

Foreign nationals have been pictured queuing to leave Israel following a missile attack in Tel Aviv this morning.

According to Reuters news agency, people armed with suitcases have been boarding buses to leave Israel via Egypt.

On Monday, Israel’s Tourism Ministry estimated about 40,000 tourists are stranded in Israel after the country’s airspace was closed until further notice amid Iranian missile strikes.

Many countries including Britain have updated travel advice to urge against all travelling to Israel while the conflict is ongoing.

The Israeli Air Force has begun a new wave of airstrikes in western Iran, Israeli media is reporting citing military officials.

The IDF is expected to provide more details on the strikes later today.

Iran’s cyber command has banned the use of all connected devices for officials and their security details, apparently fearing being tracked or hacked by Israel, the Fars news agency reports.

It comes as a cyberattack has disrupted the online services of Iranian bank Sepah, according to the outlet.

Pictures have shown ATMs not working in the country.

We can now show you pictures from Tehran where rescuers from the Iranian Red Crescent are searching debris inside a building targeted by Israeli strikes.

Iranian media are reporting that three people were rescued from the rubble of a residential building. The footage was published by the IRNA news agency.

The world is watching in horror as Israel and Iran spiral into a brutal exchange of strikes that has seen US-made warplanes batter targets across the Islamic Republic while hypersonic and ballistic missiles rain down over Tel Aviv.

Now, as the death toll rises and the risk of a wider regional war grows by the hour, the international community is urging restraint, but not without expressing support for one side or the other – some more vigorously than others.

Many have made their positions clear. Iran’s proxy forces and allied militias have issued scathing condemnations of Israel’s actions, along with much of the Arab world. The US and Europe meanwhile have backed Israel’s ‘right to self-defence’, albeit with varying levels of enthusiasm.

MailOnline’s Chief Foreign Reporter David Averre provides a breakdown of the international reaction as the Middle East’s most powerful foes come to blows – and a look at who stands where

• Read the full story here

Israeli defence minister Israel Katz has warned Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei that he could face ‘a fate similar to Saddam Hussein.’.

‘I warn the Iranian dictator against continuing to commit war crimes and launching missiles at Israeli civilians,’ Katz said during his assessment this morning with top IDF officials, according to his office.

He went on: ‘[Khamenei] would do well to remember the fate of the dictator in the country neighboring Iran who chose this same path against the State of Israel.’

The comment was a clear reference to Iraqi leader Hussein, who was overthrown in 2003 during the US invasion of Iraq.

‘We will continue today as well to act against regime and military targets in Tehran, just as we did yesterday against the propaganda and incitement broadcasting authority,’ Katz said.

He added: ‘I urge the residents of Tehran to evacuate those areas in accordance with the IDF Spokesperson’s instructions in Persian, for their own protection.’

*this article is available only to Mail+ readers – to subscribe click here*

by Andrew Neil

A senior commander in Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) warned at the weekend that the beleaguered regime in Tehran, reeling from Israel’s relentless onslaught on its leadership, military assets and energy infrastructure, might move to close the Strait of Hormuz.

It’s a threat the Mullahs regularly resort to at times of tension or when their backs are against the wall.

The Strait of Hormuz links the Persian Gulf to the Indian Ocean and the sea lanes beyond through which 30 per cent of the world’s seaborne crude oil and 20 per cent of liquefied natural gas (LNG) shipments pass, making the channel (only 21 miles wide at its narrowest), one of the world’s most critical chokepoints for global energy supplies.

Read more here:

General Ahmad Vahidi, the new head of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), has reportedly dismissed Israeli claims about the destruction of Iranian missile launchers.

Vahidi, who was appointed Commander-in-Chief following the death of Hossein Salami on Friday in an Israeli airstrike, is reported to have said Iran is yet to use ‘advanced missiles’ and is ready for a ‘long-term war’.

He supposedly dismissed ‘baseless’ Israeli claims that 40% of Iranian launchers have been destroyed following targeted strikes at launch sites.

President Trump has returned early from the G7 Leaders’ Summit in Canada, with pictures showing him landing in Maryland.

Trump refused to sign a joint statement with fellow G7 leaders calling for de-escalation in the Israel-Iran conflict, an official confirmed last night.

He said he had to get back to Washington early ‘for obvious reasons’.

Trump later lambasted French President Emmanuel Macron for suggesting he had left in order to negotiate a ceasefire deal between Israel and Iran.

He furiously denied the claim and ominously said his exit was for a ‘much bigger’ reason.

‘I’m not looking for a ceasefire, we’re looking at better than a ceasefire,’ Trump told reporters as he touched down on US soil.

Watch what he had to say below:

Israel’s Defence Forces have shared footage of a strike in Iran. The video is said to show a group launching anti-aircraft missiles at the plane before they themselves are hit by the jet.

The US military has moved a large number of refueling aircraft to Europe to provide options to President Donald Trump as Middle East tensions erupt into conflict between Iran and Israel, two US said last night.

The officials also said the US aircraft carrier Nimitz was heading to the Middle East, in what one of them said was a pre-planned deployment.

The Nimitz can hold 5,000 personnel and more than 60 aircraft, including fighter jets.

Flight trackers appear to show the deployment of a number of fuel tanker planes.

The chief of Israel’s Military Intelligence Directorate, Major General Shlomi Binder, told officers that they will soon ‘break ground” in other areas of Iran after the IDF paved the way to Tehran.’

‘You brought the intelligence that paved the way to Tehran and enabled the strike on the Iranian general staff. Soon, you’ll break ground in additional areas. You’ve proven that you can push boundaries and reach any target,’ and IDF statement cites Binder as saying.

Referencing Israel’s continued offensive in Gaza, which has been raging for more than 600 days, he added: ‘Always remember that we are not fighting in just one arena. We’re fighting Iran, but our eyes are also on our hostages in Gaza and the various threats facing the soldiers on the frontlines and civilians on the home front.’

At least 45 Palestinians have been killed and dozens wounded by Israeli forces while waiting for aid in Khan Younis, southern Gaza, according to officials there.

‘Emergency, intensive care and operating rooms are overcrowded with the large number of casualties and deaths,’ said the Hamas-run Health Ministry.

Pictures show traumatised people waiting for news of their loved ones and dead and injured men, women and children being brought to the al-Nasser hospital.

UN human rights chief Volker Turk said yesterday that Israel’s ‘means and methods of warfare are inflicting horrifying, unconscionable suffering on Palestinians in Gaza.’

More than 20 months of Israeli attacks have killed 55,362 Palestinians, according to figures released by the Hamas-run health ministry, who say tens of thousands of the dead are women and children.

Iran has recalled all doctors and nurses from their time off, state media reports.

The country’s health ministry said on Sunday that Israeli attacks have killed at least 224 people and wounded more than 1,200. It has not issued an update since.

Firefighters have been tackling blazes across Tel Aviv this morning after a barrage of 20 Iranian missiles struck Israel.

At least two rockets hit areas north of Tel Aviv.

The Times of Israel is reporting one missile hit a storage shed near Herzliya and another hit a parking lot, where an empty bus went up in flames.

The Magen David Adom rescue service said earlier that five people received minor injuries in the parking lot.

China has accused Trump of ‘fanning the flames’ and ‘pouring oil’ on the conflict between Iran and Israel.

‘Fanning the flames, pouring oil, making threats and mounting pressure will not help to promote the de-escalation of the situation, but will only intensify and widen the conflict,’ foreign ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun told reporters when asked about Trump’s remarks at a news conference.

Speaking on Air Force One, the President told reporters that he wants ‘a real end’ to Iran’s nuclear programme.

‘I didn’t say I was looking for a ceasefire,’ the US president said on Air Force One, adding that he wants ‘a real end,’ with Iran ‘giving up entirely’ on nukes.

‘The Israelis aren’t slowing up their barrage on Iran,’ CBS reports him as saying. ‘You’re going to find out over the next two days. You’re going to find out. Nobody’s slowed up so far.’

On any threat to American interests, he said Iran knows not to hit US troops, warning that the US would ‘come down so hard if they do anything to our people.’

Trump also said he ‘may’ send US Vice President JD Vance or Middle East Envoy Steve Witkoff to meet with officials in Iran.

But, he cautioned, it ‘depends what happens when I get back’ to Washington.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards has declared a new attack involving new and advanced weapons has been launched against Israel

An Iranian military commander said the attack will ‘intensify’ in the coming hours, according to the official IRNA news agency.

It was also reported ‘hundreds’ of drones had been deployed in the offensive.

Kiomars Heidari, commander of the Army Ground Forces, is quoted as saying:

A new wave of fierce attacks by the armed forces, especially the army’s ground forces, with new and advanced weapons has begun and will intensify in the coming hours.

The US has been building its already significant military presence in the Middle East amid the Israel-Iran conflict.

The USS Carl Vinson carrier strike group is currently in the Arabian Sea, while the USS Nimitz is now also headed to the region.

Nimitz was diverted to the Middle East from the South China Sea, ship tracking data shows, and is expected to arrive in the region in the coming week.

Three destroyers are also positioned in the region, which are capable of targetting missiles in the air.

Meanwhile some two dozen refuelling tankers have reportedly been placed around Europe.

Aircraft carrier USS Nimitz is seen conducting operations in the South China Sea last month, before it headed towards the Middle East.

Iranian media is today reporting three people were killed when Israel bombed the state broadcaster live on air yesterday.

Previously, state media reported a news editor and another employee of the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB) were killed in the attack.

But now it is confirmed three people have died.

The attack took place yesterday during a live broadcast while a female presenter was criticising Israel. Programming was temporarily interrupted before coverage resumed a few minutes later.

Israeli defence minister Israel Katz warned Iran’s state television and radio would be ‘about to disappear’ as he announced the attack.

Here’s the moment the broadcaster was bombed:

If you’re either joining or returning to our live coverage of the Israel-Iran conflict, here’s a quick summary of the key updates overnight and this morning:

• President Donald Trump has called for the ‘immediate evacuation of Tehran’ as he left the G7 summit in Canada early to attend ‘important matters’ back in Washington.
• During the summit, Trump refused to sign a joint statement with fellow G7 leaders calling for de-escalation in the Israel-Iran conflict, an official confirmed last night.
• Israeli media is reporting the Trump administration is preparing to join an attack on Iran if the President gives the ‘green light’.
• Meanwhile loud booms have been heard over Tel Aviv and Jerusalem this morning after Iran launched a fresh barrage of missiles with air raid sirens sounding across Israel.
• Israel has declared it has killed Iran’s top military commander – Ali Shadmani – whose predecessor was killed in strikes just days ago.

Stay with us for the latest developments throughout the day plus the most up-to-date pictures and videos from the conflict.

Pictures show buses at a parking lot north of Tel Aviv on fire following an Iranian bombardment.

A barrage of 20 Iranian missiles struck Israel this morning after earlier attacks overnight, the Ynet news outlet reports.

At least two rockets hit areas north of Tel Aviv, with fires ripping through buses but no reported injuries.

An Iranian MP is reporting 21 people have been killed in Lorestan province in western Iran, according to the Iranian Labour News Agency.

The politician, who is not named, is quoted as blaming ‘infiltrators’ rather than direct action from Israel.

The Zionist regime has used infiltrators, and most of the actions we see across the country are by these individuals rather than the Zionist regime.

The MP did not elaborate further on how ‘infiltrators’ had carried out an attack.

Donald Trump refused to sign a joint statement with fellow G7 leaders calling for de-escalation in the Israel-Iran conflict, an official confirmed last night.

The US president then left the summit in Calgary, Canada, early, with pictures showing him jetting off on Air Force One.

He said he had to get back to Washington early ‘for obvious reasons’.

Trump later lambasted French President Emmanuel Macron for suggesting he had left in order to negotiate a ceasefire deal between Israel and Iran.

He furiously denied and ominously said his exit was for a ‘much bigger’ reason.

Donald Trump has hit out at ‘publicity seeking’ French President Emmanuel Macron for suggesting he left the G7 Summit to negotiate a ceasefire deal between Israel and Iran.

Trump furiously denied the claim in a Truth Social post, and ominously revealed his exit was for a ‘much bigger’ reason as he is set to convene with the National Security Council in the White House Situation Room on Tuesday.

‘Publicity seeking President Emmanuel Macron, of France , mistakenly said that I left the G7 Summit, in Canada , to go back to D.C. to work on a ‘ceasefire’ between Israel and Iran,’ Trump wrote.

‘Wrong! He has no idea why I am now on my way to Washington, but it certainly has nothing to do with a Cease Fire. Much bigger than that. Whether purposely or not, Emmanuel always gets it wrong. Stay Tuned!’

Read the full story here:

Loud booms were heard over Tel Aviv and Jerusalem on Tuesday after air raid sirens sounded in several parts of Israel and the military warned of incoming Iranian missiles.

‘A short while ago, sirens sounded in several areas across Israel following the identification of missiles launched from Iran toward the State of Israel,’ the military said in a statement.

The IDF added that the air force was ‘operating to intercept and strike where necessary to eliminate the threat.’

Pictures and videos online show smoke billowing from buildings and a bus depot. Unconfirmed reports suggest multiple people have been injured.

Israel says it has killed Iran’s top military commander – whose predecessor was killed in strikes just days ago.

The IDF said its jets killed Ali Shadmani, Iran’s highest-ranking military officer and chief war commander.

He was considered to be the closest person to supreme leader Ali Khamenei and oversaw both the IRGC and army.

Shadmani was appointed after his predecessor, Alam Ali Rashid, was killed in Israel’s first strikes last week.

Khamenei announced his appointment following Rashid’s death just four days ago.

Israeli media reports that the Trump administration is preparing to join an attack on Iran ‘if President Donald Trump gives it the green light.’

An unidentified official told i24 News that even though the Secretary of Defense typically makes the decisions, it was Trump, himself, who approved the implementation of plans to deploy forces in the Middle East.

The source also claimed that ‘US Central Command thinks it should join, but there are senior officials in the administration who are currently opposing the move.’

President Donald Trump has denied French President Emmanel Macron’s claims he has offered a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Iran.

‘Publicity seeking President Emmanuel Macron, of France, mistakenly said that I left the G7 Summit, in Canada, to go back to D.C. to work on a “cease fire” between Israel and Iran. Wrong!’ the US president wrote on his Truth Social page.

‘He has no idea why I am now on my way to Washington, but it certainly has nothing to do with a Cease Fire. Much bigger than that,’ he teased.

‘Whether purposely or not, Emmanuel always gets it wrong,’ Trump concluded, urging the public to ‘stay tuned!’

The US Embassy in Israel announced it will temporarily close ‘as a result of the current security situation and ongoing conflict between Israel and Iran.’

It said it directed all of its employees and their family members to continue to shelter in place ‘in and near their residences until further notice.’

‘The U.S. Embassy is not in a position at this time to evacuate or directly assist Americans in departing Israel,’ it added.

Iranian Foreign Affairs Minister Abbas Araghchi called Israel’s attack on an Iranian broadcaster ‘the height of cowardice,’ according to Iranian state media.

‘The assault on our national broadcasting organization demonstrated the obvious desperation of the Israelis,’ he said in an interview carried by IRNA.

‘When they fail on the field of battle, they resort to targeting and striking a civilian center that only conveys the truth and informs.’

Leaders at the G7, including President Trump, have issued a joint statement on the Middle East affirming their support for Israel.

‘In this context, we affirm that Israel has a right to defend itself. We reiterate our support for the security of Israel.’

They added that Iran is ‘the principal source of regional instability and terror.’

French President Emmanuel Macron has claimed US President Donald Trump has put a ceasefire offer on the table between Israel and Iran.

‘There is an offer that has been made, especially to have a ceasefire and to initiate broader discussions,’ the French leader said outside of the G7 summit, according to CNN.

‘If the United States of America can achieve a ceasefire, it is a very good thing and France will support it and we wish for it,’ Macron added.

‘It is absolutely essential that all strikes from both sides against energy, administrative, and cultural infrastructures, and even more so against the civilian population, cease,’ he added, arguing: ‘Nothing justifies this.’

As the death toll in the Iran-Israel feud rises and the risk of a wider regional war grows by the hour, the international community is urging restraint, but not without expressing support for one side or the other – some more vigorously than others.

Many have made their positions clear. The US and Europe have backed Israel’s ‘right to self-defence’, albeit with varying levels of enthusiasm, while Iran’s proxy forces and allied militias have issued scathing condemnations of Israel’s actions.

But the conflict has also exposed nations whose self-interest appears to outweigh loyalty to traditional allies.

The Trump administration is trying to set up a meeting between US envoy Steve Witkoff and Iranian Minister Abbas Araghch, Axios reports.

‘A meeting with the Iranians this week is under consideration,’ a US official confirmed to the outlet.

The president reportedly sees the massive bunker busters needed to destroy Iran’s underground uranium enrichment facility as a key point of leverage to get Iran to strike a deal, a senior official said.

‘They do want to talk,’ he claimed. ‘But what we don’t know is “Have they been brought to their knees fully so that they realize that in order to have a country, they have to talk?”

‘And assuming they get there, is there any degree of enrichment you would allow them to have?’

The Israeli Defense Forces posted a video to X on Monday warning that if it does not stop Iran, other western countries will be destroyed.

Among the nations it lists are the United States, Belgium, France, Canada, Sweden, Germany and the UK.

‘If we don’t stop them, you’re next,’ it claimed.

The White House has denied reports that the United States is getting involved in Israeli attacks on Iran.

‘This is not true,’ Principal Deputy Communications Director Alex Pfeiffer wrote on X.

‘American forces are maintaining their defensive posture, and that has not changed. We will defend American interests.’

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Monday night that the president’s priority is still to reach a new nuclear agreement with Iran.

‘We believe that Iran … should not have a nuclear weapon,’ he told Fox News’ Jesse Watters. ‘That position hasn’t changed.’

‘Right now, we’ve got assets in the region and we’re going to defend them,’ he said.

‘We’re strong, we’re prepared, we’re defensive … President Trump hopes there can be peace,’ Hegseth added.

In an interview with ABC News on Monday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu refused to rule out targeting Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei.

‘Look we’re doing what we need to do. I’m not getting into the details,’ he said.

In the last few minutes, sirens have again sounded across Israel after the country’s military forces detected Iranian missiles headed towards it.

Israel’s air forces are ‘operating to intercept and strike where necessary to eliminate the threat,’ the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) says in a post on X, urging the public to follow orders to seek shelter.

French President Emmanuel Macron said on Monday that U.S. President Donald Trump had made an offer for a ceasefire between Israel and Iran.

‘There is indeed an offer to meet and exchange. An offer was made especially to get a ceasefire and to then kick-start broader discussions,’ Macron told reporters at the G7.

‘We have to see now whether the sides will follow.’

The Chinese embassy in Israel has urged Chinese citizens to return home or leave the country via land border crossings as soon as possible, on grounds that the security situation has deteriorated and Israeli airspace remained closed.

‘At present, the Israeli-Iranian conflict continues to escalate, with civilian facilities damaged and civilian casualties increasing, making the security situation even more severe,’ the embassy warned in a Tuesday notice on WeChat.

The notice recommended Chinese citizens to leave via the land crossing towards Jordan.

French President Emmanuel Macron has said that Donald Trump’s early departure from the G7 summit in Canada is ‘positive…given the objective to get a ceasefire in the Middle East’.

He added that Trump had told G7 leaders that there were discussions on obtaining a ceasefire between Israel and Iran, and that European governments would be ready to take part in Iran nuclear negotiations if a ceasefire is reached.

Donald Trump has requested for the National Security Council to convene in the situation room, Fox News reports.

The situation room is a secure intelligence management complex located in the West Wing of the White House.

It operates as a crisis management centre and secure communication hub for the president and advisors.

US President Donald Trump will leave a Group of Seven summit Monday night, a day early, due to the Israel-Iran war, the White House said, after he warned the residents of Tehran to flee.

‘Because of what’s going on in the Middle East, President Trump will be leaving tonight after dinner with Heads of State,’ White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt wrote on X.

In a post on his social media platform Truth Social, US President Donald Trump says that ‘everyone should immediately evacuate Tehran’.

His comments come after Israeli officials advised residents to evacuate parts of north-eastern Tehran earlier today, saying it planned to target ‘military infrastructure’.

In his post, Trump adds that Iran should have signed the deal that he put forward to them in the most recent round of US-Iran nuclear talks.

‘Simply stated, IRAN CAN NOT HAVE A NUCLEAR WEAPON,’ he writes.

‘I said it over and over again!

‘Everyone should immediately evacuate Tehran!’

It is unclear whether he was referring to US citizens in Iran or the Iranian capital’s 14 million residents.

The US has sent ‘additional capabilities’ to the Middle East to protect US forces, Pete Hegseth has said.

The US defence secretary said in a statement:

Over the weekend, I directed the deployment of additional capabilities to the United States Central Command Area of Responsibility.

Protecting US forces is our top priority and these deployments are intended to enhance our defensive posture in the region.

President Donald Trump voiced confidence Monday that Iran would eventually sign a nuclear deal as he warned without specifying that the United States will be “doing something” once he leaves a G7 summit.

I think a deal will be signed, or something will happen. But a deal will be signed.

And I think Iran is foolish not to sign one.

Trump said without elaborating: “As soon as I leave here, we’re going to be doing something. But I have to leave here.”

He did not provide any further details, and is expected to leave the summit in the Canadian Rockies on Tuesday.

Trump has refused to comment on whether the United States would offer military support to Israel to destroy Iran’s nuclear program.

He earlier said that the United States was not involved in Israel’s offensive but has praised the strikes and boasted that Israel uses US weapons.

The Israeli military says it has identified incoming Iranian missiles after Iran announced it had launched its ninth wave of attacks against Israel.

Sirens are going off in several parts of Israel, the Israel Defense Forces said.

Iran’s Mehr news agency is reporting that three Iranian Red Crescent Society workers were killed by an Israeli strike during rescue operations in Tehran.

The relief group said on X on Monday: ‘This attack took place while the first responders were adhering to their most basic human responsibilities and were not engaged in any military activity’.

Iranian state news outlets cite the Iranian Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) as saying Iran will attack Israel throughout the night.

‘Moments ago, the ninth wave of the combined drone and missile attack began and will continue continuously until the morning,’ the IRGC’s General Naeini has said, according to the Islamic Republic News Agency.

Israel’s Haifa-based Bazan Group said all refinery facilities have been shut down after a power station used to produce steam and electricity were significantly damaged in an attack by Iran, according to a regulatory filing on Monday.

The group said the Iranian attack resulted in the death of three company employees.

The refinery is located in Haifa Bay, according to Israeli media.

The IDF posted footage which they claim shows a strike on two F-14 fighter jets that were located at an airport in Tehran.

These jets were intended to intercept Israeli aircraft, according to the IDF.

Iranian state media is reporting that a new wave of missile attacks on Israel has just begun.

The reports say Iran has launched combined drone and missile operations targeting Tel Aviv and Haifa.

Iran has issued an evacuation warning for Israeli news channels after an air strike on Tehran’s state broadcaster on Monday afternoon.

‘Iran has issued an evacuation warning for the N12 and N14 channels of Israel. This order comes in response to the hostile attack of Zionist enemy against the Islamic republic of Iran’s broadcasting service,’ Iranian state TV said.

Pictured: Smoke billows from Iran’s state-run television station following an Israeli strike on Monday afternooon.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Monday that Israel was ‘changing the face of the Middle East’

with its military campaign against Iran.

‘We are changing the face of the Middle East,’ he told a press conference in which he outlined Israel’s strikes against Iranian nuclear and military targets.

‘We are eliminating them, one after the other,’ he said of Iran’s military leadership.

Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Monday that Iranian forces will ‘pummel’ Israel until the attacks against the Islamic republic stop.

‘Our powerful Armed Forces are making clear to the world that the war criminals hiding in shelters in Tel Aviv will not go unpunished for their crimes,’ he said in a post on X.

‘We will continue to pummel the cowards for as long as needed to make sure that they are no longer firing at our people,’ he added.

Key Israeli military and intelligence centres including the Ramat David air base near Haifa are on Iran’s list of targets for airstrikes, Iran’s semi-official Student News Network reported on Monday.

‘In the coming hours, a crushing and proportionate response will be given within the framework of legitimate defence,’ the news agency said.

Iran condemned Israel’s attack on a state TV building on Monday as a ‘war crime’, and called on the UN Security Council to take action.

The strike on the offices of IRIB during a live broadcast was a ‘wicked act’ and a ‘war crime’, said foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei.

‘The UNSC must act now to stop the genocidal aggressor from committing further atrocities against our people,” he added.

An Israeli attack on Monday hit the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB) building, cutting off live coverage immediately.

The blast occurred as the presenter was live on TV lambasting Israel before she was seen leaving the live broadcast, Iranian media reported, sharing a video of the incident.

Live coverage resumed shortly after.

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps also condemned the attack, calling it ‘inhuman, criminal and a terrorist act.’

After decades of enmity and a prolonged shadow war, Israel on Friday launched a surprise attack, saying it was targeting Iran’s nuclear and military facilities.

So far it has killed at least 224 people in the Islamic republic, including top military commanders, nuclear scientists and civilians.

Iran has retaliated with barrages of drone and missiles that have killed at least 24 people in Israel, according to the latest figures from the prime minister’s office.

Iran does not recognise Israel and has long accused it of carrying out sabotage operations against its nuclear facilities, as well as assassinating its scientists.

Iran’s strikes on Israel are self-defense and are ‘proportionate defensive operations directed exclusively at military objectives and associated infrastructure,’ Iran’s U.N. Ambassador Amir Saeid Iravani told the U.N. Nations Security Council on Monday.

He wrote in a letter that any cooperation by third countries with Israel’s strikes on Iran ‘makes them complicit in the legal responsibility and consequences of this crisis.’

Under Article 51 of the founding United Nations Charter, the 15-member Security Council must immediately be informed of any action that states take in self-defense against armed attack.

US citizens should leave Iran immediately, the state department has warned.

Those who are unable to leave should be prepared to shelter in place for extended periods of time, it added.

The department said Americans should not travel to Iran for any reason.

Israel’s Defence Minister Israel Katz has threatened to strike “everywhere” against the government of Iranian “dictator” Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in a statement issued after Israeli air strikes hit Iran’s state broadcaster in Tehran.

“The propaganda and incitement broadcasting authority of the Iranian regime was attacked” by Israeli forces, Katz said, noting that the strike followed the “vast evacuation of residents in the area”

He added: “We will strike the Iranian dictator everywhere.”

US President Donald Trump said Monday that Iran was not winning its conflict with Israel and should re-enter negotiations “before it’s too late.”

“They have to make a deal, and it’s painful for both parties, but I’d say Iran is not winning this war, and they should talk, and they should talk immediately, before it’s too late,” Trump told reporters at a G7 summit in Canada.

This is the shocking moment Iran’s state broadcaster was bombed live on air during an Israeli attack.

The blast occurred at the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB) building in Tehran.

Moments before the blast the female presenter was lambasting Israel before she was forced to leave the broadcast.

Several employees were killed in the attack, Iranian media have reported.

Watch the video below:

Iran’s state broadcaster returned to live coverage after going off air for a few minutes following Israel’s attack.

‘The Zionist regime the enemy of the Iranian nation minutes ago conducted a military operation against the Islamic Republic of Iran news network’, part of IRIB, said a senior official at the broadcasting service Hassan Abedini.

The regime (Israel) was unaware of the fact that the voice of the Islamic revolution and the great Iran will not be silenced with a military operation.

In text displayed on screen, the broadcaster says all its programmes ‘are resuming live without any interruptions’.

Iranian media outlets have reported a number of Iranian Broadcasting Corporation employees were killed following the Israeli attack.

Israel targeted the live news program studio of the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB) in an attack on the country’s state-run broadcaster.

The news program host was reportedly reading a threatening statement from the National Security Council to citizens seconds before the attack

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer has said he believes G7 leaders meeting in Canada were united in wanting de-escalation between Israel and Iran.

‘I do think there’s a consensus for de-escalation,’ Starmer told reporters at the summit in the Canadian Rockies.

Obviously, what we need to do today is to bring that together and to be clear about how it is to be brought about. But the risk of the conflict escalating is obvious, I think, and the implications – not just for the region but globally – are really immense, so the focus has to be on de-escalation.

Starmer said he spoke with most G7 leaders after they arrived Sunday and had spoken by telephone to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz has said Iran’s state television and radio were ‘about to disappear’ following an evacuation warning.

The alert issued for District 3 in Tehran where the state broadcaster IRIB is based.

In a statement, he said:

The Iranian propaganda and incitement megaphone is about to disappear. Evacuation of nearby residents has begun.

Israel’s military urged residents in the capital’s northern District 3 to evacuate ‘immediately’, saying it intended to carry out air strikes there.

The area marked for evacuation is an upmarket part of the Iranian capital home to at least four hospitals and medical centres, a major police building and the state broadcaster.

Tehran has asked Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Oman to press Donald Trump to use his influence on Israel to agree to an immediate ceasefire with Iran in return for Tehran’s flexibility in nuclear negotiations, two Iranian and three regional sources told Reuters.

Gulf leaders and their top diplomats worked the phones all weekend, speaking to each other, to Tehran, Washington and beyond in an effort to avoid a widening of the conflict as longstanding enemies Israel and Iran intensified their attacks in their biggest ever confrontation.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards called on the residents of Tel Aviv to evacuate as soon as possible, Iranian state media reported on Monday, shortly after Israel issued an evacuation warning for a designated area in Tehran.

Iran has urgently signalled it is open to negotiations so long as the US does not join Israel’s attack on it, officials have reportedly told the Wall Street Journal.

The Islamic Republic has suggested it is seeking to end hostilities amid Israel’s devastating aerial campaign, which has taken out top military leaders, the report states.

Officials also sent messages to Israel saying it is in the interest of both sides to keep the violence contained, it is reported.

Iran has also reportedly told officials it could accelerate its nuclear program and expand the scope of the war if there are no prospects of resuming talks with the US.

However, even if Tehran is seeking de-escalation, Israel is unlikely to relent in its attacks, boasting today that it has ‘full aerial superiority’ over Tehran.

Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed that Israel will continue its air attacks until Iran’s nuclear program and ballistic missiles are destroyed.

The head of the UN nuclear watchdog agency said there is a possibility of both radiological and chemical contamination within Iran’s main nuclear enrichment facility in Natanz following Israeli strikes.

The radiation poses a significant danger if uranium is inhaled or ingested, International Atomic Energy Agency Director-General Rafael Mariano Grossi said.

The risk can be effectively managed with appropriate protective measures, such as using respiratory protection devices while inside the facilities, Grossi said.

He added that radiation levels outside the complex are presently normal.

‘The level of radioactivity outside the Natanz site has remained unchanged and at normal levels, indicating no external radiological impact to the population or the environment from this event,’ he said.

Grossi was addressing an urgent session of the IAEA’s board in Vienna that was convened at the request of Russia to discuss Israeli attacks against Iranian nuclear facilities.

He said that there apparently was no additional damage at Natanz and the Isfahan nuclear research site since Saturday.

The IDF has for the first ime issued an evacuation warning for Tehran, telling residents in a large area of the city to leave ahead of planned strikes.

‘Dear citizens, for your safety, we ask you to immediately leave the mentioned area in District 3 of Tehran,’ the IDF’s Arabic-language spokesman Col. Avichay Adraee said in a statement.

‘In the coming hours, the Israeli army will operate in this area, as it has in recent days throughout Tehran, to strike the Iranian regime’s military infrastructure,’ the warning added.

The order was made as blasts were reported in both eastern and western parts of the city.

Iran’s Fars news agency reports that an Israeli attack targeted a military base in western Tehran, causing its air defence system to activate.

Iranian media is also reporting explosions in eastern parts of the capital, which is home to just under 10 million people.

Footage shows huge plumes of smoke rising from several parts of the city.

It comes after videos from last night and today have shown huge queues of traffic as people desperately try to flee the city.

Israel’s campaign against Iran could last between two and three weeks, an Israeli officials has reportedly said.

‘There’s a bank of military targets that we can complete pretty quickly,’ the official told The Times of Israel.

‘If they decide to expand it to more like government symbols, economical targets, all that, then it will take longer.’

The anonymous official reportedly said that a tighter nuclear agreement between Iran and Western powers is the goal.

Israeli carrier El Al has extended a suspension to commercial flights due to ‘recent security developments’.

Its flight schedule was cancelled until at least June 19 over the weekend, with flights to a number of locations now cancelled until June 23.

All bookings with the airline are blocked until June 30, and it is not clear when normal operations will resume.

However, El Al also announced this afternoon that it is opening registration for repatriation flights for customers stranded outside of Israel.

‘The rescue flights will be operated in a phased manner, and therefore patience will be required from El Al customers staying abroad,’ the airline said in a statement.

‘We recommend that passengers prepare and make accommodation and lodging arrangements.’

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has shared videos of trucks being destroyed by the Israeli Air Force as part of apparent efforts to smuggle weapons to Tehran.

Grainy footage appears to show a series of explosions on the roads amid claims surface-to-air missile launchers were being transported towards the capital.

In a post on X, the IDF wrote:

Starting this morning, the Air Force identified several trucks containing weapons, including trucks carrying surface-to-air missile launchers, moving from western Iran toward Tehran in an attempt to escape IDF attacks. In a quick round-robin attack, the Air Force attacked the trucks and destroyed the weapons and launchers.

Earlier today, the The Israeli Air Force claimed it has established full control of the skies above Tehran and destroyed a third of Iran’s ballistic missile launchers.

The world is facing a new nuclear arms race with the likelihood that a nuclear weapon will be used increasing as the global security situation becomes more unstable, a new report has warned.

The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute’s (SIPRI) Yearbook, published on Monday, highlights what it says is a dawning news arms race between the nine nuclear-armed states – the US, Russia, UK, France, China, India, Pakistan, North Korea and Israel.

‘We are at a step change, which has been going on since just before the pandemic,’ SIPRI director Dan Smith told Al Jazeera.

‘It’s not just little bits and pieces here and there. It’s everybody moving in that direction of upgrading, including the new nuclear weapon state of North Korea and the relatively new ones of Pakistan and India, who went nuclear in the 90s.’

Iran could target British overseas military bases and embassies if the UK offers direct support to Israel in its war with the rogue state, a military expert said today.

The Islamic Republic has threatened to attack US, UK and French military forces if they help Israel block missile and drone retaliation for Friday’s attack on its nuclear programme.

The number of Typhoon fighter jets stationed at RAF Akrotiri on Cyprus, which is just over 250 miles from Israel, has been bolstered in recent days.

Professor Justin Bronk, a senior research fellow at RUSI, said an Iranian attack on Akrotiri was highly unlikely at present, but the risk could grow if the UK launched Typhoons from the base to defend Israel from Iranian drones

‘In theory, Iran might interpret that as direct intervention, but I still think it’s unlikely they’d be a direct response as that could provoke the Americans,’ he told MailOnline.

Read the full story by Rory Tingle and Mark Nicol here:

The family of Bella Ashkenazi attend her funeral after she was killed when an Iranian missile hit her home in Holon, Israel

Benjamin Netanyahu has said that Israel’s aims in targeting Iran are twofold – ‘Eliminating the nuclear threat and eliminating the missile threat.’

Speaking from the Tel Nof Air Force base, the Israeli prime minister warned the people of Tehran to ‘get out’ of the city, echoing evacuation orders in Gaza, where the UN says almost two million people have been displaced.

Meanwhile, Israeli president Isaac Herzog stated that there should be a regime change in Iran.

During a visit to the site of a missile attack, he said: ‘I think the Iranian people are fed up, and they want change. And so, of course, do the entire region, we deserve change.’

Netanyahu said on Sunday that regime change in Iran ‘could certainly be the result’ of Israel’s ongoing military campaign.

However he stopped short of saying that this was the goal of Israel’s offensive, while foreign minister Gideon Sa’ar denied outright that it was Israel’s objective.

Herzog pictured yesterday in the Israeli city of Bat Yam following a missile strike,

The Israeli Air Force has begun a new wave of airstrikes in central Iran, a military official has told Israeli media.

The IDF is expected to provide details on the strikes later today.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan condemned Israel’s ‘act of force’ against Iran.

The two leaders called for an immediate cessation of hostilities when they spoke by phone on Monday, the Kremlin said.

‘Both sides expressed the most serious concern about the ongoing escalation of the Iran-Israel conflict, which has already led to a large number of casualties and is fraught with serious long-term consequences for the entire region,’ a statement from Moscow said.

‘The leaders spoke in favor of an immediate cessation of hostilities and the settlement of contentious issues, including those related to the Iranian nuclear programme, exclusively by political and diplomatic means.’

The two sides agreed to remain in close cooperation, the statement said.

Israel’s strikes on Iran have targeted several of its nuclear facilities, as it claims the Islamic republic is seeking to develop nuclear weapons – an accusation Tehran denies.

Experts told the AFP news agency that while the attacks have caused some damage to Iran’s nuclear programme, they are unlikely to have delivered a fatal blow.

Here is an update on Iran’s nuclear sites as of today:

• What is the extent of the damage?

Israel’s operation included strikes on Iran’s underground uranium enrichment sites at Natanz and Fordow, and on its Isfahan nuclear site, the UN’s International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said, citing Iranian officials.

A key, above-ground component of Iran’s Natanz nuclear site has been destroyed, including its power infrastructure.

Agency chief Rafael Grossi said Monday that there has been no indication of a ‘physical attack’ on the underground cascade hall containing part of the Pilot Fuel Enrichment Plant and the main Fuel Enrichment Plant. However, power loss at the cascade hall ‘may have damaged the centrifuges’, the machines used to enrich uranium.

• Can the programme be destroyed?

While Israel can damage Iran’s nuclear programme it is ‘unlikely to be able to destroy it,’ Ali Vaez, International Crisis Group’s Iran project director, said, arguing that Israel does not have the massively powerful bombs needed to destroy the fortified, bunkered facilities in Natanz and Fordow.

Destroying those would require US military assistance, added Kelsey Davenport, an expert with the Arms Control Association. She also stressed that Israel’s unprecedented attack cannot erase the expertise Iran had built up on nuclear weapons, despite killing nine Iranian nuclear scientists.

• What are the risks to the Iranian population?

The IAEA has not detected any increase in radiation levels at the affected sites.

‘There is very little risk that attacks on Iran’s uranium enrichment facilities would result in a harmful radiation release,’ said Davenport.

But an attack on the Bushehr plant could ‘have a serious impact on health and the environment’, she added.

• Is Iran close to developing a nuclear bomb?

After the United States unilaterally withdrew in 2018 from a landmark deal that sought to curb Tehran’s nuclear activities, Iran has gradually retreated from some of its obligations, particularly on uranium enrichment.

As of mid-May, the country had an estimated 408.6 kilogrammes enriched to up to 60 percent – just a short step from the 90 percent needed for a nuclear warhead.

Iran theoretically has enough near-weapons-grade material, if further refined, for about 10 nuclear bombs, according to the definition by the Vienna-based IAEA.

Tehran has consistently denied ambitions to develop nuclear warheads. But Davenport warned the strikes could strengthen factions in Iran advocating for an atomic arsenal.

Donald Trump is said to have already vetoed an Israeli opportunity to kill Iran’s Ayatollah Ali Khamenei since the conflict erupted on Friday.

But Tehran’s 86-year-old supreme leader will still be fearing assassination, hiding out in ‘as secure a location as they can manage’ as Israel continues to target high ranking officials with deadly precision strikes across the country, onlookers believe.

Speaking on the BBC’s Newscast over the weekend, The Economist’s defence editor, Shashank Joshi, assessed that Khamenei would likely avoid any public appearances as his remaining loyalists work desperately to keep him out of Israel’s crosshairs.

‘I think they’ll be concerned that Israel has clearly penetrated them inside out, so they will be looking to all possible corners from how to keep him safe, perhaps moving him from place to place,’ he said.

Read the full story by James Reynolds here:

Israel’s former defence minister Yoav Gallant has told how the country had started preparing attacks on Tehran eight months ago.

Mr Gallant made the remark while sharing an image of himself visiting Bat Yam, an Israeli city hit by Iranian missiles in recent days.

In a post on X, Mr Gallant said:

Iran did not understand that as early as October 24, we began paving the air corridor for an attack on Tehran – now we are able to respond to any enemy missile with dozens of heavy and precise bombs in the heart of Tehran; this is what we will do. Thanks and appreciation to the IDF and the security forces for their determined action in the operation to remove the existential threat.

We can now show you video from Farabi Hospital in Kermanshah where an Israeli missile attack earlier today caused severe damage.

Iran has condemned the attack on a hospital as a ‘war crime’.

G7 leaders will gather in the Canadian Rockies on Sunday with the Israel-Iran conflict expected to be a top priority.

Before leaving for the summit on Sunday, US President Donald Trump was asked what he was doing to de-escalate the situation.

He told reporters:

I hope there’s going to be a deal. I think it’s time for a deal. Sometimes they have to fight it out.

Trump has lauded Israel’s offensive while denying Iranian allegations that the US has taken part and warning Tehran not to widen its retaliation to include US targets.

The President has repeatedly said Iran could end the war by agreeing to tough restrictions on its nuclear programme, which Iran says is for peaceful purposes but which Western countries and the IAEA nuclear watchdog say could be used to make an atomic bomb.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has accused Israel of threatening security in the Middle East in a phone call with Russian leader Vladimir Putin earlier today.

Erdogan was quoted saying: “The spiral of violence that began with Israel’s attacks on Iran has put the security of the entire region at risk, (and) that the lawless attitude of the (Israeli premier Benjamin) Netanyahu government poses a clear threat to the international system, and that the region cannot tolerate a new war.”

Speaking to Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian earlier today, Erdogan said Turkey is ready to play a ‘facilitating role’ to end the conflict between Israel and Iran.

The EU has said Russia has ‘zero credibility’ as a potential mediator between Iran and Israel, after US President Donald Trump suggested Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin could play a role.

‘There has been a recent Russia-Iran partnership agreement, which signals deepening cooperation across multiple areas, including foreign policy and defence. In light of such, Russia cannot be an objective mediator,’ EU spokesman Anouar El Anouni said.

It comes after Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said earlier today that Russia remains ready to act as a go-between for the Israel and Iran.

Moscow has previously proposed to store Iranian uranium in Russia in an attempt toi ease tensions and said its offer remained on the table.

Iran has accused Israel of carrying out a ‘war crime’ by targeting a hospital in one of its western cities.

Earlier we reported Iranian media claimed Farabi Hospital suffered ‘serious damage’ after an attack in Kermanshah, more than 500km west of Tehran.

In new remarks, Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said:

‘Farabi Hospital in the city of Kermanshah in western Iran was targeted by the Israeli regime’s aggressive attacks,’ adding that ‘attacking hospitals alongside attacks on residential areas is a gross violation of international law and a war crime’.

A previous media report stated a workshop near the hospital was the target of the Israeli attack.

Pakistan has closed all its border crossings with neighbouring Iran for an indefinite period, provincial officials said on Monday, as Israel and Iran trade intense strikes and threaten further attacks.

‘Border facilities in all five districts – Chaghi, Washuk, Panjgur, Kech and Gwadar – have been suspended,’ Qadir Bakhsh Pirkani, a senior official in Balochistan province, which borders Iran, told AFP.

Pakistan has threatened to drop a nuclear warhead on Israel if Benjamin Netanyahu uses nuclear weapons against Iran, according to a top Iranian officer.

The head of the UN Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA) has warned that the humanitarian disaster is continuing to worsen in Gaza as the world’s attention is diverted elsewhere.

Philippe Lazzarini said ‘scores of people’ have been killed and injured in recent days in the enclave, which has been relentlessly bombarded by Israeli strikes and a ground offensive for more than 600 days.

The death toll in Gaza has surpassed 55,000 and more than 60 percent of the territory’s buildings have been destroyed in Israel’s campaign, according to the Hamas-run government in Gaza.

Read Lazzarini’s full post here:

British nationals stranded in Israel amid the conflict with Iran have called on the UK government to repatriate them.

Flights in and out of the country have been cancelled since Israel and Iran began launching strikes against each other on Friday.

Max Radford, 52, from London, said on social media that he feared his stay in Israel would be ‘indefinite’.

He urged the government to send planes to Cyprus in preparation for a window to fly into Israel.

‘There is absolutely no question that the British government should be putting on repatriation flights,’ he said.

‘They should know that there are thousands of Brits here that are stranded. They need to do something. There is no airline that can do it.’

The British government advised against all travel to Israel over the weekend.

‘My message to British nationals there is clear: your safety remains our top priority. Follow our travel advice for the latest updates,’ David Lammy said.

It comes as Poland has announced that it is preparing to evacuate 200 of its citizens from Israel via Jordan’s capital Amman.

Cancelled flights and an empty departures hall at Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv.

Poland is ready to start evacuating around 200 of its citizens who were on visits to Israel via Jordan’s capital Amman, a deputy foreign minister said earlier today.

‘We assume we will be ready in the next few dozen hours, (the evacuation) will concern those who are stuck as tourists and those staying for a short stay,’ Henryka Moscicka-Dendys told reporters.

If you’re just joining us, the conflict between Israel and Iran shows no signs of abating after Iranian missiles rained down on Israeli cities in a heavy overnight onslaught four days after strikes were launched on Tehran.

Here are the main updates you need to know:

• US President Donald Trump will leave the G7 summit in Canada early ‘so he can attend to many important matters,’ White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt has said.
• Donald Trump has requested for the National Security Council to convene in the situation room, Fox News reports.
• US President Donald Trump posted on social media that ‘everyone should immediately evacuate Tehran’ and branded Iran ‘foolish’ for not signing a deal with the US on its nuclear program before Israeli strikes began.
• The Israeli military earlier issued a notice urging residents of one district of Tehran to evacuate.
• Iran issued an evacuation warning for Israeli news channels after an air strike on Tehran’s state broadcaster on Monday afternoon, suggesting it was planning to retaliate with a similar attack.
• Iran issued an evacuation warning for Israeli news channels after an air strike on Tehran’s state broadcaster on Monday afternoon, suggesting it was planning to retaliate with a similar attack.
• Iran’s state broadcaster has been bombed live on air in an attack by Israel aimed at wiping out what it described as a ‘propaganda megaphone’
• The attack happened as Israel urged all civilians in an area of northern Tehran to evacuate as it carries out further attacks on military infrastructure
• Israel’s defence minister warned television and radio are ‘about to disappear’ shortly before the blast
• Iran’s Revolutionary Guards responded by urging all residents of Tel Aviv to evacuate as soon as possible
• It comes as Iran’s leadership is reportedly showing the first signs of backing down after apparently signalling it is open to negotiations to end the hostilities with the US and Israel
• Further reports claim Tehran has asked Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Oman to press Donald Trump to use his influence on Israel to agree to an immediate ceasefire
• Earlier on Monday, Israeli authorities said 24 people have been killed as a result of Iranian missiles including 11 since midnight after attacks in the cities of Tel Aviv, Haifa, Bnei Brak and Petah Tikva. Iran says Israeli strikes have killed 224 people
• US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee revealed the US Embassy suffered ‘minor damage’ amid the barrage of missiles which rained down on Israel Monday morning
• The Israeli Air Force has claimed it has established full control of the skies above Tehran and has destroyed a third of Iran’s ballistic missile launchers
• Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has vowed ‘we will hold our ground’ as he urged people in the country to unite against Israel
• Videos circulating online appear to show some Iranians in Tehran and Karaj chanting slogans against Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and the Islamic Republic
• Iran is preparing to withdraw from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), an international pact aimed at preventing the spread of nuclear weapons
• US aircraft carrier USS Nimitz is heading west towards the Middle East after leaving the South China Sea this morning

Israel has updated its death toll on the fourth day of attacks from Iran in retaliation against Israeli attacks first launched on Friday.

The Israeli military’s Home Front Command said 24 people have been killed. Most of those who have died were not in bomb shelters, it added.

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei is hiding in an underground bunker with his family as Israel continues to strike leading officials and other targets, according to reports.

Khamenei was evacuated to an underground safehouse in Lavizan, northeast Tehran, hours after Israel began its strikes on Friday, Iran International reports.

He also sought shelter in the bunker when Iran launched attacks on Israel in April and October last year, sources said.

Another source told the outlet that Israel did not assassinate Khamenei on Friday as it wanted to give him a final chance to scrap his uranium enrichment programme.

It comes after reports yesterday that US President Donald Trump vetoed Israeli plans to assassinate Khamenei.

Iranian media said that a hospital in the country’s west suffered serious damage after an Israeli strike in the area on Monday.

‘Following the Zionist criminal regime’s attack on a nearby workshop in Kermanshah city, Farabi Hospital also suffered serious damage,’ the Tasnim news agency reported.

Fars news agency carried a video of the hospital showing shattered glass, collapsed ceilings, and extensive damage in patient rooms.