Iran government jet flees to Oman as country is plunged into blackout

Navigational data on Wednesday showed that at least two planes registered with Iran’s government have landed in Oman’s capital, which was the site of the U.S.-Iran nuclear talks.

Another plane, registered with Iran’s privately-owned Meraj Airlines, also landed in Muscat on Wednesday.

Al Jazeera verified the flight data.

The Iranian government has not released details on an official trip to Oman.

President Donald Trump’s former National Security Advisor Gen. Michael Flynn speculated that the Iranian presidential plane may be one of three Iranian aircraft that landed in Muscat.

Earlier as Trump was debuting new flagpoles being erected at the White House he suggested that the time for negotiations had passed – despite previously keeping a diplomatic option publicly open.

‘It’s already run out,’ he said of his patience. ‘They had 60 days … plenty of time, and they made a mistake.’

Israel Defense Forces (IDF) spokesman Effie Defrin said in a video statement that Israeli Air Force launched new attacks in western Iran on Wednesday evening.

He said that Israeli jets flew over launch and storage sites for surface-to-surface missiles, targeting operatives attempting to access and remove munitions from locations previously struck.

According to the spokesperson, this marked the third major wave of Israeli airstrikes over Iran in the past 24 hours.

The initial overnight operation involved more than 50 fighter jets hitting approximately 40 targets around Tehran.

‘Among the targets struck was a centrifuge production site, a key component in the Iranian regime’s efforts to enrich uranium,’ he said.

The second wave of strikes began Wednesday afternoon, with over 20 additional targets in the Tehran area hit.

The IDF chief said the third wave, which is ongoing, will be targeted at western Iran.

Defrin said Israel Air Force aircraft are flying over ‘launch and storage sites for surface-to-surface missiles.’

‘The jets are targeting operatives attempting to re-access and remove munitions from sites that were previously struck,’ Defrin said.

In a post on its Telegram chanel the Israeli military said it had completed a ‘series of strikes in Tehran’.

‘Over 20 military targets including nuclear weapons development project sites, and missile production sites belonging to the Iranian regime in the area of Tehran were targeted.

‘Over the past hours, 60 IAF fighter jets, with the precise direction of the IDF Intelligence Directorate, struck over 20 military targets in Tehran.’

It added: ‘As part of the broad effort to operate against Iran’s nuclear weapons development project, IAF fighter jets struck weapons production sites, centrifuge production sites, as well as research and development sites of the Iranian regime’s nuclear weapons development project.’

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer has spoken to Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamin bin Hamad al-Thani on the phone to discuss ‘the developments in the Middle East in recent days,’ a Downing Street spokesperson says.

‘Both echoed the need for de-escalation and diplomacy,’ the spokesperson added.

Pictured: Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani in 2023

In a short statement, the military says the drone was intercepted in the south of the Israeli-occupied Syrian territory.

The statement did not say where the drone was fired from.

The UN-backed nuclear watchdog does not believe Iran was attempting to build nuclear weapon, its chief told Sky News on Wednesday.

Director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Grossi, said it ‘could not affirm there is any systematic effort in Iran at the moment to manufacture a nuclear weapon.’

He said the IAEA report, which has been widely cited by Israel, found that Iran is enriching uranium to 60%, the only country in the world to do so, meaning ‘there were elements to be concerned about.’

‘But as to saying they are building and manufacturing a nuclear weapon – no, we didn’t say that,’ he added.

Mr Grossi warned there ‘is always the possibility of a radiological event’ when a nuclear site is hit, such as the ‘dispersion of nuclear material in the atmosphere’.

President Donald Trump told reporters Wednesday afternoon in the Oval Office that he’s headed back to the Situation Room shortly amid the ongoing turmoil with Iran.

He said he hasn’t made a decision on whether to use U.S. forces to strike Iran’s Fordow nuclear facility, which would officially pull the United States into Israel’s current war with Iran.

‘I’ve been asked about it by everybody but I haven’t made a decision,’ he said.

He added that he liked to make a final decision ‘one second before it’s due.’

Trump said he would be meeting advisers downstairs in the ‘war room’ in an hour.

During his back-and-forth reporters, he again cracked the door open for a diplomatic solution, though suggested it was less possible now with Israel’s bombing campaign.

‘You know, Iran was very close to signing what would have been a very good agreement for them, and maybe that could still happen. I guess they do want to come and see us, and they want to see me in the White House,’ he said.

‘It’s not that easy for them to come. They can’t get out. You know, they’re in Iran, and in one case, they want to come so badly, but he can’t get out because his bombs dropping all over,’ Trump added.

At least three Iranian planes on Wednesday landed in the capital of Oman, which had been the site of the previous U.S.-Iran nuclear talks, but it’s unclear if U.S. negotiators are prepared to meet them.

Iran hasn’t officially confirmed the travel to Oman.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps says it has fired Sejil super-heavy, long-range, two-stage missiles at Israel.

The missiles are around 18m long and can strike targets as far away as 2,000km.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer has chaired an emergency Cobra meeting ‘on the situation in the Middle East’.

A Downing Street spokesperson said in the meeting ministers were ‘updated on efforts to support British nationals in the region and protect regional security” as well as ‘ongoing diplomatic efforts’.

Starmer’s decision to convene the high-level emergency response committee comes after he returned from the G7 summit in Canada.

Pictured: Foreign Secretary David Lammy (left) leaves Downing Street, London after Keir Starmer called an emergency Cobra committee today

An Israeli strike has hit near police headquarters in Tehran, according to state media.

A number of police men were wounded, it added.

‘Some buildings around the headquarters of the National Police were attacked, and a number of our colleagues were injured,’ the official IRNA news agency reported, citing a police statement.

Iran’s foreign ministry summoned Germany’s ambassador to Tehran on Wednesday over remarks by German Chancellor supporting Israel’s attacks on the Islamic republic.

‘Following the shameful statements made by the German Chancellor in support of Tel Aviv’s aggression against our country, the country’s (Germany’s) ambassador was summoned to the foreign ministry,’ state TV reported.

Pictured: German Chancellor Friedrich Merz

By Katelyn Caralle, Senior U.S. Political Reporter

The United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres urged a diplomatic solution to the conflict between Israel and Iran.

He pleaded for all parties involved to ‘avoid any further internationalization of the conflict.’

Guterres released a statement Wednesday saying:

I remain profoundly alarmed by the ongoing military escalation in the Middle East between Israel and Iran. I reiterate my call for immediate de-escalation leading to a ceasefire.

In what appeared to be a plea for President Donald Trump not to get involved, the UN leader said:

Any additional military interventions could have enormous consequences, not only for those involved but for the whole region and for international peace and security at large.

Video footage posted online purports to show hackers breaching Iranian television and calling people to take to the streets against the regime.

English subtitles show the message partially reads: ‘The regime has failed to protect Iran’s airspace. It has failed in its offensive efforts. It has failed to provide your basic needs – including water and fuel.’

The Daily Mail has not independently verified the footage.

By Katelyn Caralle, Senior U.S. Political Reporter

Journalists in Israel are actively capturing on video successful rocket interceptions on Wednesday.

Even in the light of day, footage shows the Irone Dome and other defense systems exploding over Tel Aviv as it neutralizes incoming rockets from Iran.

The back-and-forth attacks have continued since last week, when Israel targeted nuclear facilities and military infrastructure to stop Iran from obtaining nuclear weapon capabilities.

An Iranian official told Al Jazeera that terror branch Hezbollah will attack the U.S. if Trump authorizes strikes on nuclear sites:

Direct American entry into the line of confrontation with the Zionist entity means that Hezbollah will take action.

Any direct American involvement in the conflict will be met with an unprecedented threat to enemy ships.

Attacking naval targets and the deployment of enemy forces will become an option – if the U.S. enters the conflict.

As Donald Trump considers options for involvement in Israel’s war with Iran, one particular U.S. general has been in the president’s ear – and he’s getting what he wants.

READ MORE:

By Katelyn Caralle, Senior U.S. Political Reporter

Steve Bannon dramatically predicted that Donald Trump’s supporters will rally behind the president if he decides to blow up Iran’s mountain nuclear base.

It’s a massive flip from Trump’s former chief strategist who has in the past been adamantly opposed to strikes against Iran.

Bannon said that the MAGA movement will stand by Trump – even if they might not be fully on board with the idea of the U.S. backing Israel ‘s attacks on Iran.

‘If President Trump decides there’s not a diplomatic alternative… because he’s been consistent, no nuclear weapon,’ Bannon said during a Christian Science Monitor event on Wednesday.

He continued: ‘The vast majority of the MAGA movement will say, ‘look, we trust your judgment, you walked us through this… Maybe we hate it but, you know, we’ll get on board.”

The Fordow Fuel Enrichment Plant (FEP), buried deep beneath the mountains near the holy city of Qom, is one of Iran’s most secretive and heavily fortified nuclear facilities.

Built in defiance of international pressure and revealed to the world only after Western intelligence agencies exposed its existence in 2009, the site was deliberately constructed far underground to shield it from aerial bombardment.

Enrichment centrifuges housed within its fortified chambers are capable of producing uranium at near-weapons-grade levels.

Access to the site is tightly controlled by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), and inspections by international observers have long been a flashpoint in negotiations.

So far, Israel has targeted multiple Iranian nuclear sites and has damaged the Natanz FEP. But Israeli security officials confirmed on Tuesday that the air force has not targeted Iran’s underground Fordow nuclear facility.

Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi has said China is ‘deeply concerned’ that the conflict between Israel and Iran ‘may get out of control’.

According to the Chinese foreign ministry, Wang told his Egyptian counterpart in a phone call:

Israel’s acts of disregarding international law and international rules has caused the situation in the Middle East to suddenly become tense, and China is also deeply concerned that the situation may get out of control.

In a separate phone call with Oman’s foreign minister, Wang said the two countries ‘cannot sit idly by and let the region slide into an unknown abyss’.

Donald Trump claimed he told Vladimir Putin to ‘mediate your own’ as he dismissed his offer to act as a go-between in the Israel-Iran conflict.

Speaking earlier, Trump said he spoke to the Russian President on Tuesday and suggested he should secure peace in his own country before involving himself in the Middle East.

I spoke to Putin yesterday and he actually offered to help mediate. I said, ‘Do me a favor. Mediate your own. Let’s mediate Russia first. I said, Vladimir, let’s mediate Russia first. You can worry about this later.

Putin has pitched himself as a possible mediator 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.

CNN is reporting the USS Gerald R Ford is being deployed to Europe next week, meaning a third aircraft carrier will be in close proximity to the Middle East.

It has been reported the scheduled deployment has been planned since late last year.

Ford is likely move into eastern Mediterranean Sea, near Israel.

The US is already moving the USS Carl Vinson from Asia, where it normally patrols the South China Sea, to the Persian Gulf, directly south of Iran, to join its sister carrier USS Harry S. Truman.

The US Embassy in Israel announced that it is organising flights and cruises to evacuate American citizens from Israel.

Iranians have been struggling to log on to internet websites and messaging apps after the government apparently decided to restrict access over fears of Israeli cyberattacks.

Two companies Kentinc and Netblocks, which track internet connectivity, told NBC News that Iran’s connection dramatically fell yesterday.

Iranian spokesperson Fatemeh Mohajerani said the government was forced to limit internet speed to maintain stability ‘given the enemy’s cyber attacks’.

On Tuesday, Iranian state television urged people to remove WhatsApp from their smartphones, alleging without specific evidence that the messaging app 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.’

President Donald Trump said he was considering whether the United States will join Israeli strikes on Iran Wednesday, as he said that Tehran had reached out to seek negotiations.

Speaking as he watched installation of a new flagpole at the White House, Trump added that his patience ‘had already run out’ with Iran and repeated his call for the Islamic Republic’s ‘unconditional surrender.’

‘I may do it, I may not do it. I mean, nobody knows what I’m going to do,’ Trump told reporters on the South Lawn when asked if he had decided whether to launch US air strikes.

‘I can tell you this, that Iran’s got a lot of trouble, and they want to negotiate.’

Trump said Iran had even suggested sending officials to the White House to negotiate on Tehran’s nuclear program to end Israel’s air assault, but added that it was ‘very late’.

‘I said it’s very late to be talking. We may meet. There’s a big difference between now and a week ago, right? Big difference,’ Trump added.

‘They’ve suggested that they come to the White House. That’s, you know, courageous, but it’s, like, not easy for them to do.’

Asked what he meant when he called in a social media post on Tuesday for Iran’s ‘UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER!’, Trump again suggested that his patience had run out with Iran.

‘It’s very simple – unconditional surrender. That means I’ve had it, okay? I’ve had it. I give up, no more, we go and blow up all the nuclear stuff that’s all over the place,’ Trump said.

Three Iranian government planes were headed towards Oman today, according to publicly available flight data and Avi Scharf, the OSINT editor at Haaretz.

The planes took off from the south of Iran this afternoon, landing in Muscat, the capital.

Scharf said one of the planes was a presidential plane.

It was not clear what purpose the flights served. Until recently, Muscat was expected to host the U.S.-Iranian nuclear talks.

Iran’s mission to the United Nations has pushed back on Donald Trump’s claims they proposed coming to the White House for talks.

‘No Iranian official has ever asked to grovel at the gates of the White House,’ it said in a written statement.

‘The only thing more despicable than his lies is his cowardly threat to “take out” Iran’s Supreme Leader.’

‘Iran does NOT negotiate under duress, shall NOT accept peace under duress, and certainly NOT with a has-been warmonger clinging to relevance.

‘Iran shall respond to any threat with a counter-threat, and to any action with reciprocal measures.’

It was the first time the president addressed the media after an 80-minute Situation Room meeting with his top generals, national security and intelligence advisers Tuesday as Iran and Israel traded fire.

Trump also said that Iran’s leadership had reached out asking to come to the White House to strike a deal on their nuclear program.

He said simply that it is ‘too late’ for negotiations after Iran launched a five-day barrage of attacks on U.S. ally Israel.

An Israel strike targeted a building of the Iranian Red Crescent Society in Tehran, Iranian media including the official IRNA news agency reported on Wednesday.

The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is the world’s largest humanitarian network.

The Iranian Red Crescent Society (IRCS) has been on the ground in Iran, ‘responding to humanitarian needs’, since the crisis erupted.

Resolute, Donald Trump just reiterated his call for ‘unconditional surrender’ from Iran – hours after the Supreme Leader of Iran said his country would ‘never’ back down.

‘Two words: “Unconditional surrender,”‘ he said on Wednesday afternoon.

He suggested after surrendering, ‘we’ would ‘go and blow up all the nuclear stuff that’s all over the place there’.

‘They had bad intentions, for 40 years they’ve been saying death to Israel, death to America, death to anyone else they didn’t like,’ he said.

‘They were bullies, schoolyard bullies and now they’re not bullies anymore, but we’ll see what happens.’

‘Nothing is finished until it’s finished. War is very complex. A lot of bad things can happen.’

‘The next week is going to be very big. Maybe less than a week.’

Trump added that he had told Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu to ‘keep going’ with strikes, now in their sixth day.

Britain is said to be weighing up whether to provide military support to the United States if it decides to bomb Iran.

Ministers are later today expected to discuss what role the UK should play were the U.S. to decide to join Israel in its kinetic action against Tehran.

British military sources believe the U.S. would wish to use the Diego Garcia military base in the Indian Ocean as a staging post for operations, The Times reports.

In April, the United States moved six B-2 bombers, capable of delivering bunker busters like the Massive Ordnance Penetrator (GBU-57), which could Iran’s remaining nuclear sites in jeopardy.

Sir Keir Starmer will chair a meeting of the emergency Cobra committee on Wednesday to discuss the developing security situation in the Middle East.

FILE PHOTO: A B-2 Stealth Bomber flies over the Washington Monument at the National Mall, during the Independence Day celebrations in Washington DC on July 4, 2020

Donald Trump declined to speak on whether the United States would join with Israel in directly attacking Iran when pressed on Wednesday.

Asked whether the U.S. was moving closer to striking Iranian nuclear facilities, he said: ‘I can’t say that … You don’t seriously think I’m going to answer that question.’

‘You don’t know that I’m going to even do it. You don’t know. I may do it, I may not do it. I mean, nobody knows what I’m going to do.

‘I can tell you this – Iran’s got a lot of trouble, and they want to negotiate. And I said, “Why didn’t you negotiate with me before – all this death and destruction. Why didn’t you negotiate?”

‘I said to the people, “Why didn’t you negotiate with me two weeks ago? You could have done fine. You would have had a country.”‘

Trump told reporters that Iran proposed coming to the White House for talks.

Donald Trump is speaking outside the White House as he unveils new flagpoles.

The President is speaking on domestic economics. It is unknown whether he will speak on Iran.

Israel claimed today to have destroyed Iran’s internal security headquarters in an aerial strike.

Israel Katz, the country’s defence minister, said on Wednesday: ‘The tornado continues to hit Tehran.’

‘Air Force jets have now destroyed the Iranian regime’s Internal Security Headquarters – the Iranian dictator’s central repressive arm.’

‘As we promised – we will continue to damage symbols of power and strike at the ayatollahs’ regime everywhere.’

AFP journalists in the region reported hearing blasts in the north and east of the Iranian capital.

Smoke billows above Tehran, Iran, following explosions in the capital on June 18, 2025

Both countries are vehemently opposed to one another and have scaled up their militaries with a view to ensuring their security in the event of an attack.

As such, Israeli and Iranian armed forces are well matched, but a few key discrepancies remain.

Iran enjoys a heavy advantage in terms of sheer manpower, boasting a collective active and reserve military of roughly 1.2 million troops as well as thousands upon thousands of artillery systems.

Israel meanwhile has around 750,000 active and military personnel at its disposal – but hundreds of thousands of these are already engaged in operations in and around Gaza, while others maintain a presence in the north to ward off border attacks from Hezbollah in Lebanon.

See our MailOnline graphic about how they compare on the battlefield:

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei was reportedly moved to an underground bunker in Lavizan, a northerastern neighbourhood in Tehran, on Friday just hours after Israel launched its first attacks.

Iran International reported all members of Khamenei’s family including his son Mojtaba were with him at the time he was relocated.

He is believed to be holed up with his family, including his son, Mojtaba – who has been pegged as a potential successor to the ageing supreme leader.

Israel has already taken out top ranking officials including the chief of staff of the Iranian military and the commander-in-chief of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Chiefs (IRGC) since Friday.

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.

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.

The high-level meeting follows the Prime Minister’s return from the G7 summit in Canada at which he and other world leaders reiterated their “commitment to peace and stability” but stopped short of calling for a truce between Israel and Iran.

But reports have also suggested US President Donald Trump is considering joining Israeli action against Iran after he left the G7 summit a day early to meet with military chiefs.

Today’s Cobra meeting comes amid confusion over whether British nationals should remain in Israel after the Foreign Office withdrew family members of embassy staff from the country.

The Foreign Office said the withdrawal was temporary and a ‘precautionary measure’, with staff remaining at both the embassy in Tel Aviv and the consulate in Jerusalem.

A spokesperson for the Foreign Office said:

Our embassy in Tel Aviv and consulate in Jerusalem remain fully staffed and continue to provide consular services to those who require assistance.

But Downing Street would not say whether British nationals should attempt to leave the country.

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.

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.

The IDF has confirmed the Israeli Air Force is attacking Iranian regime military targets in Tehran.

Reporters on social media say the blasts are taking place in the Lavizan neighbourhood in the eastern part of the capital.

This is a breaking news post and will be updated

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.

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.

Read more here:

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.’

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.

Shops remain shuttered in Tehran’s historic Grand Bazaar

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 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.

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei made a televised address to the nation

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 a televised address that Iran would ‘stand firm against an imposed war, just as it will stand firm against an imposed peace’, according to the Tasnim news agency.

‘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’.

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

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 their father during his funeral in Gaza City on Wednesday

Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has sent out some eerie messages as US President Donald Trump continues to weigh his options on the ongoing war between the Iranian regime and Israel.

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.

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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.