The flights will be carried out subject to Israel’s clearance and will supplement the chartered civilian flights already operating, the ministries added.

France has an estimated 250,000 of its citizens in Israel, of whom 100,00 are registered on consular lists. A crisis team at the foreign ministry has received more than 4,500 phone calls over the last week.

Earlier on Sunday 160 French citizens, most of them vulnerable or in urgent situations, were flown to Paris from Jordan accompanied by a ministry doctor.

At least three people have been killed in an ambulance that was hit during Israel’s latest strikes on Iran, officials claimed.

“The ambulance … was en route to transfer a patient when it was severely damaged by a drone strike,” said Hamidreza Mohammadi Fesharaki, the governor of Najafabad county in the central Isfahan province told the Isna news agency.

“The impact of the drone caused the ambulance to veer off course and collide with a passing vehicle.”

He said the patient, the patient’s companion and the ambulance driver were killed.

The Iranian ambassador to the UN has said the United States “decided to destroy diplomacy” when it launched strikes on the country’s nuclear facilities.

Amir Saeid Iravani told the UN security council that the Iranian military would now decide the “timing, nature and scale” of its response.

By Richard Spencer and Tom Whipple

The 14 GBU-57 “bunker-busters” dropped on Iran’s nuclear facilities will have done a lot of damage, with about 200 tons of heavy munitions. They may not have “fully obliterated” all three sites at Natanz, Isfahan and Fordow as President Trump claimed, but they probably did cause “severe damage” in the more modest assessment of the Pentagon.

That does not mean, however, that Iran’s nuclear programme is dead and buried. Apart from anything else, somewhere in Iran is probably a deadly cargo of canisters in secure storage. They contain just over 400kg of uranium enriched to 60 per cent purity — enough, with some extra enrichment, for about nine nuclear warheads.

• Read in full: Can Iran still build nuclear weapons after the US bombing?

Trump also praised the “great” B-2 bomber crews who took part in the long-range raid on Iranian nuclear sites.

He posted what appeared to be video of one of the aircraft returning to its base in Missouri.

Trump said: “The damage to the nuclear sites in Iran is said to be ‘monumental’. The hits were hard and accurate. Great skill was shown by our military. Thank you!”

President Trump has appeared to support the overthrow of the regime in Iran in a post on his Truth Soocial platform.

It contradicts his defence secretary, Pete Hegseth, who earlier insisted that was not America’s aim.

Trump said on Sunday evening: “It’s not politically correct to use the term ‘Regime Change’, but if the current Iranian Regime is unable to MAKE IRAN GREAT AGAIN, why wouldn’t there be a Regime change??? MIGA!!!”

Binyamin Netanyahu has said Israel is “very, very close” to achieving its military objectives in Iran after America’s overnight bombing of nuclear sites.

In a prerecorded press conference, the Israeli prime minister said: “We are moving step by step towards achieving these goals, we are very, very close to completing them.

“When they have been reached, the operation will finish”.

He said the US operation “did very serious damage” to the Fordow nuclear site, and promised his country “will not get dragged into a war of attrition”.

Israel has said it destroyed a surface-to-air missile launcher in the heart of Tehran during the latest wave of airstrikes on Sunday evening.

About 20 aircraft took part in the raid and launched more than 30 bombs and missiles on targets in the Iranian capital and western regions, the Israel Defence Forces said on X.

The targets included “infrastructure for storing and launching missiles intended to strike the territory of the state of Israel” as well as satellites and military radar sites in Karamanshah and Medan, the IDF said.

Donald Trump and Sir Keir Starmer have spoken on the phone tonight and agreed on the need for Iran to return to the negotiating table “as soon as possible”.

The two leaders said a diplomatic solution was vital to achieve a “lasting settlement” to ensure Tehran is never able to develop a nuclear weapon.

A Downing Street spokesman said: “The leaders discussed the situation in the Middle East and reiterated the grave risk posed by Iran’s nuclear programme to international security. They discussed the actions taken by the United States last night to reduce the threat and agreed that Iran must never be allowed to develop a nuclear weapon.”

Rafael Grossi, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, the UN nuclear watchdog, has voiced fears of a “potential widening” of the conflict.

“We have a window of opportunity to return to dialogue and diplomacy. If that window closes, violence and destruction could reach unthinkable levels and the global non-proliferation regime as we know it could crumble and fall,” he told the security council meeting.

Grossi said there were visible bomb craters at Iran’s Fordow uranium enrichment facility, but no one had yet been able to assess the damage.

He added that “armed attacks on nuclear facilities should never take place and could result in radioactive releases with grave consequences within and beyond the boundaries of the state which has been attacked.”

Antonio Guterres, the UN secretary-general, has warned against “another cycle of destruction” and retaliation following the US strikes against Iran, which he said marked a “perilous turn” in the region.

“I have repeatedly condemned any military escalation in the Middle East,” he told an emergency meeting of the UN security council. “The people of the region cannot endure another cycle of destruction. And yet, we now risk descending into a rathole of retaliation after retaliation.”

Israel has said is bombing Iran again on Sunday evening.

The Israel Defence Forces said on X that targets included military infrastructure in Tehran and western Iran.

David Lammy, the British foreign secretary, said he has spoken to his counterparts in Israel and Iran.

In a post on X, Lammy said he spoke of the need for de-escalation. “I urged a diplomatic, negotiated solution to end this crisis,” he said.

Binyamin Netanyahu, Israel’s prime minister, visited the Western Wall in Jerusalem on Sunday, offering prayers of gratitude to the US president.

He placed a handwritten note in the wall, part of the ancient Temple Mount and a sacred site for Jewish people.

The note said: “A people has risen like a lion” — a reference to a Biblical prophesy and the name of Israel’s operation against Iran.

The government press office said Netanyahu and his wife Sara had recited a special prayer “for the wellbeing of IDF soldiers and the security forces, and for the wellbeing of the hostages in Gaza.”

Netanyahu also recited a special prayer “for the wellbeing of US President Donald Trump”, who it said “has stood alongside the state of Israel in its forceful operations in Iran and provided important assistance in defending Israel’s cities”.

Hamid, 52, a father of four and business owner, told The Times he has sought shelter in a village with his family and was forced to shut his carpet factory after a missile struck close to his car.

“We were living our normal lives when America attacked us in the darkness,” he said. “We didn’t expect this after a week of conflict with Israel. I worry for my children.

“If the war drags on, we fear we will soon face shortages of the commodities and daily staples including water and food.”

Emaan, a 27-year-old doctor, said: “I hope for a ceasefire and peace because this situation is dangerous for everyone. The war will undoubtedly create many hardships and challenges for the civilian population.”

A 46-year-old housewife, who did not want to be named, described how her family quickly packed a few small bags and began a precarious journey to the border. They eventually crossed into Armenia, where they have been staying in hotels.

Having lived through the Iran-Iraq war, she wanted to protect her children from similar trauma. While expressing indifference for the nuclear sites, she felt sorrow for ordinary Iranians caught between their own government and the Israeli and American strikes.

The Iranian health ministry has said the conflict with Israel has so far killed 400 people, injured 3,000 and severely disrupted the lives of the nation’s 90 million citizens. Many have fled to rural areas or neighbouring countries.

Iran’s Red Crescent Society reported that 11 people were injured during the US attacks on three nuclear sites, and four remained in hospital.

Hossein Kermanpour, a spokesman for the health ministry, said the sites had emergency nuclear clinics nearby and added: “Fortunately, none of the patients admitted to the clinics showed signs of radioactive contamination.”

While the world’s attention largely focuses on Iran, at least 15 people have been killed by a suicide bomber inside a church during mass in Damascus, Syrian state media reports.

The attacker entered the church of Mar Elias and “opened fire then blew himself up with an explosive belt”, Syria’s interior ministry said in a statement. It said 15 worshippers were killed and 13 were injured.

Syrian officials said the attacker was a member of Islamic State. It marks the latest in a spate of ethnically motivated violence as Ahmed al-Sharaa, the new president, attempts to create a unified Syria after decades under sectarian rule.

More than 200 places in Tehran have been hit in ten days of Israeli strikes, Iranian officials said, after Israel pledged to continue its campaign “for as long as necessary”.

Eyal Zamir, Israel’s chief of the general staff, said Israel had “reached a turning point in the campaign” after America’s “very precise and impressive strike” on Iranian nuclear facilities.

“We must not forget: the campaign is ongoing and we still have targets to strike and objectives to complete,” he said. “We continue to increase the rate of our strikes in accordance with the operational plan, and we are prepared to continue for as long as necessary.”

At least nine members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps were killed today alone, in Israeli attacks on central Iran, local media reported.

Binyamin Netanyahu, Israel’s prime minister, was informed about the US airstrikes on Iran 24 hours before they took place, according to the Times of Israel.

Iran was not expected to significantly escalate its attacks on Israel, an official told the newspaper. “We expect more of the same, like what they’ve done this morning.”

The official added that Israel was “happy to wrap up” attacks on Iran if the regime agreed to dismantle its nuclear programme.

Analysis by Roger Boyes

On Sunday, hours after the attack on its nuclear sites, Iran was disrupting GPS signals on the Strait of Hormuz. The strait is an energy chokepoint: barely 24 miles wide, it is the route through which 25 per cent of the world’s oil and 30 per cent of its liquefied natural gas travels.

There has already been talk of Iranian submarines planting mines along the way. A crude way of turning what started as a war between Israel and Iran, which mutated into the US and Israel versus Tehran, into Iran versus the world.

Read in full: Iran has the most to risk if it declares war on the world

The leaders of two prominent Iranian opposition factions on Sunday urged Ayatollah Ali Khamenei to step down.

Reza Pahlavi, the son of the shah ousted by the 1979 Islamic revolution, and Maryam Rajavi, the leader of the People’s Mojahedin, which is outlawed in Iran, said in separate statements that Khamenei must quit after over a week of war between Iran and Israel.

“Now Khamenei must go,” said Rajavi, saying that the supreme leader’s “unpatriotic project” had now “all gone up in smoke”. Pahlavi, who is the figurehead for supporters of the ousted Iranian monarchy, said: “The only sure way to achieve peace is for this regime to now end.”

Regime insiders have spoken about various ways they may be able to undermine Khamenei’s authority, as he is believed to be largely uncontactable, hiding deep underground in a bunker. “Tehran is now full of such plots [to overthrow Khamenei]” one person with knowledge of such conversations told The Atlantic. “They are also talking to Europeans about the future of Iran. Everybody knows Khamenei’s days are numbered. Even if he stays in office, he won’t have actual power.”

By David Charter, in Washington

The clock started ticking down towards US bombing after the Iranian regime failed to respond within a 60-day deadline set in a private letter from President Trump to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Even as military preparations were in full swing over the past week, senior officials said Trump remained open throughout to a meaningful overture from Tehran, as indicated when he told his press secretary to announce he would decide “within two weeks” on Thursday.

But Trump, who likes to deal personally with his fellow national leader and was angry that his earlier overtures had brought nothing back from Khamenei himself, had ratcheted up his call on Iran from limited uranium enrichment to zero.

President Erdogan of Turkey called Trump last Monday, according to Axios, with an offer to host face-to-face talks in the following day. Trump said he would go himself, directly from the G7 meeting in Canada. Iran’s President Pezeshkian was reportedly prepared to travel too, but was unable to contact Khamenei who was hiding from Israeli attacks in a bunker and incommunicado. Without Khamenei’s approval the Iranians could not commit to the peace mission and after several hours the Turks abandoned the idea.

Talks between David Lammy, the Foreign Secretary, and his Iranian counterpart Abbas Araghchi on Thursday in Geneva, which yielded little progress, may have been the final straw that broke Trump’s patience.

Speaking hours after the United States decided to join Israel’s offensive and strike Iranian nuclear facilities, Pete Hegseth, the US defence secretary, was unequivocal: “The operation President Trump planned was bold and it was brilliant, showing the world that American deterrence is back.”

In reality, however, nothing is so simple in such a complex picture and there are several crucial unanswered questions after America’s intervention.

Read in full: The unanswered questions raised by the US strikes on Iran

Even if Iran’s nuclear sites are destroyed the “game is not over”, Ali Shamkhani, an adviser to Iran’s supreme leader, has said on X.

Shamkhani said enriched nuclear materials, knowhow and political will have survived, regardless of US strikes. “Political and operational initiative is now with the side that plays smart, avoids blind strikes. Surprises will continue!” he added.

Also taking to X, Esmaeil Baqaei, an Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson, said Tehran would defend its national sovereignty “by all necessary means”.

The leaders of Britain, France and Germany have issued a joint statement urging Iran not to take any further action that would destabalise the Middle East and called on Tehran to get back to the negotiating table.

The three countries have played a key mediation role between Iran, Israel and the US but failed to prevent the conflict escalating as the US took unilateral action to bomb Iran’s nuclear facilities.

Following further discussions on how to avoid a further escalation of the conflict, Sir Keir Starmer and his French and German counterparts reaffirmed their support for the security of Israel and said Iran can “never have a nuclear weapon and can no longer pose a threat to regional security”.

They said they will continue their attempts to achieve a diplomatic solution to removing Iran’s nuclear capability.

In a joint statement, they said: “We urge Iran not to take any further action that could destabilise the region.

“We will continue our joint diplomatic efforts to defuse tensions and ensure the conflict does not intensify and spread further.”

Despite the Kremlin’s fiery rhetoric on US strikes on Iran — Dmitry Medvedev, deputy head of Russia’s national security council, accused President Trump of starting “another war” — there has been no signal that Russia is preparing a military response.

Experts say that with resources tied up in the war in Ukraine, Russia is unlikely to be preparing to come to Tehran’s rescue. “Putin will of course fire out a lot of aggressive rhetoric … but he can’t do much,” said Ian Garner, a historian and academic focused on Russian culture and war propaganda. “It will likely be a case that Putin’s bark is very loud but his bite is about as toothless as it gets.”

Since Israel began bombarding Iran on June 13, Russian action has been limited to condemnation and an offer to mediate between the two sides.

British Airways cancelled flights between London’s Heathrow Airport and Dubai and Doha as fears mount that Iran could strike US bases in the Gulf.

“As a result of recent events, we have adjusted our flight schedule to ensure the safety of our customers and crew,” a BA spokesperson said, confirming that outgoing and incoming flights between Heathrow and the Qatari capital and the United Arab Emirates’ most populous city.

Qatar is home to what is perhaps America’s most significant Middle Eastern base, the forward headquarters of US Central Command, which is responsible for American military operations in the Middle East, central Asia and parts of south Asia.

Also vital to US interests is the Al Dhafra Air Base in the UAE.

The Natanz nuclear facility has been “completely destroyed” by US strikes, the head of the UN’s nuclear watchdog has said.

Rafael Grossi, the International Atomic Energy Agency chief, said Natanz, which was one of three nuclear sites targeted by the US overnight, has been “completely destroyed”, Sky News reports, citing an interview with CNN. Grossi said Natanz underground halls had also “suffered a lot” due to electricity cuts.

He was unable, however, to give a clear assessment of Fordow, the nuclear site buried deep in an Iranian mountain. “There are clear indications of impacts [on Fordow],” Grossi said, “but as for the assessment for the degree of damage underground, on this we cannot pronounce ourselves.”

The third site of Isfahan has also suffered “very significant damage,” he added.

Russia, China and Pakistan have proposed a draft UN Security Council resolution calling for an immediate and unconditional ceasefire, diplomats have told Reuters.

The Security Council is due to hold an emergency session later today, with Iran earlier requesting a meeting to address America’s “outrageous” actions.

Israel’s military has released further information on strikes it undertook on Iran earlier on Sunday, which it said hit “dozens” of targets.

Fighter jets flew about 1,400 miles, hitting one of their deepest targets in Iran yet and striking the Yazd area — where Iran stored long-range Khorramshahr missiles, the military claimed.

Earlier today, America’s top general Dan Caine claimed US bombers had been completely unhindered by Iranian defences before hitting nuclear facilities overnight.

The US military commander in charge of the American attacks on Iran’s nuclear plants has the nickname “The Gorilla” for more reasons than his name and physique. After being shot in the arm and both legs while on tour in Iraq in 2005, he borrowed a mobile phone to tell his wife, Paige, that he had only suffered superficial wounds.

Michael Kurilla, aged 59 and due to retire next month, has been thrust into the forefront of the Iran nuclear drama because of his often-stated tough and robust views on the Middle East and the gravity of the threat posed by a nuclear-armed Iran.

Michael Kurilla with Yoav Gallant, Israel’s defense minister in 2024

ANADOLU/GETTY IMAGES

His physically huge presence and forthright advice on the need for a build-up of American forces in the Middle East — part of Central Command’s remit — has persuaded many political observers in Washington to claim that Kurilla has effectively been running the show vis-à-vis grabbing Trump‘s attention to prepare for strikes on Iran — something a spokesperson for Pete Hegseth, the US defence secretary, has denied.

He is without question the general of the moment. “He’s got the look of the general that both Hegseth and Trump are looking for, he’s a big dude, he’s jacked [has significant muscle size and strength], he’s exactly this lethality look they’re going for,” Bilal Saab, a former Pentagon official who served in Trump’s first administration, told Politico.

Ukraine has come out in support of the US strikes on Iran, with its foreign ministry saying it is “convinced that Iran’s nuclear programme must be stopped so that it never again poses a threat to the countries of the Middle East or any other state”.

The statement comes as President Zelensky attempts to improve relations with President Trump, following a tumultuous start to the US president’s return to the White House.

While President Putin has yet to comment on the US strikes, he is expected to take little comfort in Trump’s decision. Trump had been widely regarded as reluctant to get involved in foreign conflicts, such as the one Russia is waging in Ukraine.

Marco Rubio has called on China to pressure Iran not to close the Strait of Hormuz.

The US secretary of state told Fox News that the closure of the strait, through which around 25 per cent of the world’s oil and gas demands flow, would mark a “major escalation”.

Rubio said it would be “economic suicide for them if they do it”, adding: “We retain options to deal with that, but other countries should be looking at that as well. It would hurt other countries’ economies a lot worse than ours.”

Earlier today, Iran’s parliament approved the strait’s closure. A final decision will be taken by the country’s security council.

Israel hit “dozens” of targets across Iran on Sunday, with about 30 fighter jets targeting missile and drone sites, including a long-range missile site in Yazd, in the centre of the country, for the first time, according to the country’s military.

“As part of the wave of strikes, fighter jets targeted for the first time the ‘Imam Hussein’ strategic missile headquarters in the Yazd area, where long-range Khorramshahr missiles were stored,” the military said in a statement.

Marco Rubio, the US secretary of state, said US air strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities made the world more secure, dismissing fears the attacks risk sparking a wider conflict.

“I think the world today is safer and more stable than it was 24 hours ago,” he told Fox News, warning the Middle Eastern nation that it risked further reprisals if it insisted on maintaining a “secret” nuclear programme.

Rubio accused Iran of entering into “fake negotiations” ahead of the strikes in a bid to “play” President Trump.

President Macron spoke to Iran’s President Pezeshkian and called for “de-escalation and the greatest restraint” to return to a diplomatic path.

“Dialogue and a clear undertaking by Iran to renounce nuclear weapons, or the risk of the worst for the whole region. There is only one path which leads to peace and security for everyone,” the French president told the Iranian, according to his office.

Before chairing a French security council session in the evening, Macron also held conversations with the leaders of Saudi Arabia, Oman, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar.

Iran will focus its energies on the destruction of US bases in the Middle East, reports a news agency managed by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

Fars News Agency claimed that three military sources said Iran intends to use surprise operations to “keep an eye on the United States and its bases in the region” while continuing to pressure Israel.

Iran predicted the war with Israel would last between two and six months, the news agency added, although did not specify if this involved further conflict with the US.

On Sunday, Iran executed a man named Majid Mosayebi after he was convicted of being an agent for Israel’s Mossad spy service.

Mosayebi was accused of seeking to provide “sensitive information … to Mossad”, the judiciary said.

In the northwestern Kermanshah province, three people were also arrested on charges of espionage and handed over to judicial authorities, one of whom is a European citizen, according to Tasnim News Agency.

The Pentagon has released a timeline and map, revealing details of last night’s Operation Hammer.

The handout shows how B-2 stealth bombers were in and out of Iran within a matter of hours.

Earlier this afternoon, America’s top general Dan Caine claimed the bombers were unhindered by Iranian defences. “Iran’s fighters did not fly, and it appears that Iran’s surface-to-air missile systems did not see us throughout the mission. We retained the element of surprise,” he said.

YASIN OZTURK/ANADOLU/GETTY IMAGES

JD Vance, the US vice-president, has claimed President Trump still hopes to pursue a diplomatic solution with Iran.

“We do not want to protract this or build this out anymore than it’s already been built out. We want to end their nuclear program,” Vance told NBC.

“We want to talk to the Iranians about a long-term settlement here,” he added.

Vance said the US was “not at war with Iran” but at war with “Iran’s nuclear programme”.

With Iran’s parliament having reportedly approved the closure of the Strait of Hormuz — through which around 20 per cent of the oil and gas consumed globally flow — Iranian media has clarified the country’s security council must make the final decision on whether the closure should go ahead.

Esmail Kosari, a Revolutionary Guards commander, said that doing so is on the agenda and “will be done whenever necessary”.

New satellite images show the extent to which US “bunker busting” bombs impacted Iran’s heavily fortified nuclear enrichment facility at Fordow.

Six fresh craters appear to have been created, images from Maxar Technologies reveal. While the evidence of huge blast effects cannot be seen, the Massive Ordnance Penetrator (MOP) bombs are not designed to detonate upon entry, but deeper down underground.

A satellite view shows the ridge at Fordow underground complex, before the US struck the underground nuclear facility in Iran and, below, after the attack

MAXAR TECHNOLOGIES/REUTERS

MAXAR TECHNOLOGIES/REUTERS

TSAFRIR ABAYOV/ANADOLU VIA GETTY IMAGES

DIMA VAZINOVICH/GETTY IMAGES

DIMA VAZINOVICH/GETTY IMAGES

MAYA LEVIN/AFP/GETTY IMAGES

MAYA LEVIN/AFP/GETTY IMAGES

Iran’s parliament has approved the closing of the Strait of Hormuz, local media reports, as it seeks to retaliate against Washington’s strikes on nuclear facilities.

A third of the world’s liquefied natural gas and almost 25 per cent of total global oil consumption pass through the strait.

Earlier today Philip Ingram, a former senior British military intelligence officer, said the prospect of the strait closing was “really, really worrying”.

He told Sky News: “The economic shock that would cause across the world would make what happened when Russia invaded Ukraine just over three years ago seem like small change.”

As one of the most strategically important choke points, the Strait of Hormuz provides the only sea passage from the Persian Gulf to the open ocean.

Despite Pete Hegseth, the US defence secretary, saying the strike “devastated the Iranian nuclear programme”, the overnight attacks did not completely destroy the heavily fortified nuclear facility Fordow, but only severely damaged it, the New York Times reports.

Iran, meanwhile, has insisted its nuclear know-how “cannot be destroyed”. Abbas Araghchi, its foreign minister, said: “Iran’s nuclear program is not an import that can be destroyed by bombing. This program is the result of indigenous knowledge and technology of Iranian scientists. Science cannot be destroyed or turned back by bombing.”

As Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, heads to Moscow for talks with President Putin, there are no signs that the Kremlin is preparing to come to Tehran’s rescue.

“Judging by Putin’s statements in recent days, he is extremely cautious. Maximally so,” said Fyodor Lukyanov, the head of Russia’s Council on Foreign and Defence Policy, which advises the Kremlin. “He has never expressed any assessment of one side or the other. Only about the need for negotiations and a peaceful solution.”

“There are proposals on how to try to reach an agreement in this situation, but the participants themselves are clearly not ready for them now,” he added.

If the regime appears to be close to collapse, Russia would “prepare for the consequences,” Lukyanov said. “There will be refugees and so on. We could see a second Iraq, as Israel’s goal of regime change is obvious. But no one knows what will happen in this scenario.”

The overnight attacks on Iran have been confirmed as the “largest B-2 operational strike in US history”, by America’s top general.

As the Pentagon press conference wrapped up, General Dan Caine said the strikes were unilateral attacks, not involving any Israeli fighter jets.

Pete Hegseth addressed Israel’s ongoing bombing campaign against Iran, describing it as an “incredible success”.

“It’s been incredible to watch what our ally Israel has been able to do, and there certainly have been conversations,” the US defence secretary added.

Pete Hegseth says US military “capabilities are unlimited”

ANDREW HARNIK/GETTY IMAGES

Pete Hegseth insisted the “mission was not and has not been about regime change”.

On whether the US was prepared for a prolonged conflict, Hegseth said “anything can happen in conflict”.

The defence secretary added that while the overnight strikes were “limited”, US military “capabilities are unlimited”.

“The president authorised a precision operation to neutralise the threats to our national interests posed by the Iranian nuclear programme, and the collective self-defence of our troops and our ally, Israel,” Hegseth continued.

General Dan Caine said the US deployed “several decoys” during Operation Midnight Hammer, explaining how the movement of some B-2 stealth bombers over the Pacific was a feint.

Once the B-2 bombers reached Iranian airspace, around 5pm local time, a US submarine launched “more than two dozen Tomahawk cruise missiles against key targets” at the Isfahan nuclear site, the top US general added.

The stealth bombers, he said, undertook an 18-hour flight with multiple mid-flight refuellings.

“It was planned and executed across multiple domains and theatres with coordination that reflects our ability to project power globally with speed and precision at the time and place of our nation’s choosing,” Caine told reporters.

A top US general has revealed seven B-2 bombers dropped 14 MOP bombs, also known as bunker buster bombs.

During the operation, dubbed “Midnight Hammer”, General Dan Caine said “severe” damage was sustained to all three Iranian nuclear sites targeted by the US, but said the full impact of the attacks would not be known for some days.

Caine, who is the US Chair of Joint Chiefs of Staff General, said Iranian air defence systems did not detect the aircraft during the strikes.

The US military used B-2 stealth bombers and Massive Ordnance Penetrators (MOPs) bombs to strike Iran, Pete Hegseth has confirmed.

The US defence secretary said they went “in and out of Iran without the world knowing at all”.

The US defence secretary has stated “American deterrence is back”, praising President Trump for a “bold” and “brilliant” attack. “When this President speaks, the world should listen,” he added.

Speaking in a live televised address, Pete Hegseth claimed the US has “devastated the Iranian nuclear programme”, which he said is now “obliterated”.

He praised President Trump for doing what his predecessors never did, adding that presidents have previously only “dreamed of delivering the final blow to Iran’s nuclear programme”.

The headquarters of Ashura Corps, a division of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, was the target of Israeli missile attacks on Sunday morning, according to Iran International.

Footage on social media appeared to show large plumes of smoke in the skies above the northwestern city of Tabriz.

Later in the day, Ashura Corps said it had shot down an Israeli drone, along with “several hostile aircraft”.

INSTAGRAM

Pete Hegseth, the US defence secretary, is due to give a press conference shortly in a rare appearance in the Pentagon briefing room.

He stood behind President Trump last night as he announced the strikes on Iran, alongside vice-president Vance and Marco Rubio, the secretary of state, but has yet to speak of the bombings himself.

While there were relatively few injuries in the Iranian missile strike that hit Tel Aviv early on Sunday, the blast wave from the impact caused damage up to several streets away.

The vast majority of residents had either entered shelters when the air-raid sirens sounded, or has left for safer areas outside of Tel Aviv, when the war began on June 13. Shop staff swept up glass from shattered windows at a nearby shopping centre, while residents piled up their possessions.

Though most people were vocal in their support for US strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities, some were worried about what comes next. “All this was inevitable,” said Inna, who moved to Israel from Ukraine in the 1980s.

“We needed to eliminate the threat from Iran. But I am terrified now about the future. I have two sons and I worry about what kind of life they will have. But [President] Trump did the right thing — I have no doubt about that.”

Since fighting began on June 13, 9,000 people in Israel have lost their homes, according to the military’s home front command.

Evacuation flights will be limited to 50 passengers, officials in Israel have said, casting doubt over the speed at which Britons will be brought home.

Officials in Tel Aviv said that preparations were underway for the “gradual resumption” of outbound flights from Monday.

It will be the first opportunity for foreigners to return to their home countries since the start of the war with Iran on June 13.

Israel closed its airspace at the outbreak of the war, leaving about 40,000 tourists trapped in the country. The UK said on Sunday it was preparing for a repatriation flight in the coming days and told Britons in the country to register.

Priti Patel, the shadow foreign secretary, has called on the government to “start moving fast” to protect British citizens in Israel.

‘They’ve been talking about this for days,” she told Times Radio. “The Americans are ready to evacuate 25,000 US nationals — we must not be behind the curve.”

PETER NICHOLLS/GETTY IMAGES

The government has announced it is preparing a first rescue flight out of Israel “early next week”.

Patel, who served as home secretary under Boris Johnson, described the US bombing of Iran as “absolutely necessary” and added: “America is our number one ally. The British public need to hear — loud and clear — that we are standing with them.”

Downing Street said that in a call with King Abdullah II of Jordan, Sir Keir Starmer “reiterated that Iran’s nuclear programme is a grave threat to international security and they must never be allowed to develop a nuclear weapon”.

“They called on Iran to return to the negotiating table in pursuit of a diplomatic solution,” No 10 added.

In a call with Sultan Haitham bin Tariq al-Said, the prime minister of Oman, the two leaders were said to agree that “an escalation of the conflict is in no one’s interests and the focus must be on de-escalation”.

A “huge explosion” has been heard in Bushehr, a city in southwestern Iran home to a nuclear reactor, according to Shargh, an Iranian newspaper.

Air defences were also activated in eastern Tehran, state media reported, specifically in eastern Tehran province and the Yazd province.

Saudi Arabia, which is home to a US air force base, is on high security alert after US strikes on Iran — with US Gulf allies now possible targets for Tehran as it seeks ways to retaliate against Washington.

After the US strikes on Iran, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said that the US bases in the Middle East were “not their strength but rather their greatest vulnerability”.

Perhaps the most significant base is in Qatar, home to the forward headquarters of US Central Command, which is responsible for American military operations in the Middle East, central Asia and parts of south Asia. Also vital to US interests is the base in Bahrain, home of the US navy’s fifth fleet.

Russia, which had been seeking to repair relations with the US under the Trump administration, has accused the American president of initiating “a new war”.

Dmitry Medvedev, deputy chairman of Russia’s Security Council, claimed the “absolute majority” of countries oppose “the actions of Israel and the United States.” He added on Telegram: “Trump, who presented himself as a peacemaker president, has initiated a new war for the US.

“The United States is becoming embroiled in a new conflict, with the possibility of a ground operation. At this rate, Trump won’t be winning the Nobel Peace Prize.”

President Putin with Dmitry Medvedev

MIKHAIL SVETLOV/GETTY IMAGES

China, another powerful Iranian ally, said it “strongly condemns” the attacks, with its foreign ministry saying they would “escalate tensions in the Middle East”.

Iran is still ready to negotiate even though the US strikes amount to a “betrayal of diplomacy”, Tehran’s ambassador to the UK said.

Seyed Ali Mousavi told Times Radio that “diplomacy is still open” but added: “Our future engagement depends entirely on the behaviour of those who claim to support peace while taking violent actions.”

Asked how Iran would respond, Mousavi invoked the right of self-defence under Article 51 of the UN Charter. He said: “Every option is under consideration and, according to our interests, national interests, regional and global interests, we are going to make our reaction.”

He insisted that Iran’s enrichment of uranium was “fully monitored” by the UN’s nuclear watchdog and said: “There is no deviation or diversion towards military use.”

Iranian authorities have arrested 53 people allegedly connected to Israel, charging them with disturbing public opinion, operating drones, filming sensitive locations, and transmitting that footage to “hostile media outlets,” according to Iran’s Fars news agency.

The arrests took place in Fars province, situated in southern Iran near the Persian Gulf.

The prime minister pledged to take “all necessary measures” to protect British personnel in the region. Speaking on Sunday, he accepted that the UK had “taken action to alleviate that threat”.

However, when asked whether he supported Trump’s decision to bomb Iran, Sir Keir Starmer said: “We’ve long had concerns about the Iranian nuclear program, and been very clear that Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon.

“The US has now taken action to alleviate that threat. It is important that we now de-escalate the situation, stabilise the region, and get the parties back around the table to negotiate, and I’ve been speaking with international leaders this morning to that end.

“So I want to reassure the British public that we’re doing everything we can to stabilise the situation, to de-escalate the situation, and to get to a negotiated outcome. But I’m very clear in my own mind that Iran cannot be allowed to have a nuclear weapon. That is the greatest threat to stability in the region.”

Sir Keir Starmer has warned there is “a risk of escalation” following the US airstrikes on Iran overnight, as he refused to say whether he supported President Trump’s decision to join the conflict.

He said his focus was now on de-escalating the conflict, stabilising the region and to get partners around the table to achieve a “negotiated outcome”.

The prime minister said he was “not going to speculate about what may happen” when asked if Britain would intervene to protect a Nato ally should the US be attacked by Iran.

Britain had pushed for a diplomatic solution to eradicating Iran’s nuclear programme. He confirmed that Britain had moved military assets to the region to protect Britain’s interests, personal and those of allies.

President Macron will convene a defence council meeting on Sunday, as Sir Keir Starmer prepares to chair a Cobra meeting in the UK.

Macron — who spoke to several leaders, including the Saudi Crown Prince on the issue — will also hold further talks with European and regional leaders during the day.

The French presidency added that work would be done to speed up the departure of French citizens who wished to leave Iran and Israel.

Sir Keir Starmer will chair a meeting of the government’s emergency Cobra committee with ministers, officials and members of the armed forces after the overnight US airstrikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities.

The meeting will discuss potential scenarios from the fallout of the military action. It is expected to address the potential for Britain to be dragged into the conflict and the threat faced by Iran to British nationals in the Middle East. It is also expected to discuss the prospect of Iranian-backed terror threats posed by the Iranian regime on UK soil.

By Matt Dathan

The US decided not to use Diego Garcia as a staging post for its airstrikes on Iran, leaving Britain out of the conflict, for now. President Trump would have required Sir Keir Starmer’s approval to use the military base in the Indian Ocean.

However, it only gives Starmer a temporary reprieve from an invidious decision about whether to join the conflict. The very fact that Trump went ahead with the strikes is embarrassing for the prime minister, as he said on Tuesday that Trump would not intervene, after sitting with the president at a dinner at the G7 summit in Canada.

Read in full: Starmer faces critical questions in the coming week

Iran’s foreign minister said he would hold talks with President Putin in Russia on Monday.

“I’m going to Moscow this afternoon,” Abbas Araghchi told a meeting of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in Istanbul on Sunday. “Serious consultations with the Russian president tomorrow.”

Araghchi also accused the US of crossing “a very big red line” by attacking Iran’s nuclear facilities. He vowed that Iran would defend itself “by all means necessary”.

Iran poses a real threat to the UK and cannot be allowed to indulge in “nuclear blackmail”, a cabinet minister has said.

Jonathan Reynolds, the business secretary, told Adam Boulton on Times Radio that the government fully backed the US strikes targeting Iran’s nuclear facilities. He said: “I cannot tell you anyone in the United Kingdom should regret the capability for Iran having a nuclear weapon being taken away.”

Reynolds added: “This is not an abstract threat to the UK. The Iranian regime engages in cyber attacks on our national infrastructure and intimidates dissidents on UK soil. We cannot allow a country engaged in that kind of activity the chance to get involved in nuclear blackmail.”

Four members of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps were killed in an attack on a military base in Qom province on Sunday, according to the Mehr news agency, which is linked to the Iranian government. The Fordow uranium enrichment facility, which was targeted in the US strikes, is located in Qom province.

Morteza Heidari, a spokesman for the crisis management headquarters in Qom, reported that “a few hours ago, the hostile enemy launched projectiles at a military base,” but did not specify whether the attack was carried out by Iran or the US.

Residents of flats that were badly damaged in Tel Aviv this morning by an Iranian ballistic missile were unanimous in their support for US strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities.

“If the Iranian regime has access to nuclear weapons, they will not hesitate to use them against Israeli civilians — they want to destroy us,” said Alex, who was removing possessions from the wreckage of his first floor flat. In such situations, you need to be pro-active.” A number of buildings were damaged by the missile when it exploded in a leafy residential area next to the Ramat Aviv shopping centre.

A group of locals who were sitting in a park outside a blown out building, said that they were suspicious of the motivations of Binyamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, for choosing this provide moment to launch strikes on Iran. However, they said they agreed that Iran was a threat.

“We didn’t take the threats from Hamas seriously enough before October 7, 2023,” said Iris. “We are all a bit more experienced and damaged now.”

ODED BALILTY/AP

TOMER APPELBAUM/REUTERS

The UK had previously been preparing for the US to request use of its Diego Garcia base in the Chagos Islands, which is twice as close to Iran as Guam, and was thought to be an obvious staging post. On Sunday, however, Jonathan Reynolds, the business secretary, confirmed “no request was made”.

US bombers are believed to have flown from the state of Missouri to Guam, before heading to Iran. A flight that distance would also have required the B-2 bombers to be refuelled mid-air, multiple times.

Many commentators have asked why the UK’s assistance was not asked for during the overnight mission and queried if it is a reflection of the state of the so-called special relationship with the US.

On Saturday night, a group of American B-2 Spirit stealth bombers headed towards Guam, a US island territory in Micronesia, according to reports.

David Shayani, a resident of Warsaw in Missouri, posted on X that he saw nine B-2 bombers fly over his house — a few miles from the Whiteman Air Force Base where the bomber fleet is stationed.

A B-2 stealth bomber

FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP/GETTY IMAGES

Hours later, Iran confirmed three nuclear facilities had been hit, including Fordow — a uranium enrichment plant buried deep in a remote mountainside.

President Trump said a “full payload of bombs” was dropped on Fordow, but did not say which type of bombs were used. Each of the B-2 bombers is capable of carrying two Massive Ordnance Penetrators (MOPs) — 6m-long, 13.6-tonne bombs that can smash through layers of rock and destroy underground bunkers.

The pilots were thought to have struck just before the sun rose in Iran.

• Read in full: How the US strikes on Iran’s nuclear sites could have unfolded

Satellite imagery of the Fordow nuclear facility revealed “unusual” activity near the entrance in the days leading up to the US strikes.

The Fordow facility earlier this month

MAXAR TECHNOLOGIES/AFP/GETTY IMAGES

Maxar, the US space technology company, said high-resolution pictures captured a group of 16 cargo trucks near the tunnel’s access road on June 19.

Images the next day, June 20, revealed that most of the trucks had moved about 1km along the access road to the northwest. Several bulldozers were seen near the entrance to the main facility and one truck was positioned immediately next to the main tunnel entrance.

The Fordow facility after the US strikes

PLANET LABS PBC/AP

The UK government said it is preparing a flight to evacuate British citizens and their families from Israel “early next week”.

Further flights “will be considered depending on demand and the latest security situation”, the Foreign Office said.

British nationals have been asked to register their details on an online form. All of those who have already registered their presence in Israel will be sent a link to the booking portal.

“Those with greatest need will be prioritised for flights,” the Foreign Office said, adding: “British nationals plus their non-British immediate family members travelling with them are eligible. All passengers must hold a valid travel document. Non-British immediate family members will require valid visas/permission to enter or remain that was granted for more than six months.”

Efrat Sopher, a lawyer and foreign policy analyst at the University of Haifa in Israel, said Iran may respond to the airstrikes by attacking US bases and service people in the region. It may use rockets and drones that are “deadlier” than the ones used by Hamas and Hezbollah, with a larger radius and including the use of cluster bombs.

“We can see how effective, first of all, the Israeli attacks have been, and I think we’ll probably see it with the US action as well, how the regime becomes increasingly desperate,” Sopher said.

She added that it was unlikely Iran would capitulate and return to the negotiating table to curb its missile programme and uranium enrichment.

“I think the Iranian regime appreciates how capitulation on that would further erode its control. We’re seeing the Iranian regime also increasingly weakened from the inside.”

The US involvement in the Iran-Israel war may have consequences that reach as far as the UK, an expert has warned.

Efrat Sopher, of the Ezri Center for Iran and Gulf States Research, said that Iran has several options as to how to respond to the latest turn of events, but that the UK in particular should “keep an eye” on Iranian activity, where the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) poses a danger both to dissidents and to the Jewish community.

Sopher said: “London is particularly vulnerable as somewhere where we’ve seen a lot of IRGC activity, both direct and indirect. They have a pattern of using criminal gangs to carry out their attacks. We’ve seen Iranian-sponsored attacks, for example, in Sweden, in Belgium, in Germany. The list goes on. And particularly we saw the MI5 warning in September 23 I think it was, which, I think was most probably the tip of the iceberg.”

Abbas Araghchi, the Iranian foreign minister, told attendees in Istanbul at a meeting of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation that the “warmongering and lawless” US administration in Washington will be “solely and fully responsible for the dangerous consequences and the inevitable implications of its act of aggression”.

When asked if there was still room for diplomacy after the US attack, Araghchi said: “Not right now.”

He added: “The door for diplomacy should always remain open, but that is not the case at this moment. My country has been under attack, facing aggression, and we must respond in accordance with our legitimate right to self-defense.” He described the US attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities as “an unforgivable violation of international law”.

Lebanon’s leaders have said they want to avoid being drawn into the regional conflict after the US strikes on Iran.

Nawaf Salam, who was appointed prime minister in January, posted on X: “In the face of the dangerous escalation in military operations and the risks of their repercussions for the entire region, it is increasingly important for us to adhere strictly to the supreme national interest, which requires avoiding Lebanon’s involvement or being drawn into the ongoing regional confrontation in any way.”

President Aoun added that the country had already paid “a heavy price” as a result of the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, the militant group and political party backed by Iran, after Hamas’s attack on Israel in October 2023.

He said: “It is unwilling to pay more, and there is no national interest in doing so, especially since the cost of these wars was and will be greater than its ability to bear.”

By Gabrielle Weiniger

Now that the much-debated question of American involvement in the Iran-Israel war has been answered, there are two roads left to travel: the renewal of negotiations between the US and Iran to reach a deal over the republic’s nuclear programme, the terms of which are well-known to both, or further warfare, leading to losses on both sides and potentially beyond their borders.

The ball is now in Iran’s court, as Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the supreme leader, will decide whether to agree to end its nuclear enrichment programme — something the Islamic Republic has so far refused to do — or continue the fight and extend his missile salvo to American military bases around Iran.

Firing two large missile salvos into Israel early on Sunday morning, Khamenei’s ire was palpable.

• Read in full: What will Iran do next?

The European Union has called for “restraint” and “a peaceful solution at the negotiating table” after the US strikes against Iran.

António Costa, the president of the European Council, who will host EU summit talks on the Middle East crisis on Thursday, said that he was “deeply alarmed by the news”.

“I call on all parties to show restraint and respect for international law and nuclear safety,” he said on X. “Diplomacy remains the only way to bring peace and security to the Middle East region.”

Kaja Kallas, the EU foreign affairs chief, called on “all sides to step back and prevent further escalation”, but added: “Iran must not be allowed to develop a nuclear weapon, as it would be a threat to international security.”

The Israeli military brought back the bodies of three hostages held in the Gaza Strip on Saturday night in a special operation.

Ofra Keidar, Yonatan Samerano, and Staff Sergeant Shay Levinson were recovered by Israel’s security agency and troops on the ground.

Keidar, 71, and Samerano, 21, were both killed and their bodies taken on October 7 by Hamas-led militants at Kibbutz Beeri on the border with Gaza — one of the worst hit communities. Samerano had fled the desert Nova music festival in search of safety.

Levinson, 19, was a tank commander who battled Hamas on October 7 and died in combat on the border. His body was taken into Gaza and held there.

Shay Levinson

Britain welcomes the setback to Iran’s nuclear programme, but the UK would have preferred a diplomatic solution, Jonathan Reynolds has said.

The business secretary told the BBC’s Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg: “I wanted a different way to obtain this. But I cannot pretend to you that the prevention of Iran having a nuclear weapon is anything other than in the interests of this country.”

When asked if it was a good thing, he said: “The outcome. It isn’t the means by which anyone in the British government would have wanted to see this occur.”

Pushed on whether the US strike was legal, he said: “It is where we are today.”

Israel is preparing to reopen its airspace, according to its airport authority. However, outgoing flights are still suspended due to the conflict with Iran.

A spokesman for the Israel Airports Authority said that the authority planned to resume limited flights on Sunday afternoon local time.

“The skies to and from Israel are expected to reopen from 2pm,” the spokesman said. “Operation Safe Return continues in full force, with the aim of bringing all Israelis abroad back home.”

AP/BAZ RATNER

VIOLETA SANTOS MOURA/REUTERS

TOMER APPELBAUM/REUTERS

ODED BALILTY/AP

Iranian state media has released a video which appears to show smoke billowing from the direction of the Fordow nuclear facility, after US strikes on three nuclear sites on Sunday.

The footage, shared by Iran’s official news agency IRNA and filmed from a moving vehicle, captures a large plume of dark smoke rising on the horizon. The recording was made on the Tehran-Qom road, about eight miles west of the Fordow facility.

The leader of the Democrats in the US Senate has called for a vote to ensure President Trump consults Congress before taking further military action against Iran.

Chuck Schumer, the senior New York senator, said in a statement: “No president should be allowed to unilaterally march this nation into something as consequential as war with erratic threats and no strategy. The danger of wider, longer and more devastating war has now dramatically increased.”

Chuck Schumer

JULIA DEMAREE NIKHINSON/AP

He urged John Thune, the Republican leader of the Senate, to “immediately” put the 1973 War Powers Act to the floor for a vote. The legislation limits the president’s power to involve the US in armed conflict. “I am voting for it and implore all senators on both sides of the aisle to vote for it,” Schumer said.

Abbas Araghchi, Iran’s foreign minister, has responded to Sir Keir Starmer’s call to “return to the negotiating table”, by asking how negotiation was possible.

He posted on X: “Last week, we were in negotiations with the US when Israel decided to blow up that diplomacy. This week, we held talks with the E3-EU when the US decided to blow up that diplomacy. What conclusion would you draw?

“To Britain and the EU high rep, it is Iran which must ‘return’ to the table. But how can Iran return to something it never left, let alone blew up?”

Kemi Badenoch has praised President Trump’s military strikes on Iran as a “decisive action” against a regime fuelling terrorism in the UK.

The Conservative leader urged the government to “stand firmly with the US and Israel” but did not say whether it should join military action.

Badenoch said: “By targeting Iran’s nuclear sites, the US has taken decisive action against a regime that fuels global terror and directly threatens the UK. Iranian operatives have plotted murders and attacks on British soil. We should stand firmly with the US and Israel.”

• Read in full: Iran is a direct threat to Britain — Israel’s fight is ours too

Israel’s president said he did not yet know if Iran’s nuclear capabilities had been eliminated after the US airstrikes.

Isaac Herzog said it was “quite clear that Iran’s nuclear programme has been hit substantially” but added he would be updated in a meeting with Binyamin Netanyahu, Israel’s prime minister.

Isaac Herzog

BEATA ZAWRZEL/NURPHOTO/GETTY IMAGES

Herzog told the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg that he was not personally told about the airstrikes overnight, but pointed out that as head of state he does not have executive powers so is not involved in operational decisions.

He said that the airstrikes by the US added to the damage inflicted on Iran’s nuclear capabilities after the previous week of strikes by Israel’s military.

Herzog said Israel had suffered heavy damages in cities across the country within the last hour but so far without loss of life.

Sahar Ajdamsani, a 29-year-old Iranian singer and artist, told The Times the world should not allow devastation in a city that embodies love and humanity.

“Tehran is not only my heart but also one of the greatest cities in the world, central to a civilisation that has influenced the cultures of billions. Don’t destroy this majestic city. How can the world stand by and allow the destruction of a city that inspires through its art, civilisation and vibrant cultures?

“It must be preserved; the world should not permit such devastation to occur in a city that embodies love and humanity.”

David Lammy, the foreign secretary, reiterated pleas for Iran to “show restraint” after the US airstrikes overnight.

He confirmed that the UK “did not participate in these strikes” but appeared to welcomed the attacks, adding: “The US has taken action to alleviate the threat that would pose to the global community”.

Lammy said that Iran “must never have a nuclear weapon”. In a message to Tehran, he urged the regime to “reach a diplomatic solution to end the crisis”.

Seyed Ali Mousavi

JORDAN PETTITT/PA

Iran is considering its options for how to retaliate against the US airstrikes on its nuclear facilities, the country’s ambassador to the UK has said.

Seyed Ali Mousavi said the US airstrikes on Tehran were a violation of the United Nations charter, as it represented armed aggression against Iran’s national sovereignty and territorial integrity.

He told BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg that Iran’s authorities were considering the “quantity and quality” of Iran’s retaliation to America’s airstrikes.

Mousavi said that “everything should be monitored, everything should be calculated”, in terms of how Iran’s response affects “global interests”.

Jonathan Reynolds said it would be “hours, not days” before Britons trapped in Israel could be evacuated.

The business secretary told Sky News: “We are in active conversations about chartering aircraft to get people out. That’s not possible at the minute from Israel because airspace is, of course, closed.”

Asked if that would happen imminently, Reynolds said: “I believe our intention would be to do that as soon as possible … hours, not days.

“As well as that, if people are able to travel across land, we have rapid response teams on the Jordanian and the Egyptian borders. So people are travelling across land to countries where they could feasibly fly out on commercial aircraft.”

Qatar, which hosts the biggest US military base in the Middle East, warned that America’s attack on Iranian nuclear facilities could have “catastrophic consequences”.

“The current dangerous escalation in the region may lead to catastrophic consequences at both the regional and international levels,” the Qatari foreign ministry said. “It calls on all parties to exercise wisdom, restraint, and to avoid further escalation.”

Iraq also said the US strikes on neighbouring Iran were a threat to the entire Middle East.

Hamas criticised what it said was “blatant US aggression against the territory and sovereignty of the Islamic Republic of Iran”.

Britain and its allies will be doing all they can to keep the Strait of Hormuz open, the business secretary has said.

Jonathan Reynolds said that Israel and America’s conflict with Iran threatens some of the most sensitive interchanges for global trade.

Reynolds told Sky News that the UK is working with key allies for “all eventualities”.

JORDAN PETTITT/PA

The US airstrikes on Tehran have increased the threat of Iranian-backed terror attacks in the UK, Jonathan Reynolds has warned.

When asked how concerned he was about the risk of Iranian-backed terrorism in the UK, the business secretary said “very”.

He added: “Not a week goes by without some sort of Iranian cyberattack on a key part of UK critical national infrastructure and regular activity on the streets of the UK.”

Reynolds said the threat was already “at a significant level” before the US airstrikes on Tehran overnight. He added: “The behaviour of Iran has a direct impact on the UK and that is something we have to deal with, be prepared for, act against, as we have done, but be vigilant in future.”

Britain was informed of the US military airstrikes on Iran overnight in advance, a cabinet minister has said.

Jonathan Reynolds also said that the US did not request the use of Diego Garcia, the joint American-UK military base in the Indian Ocean.

He did not say when the UK government was informed of the military strikes but confirmed that it was before the action.

Reynolds said that while Britain was not involved in the attacks, he said the government was making “extensive preparations” for all scenarios — including measures to evacuate British nationals in the region.

A senior Iranian official said the American attacks meant Tehran now had the legal right to withdraw from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. Israel, which is believed to have at least 90 nuclear warheads, has not signed the treaty.

Abbas Golroo, the head of the Iranian foreign policy committee, said Tehran would withdraw, “if it decides that extraordinary events have jeopardised the supreme interests of its country”.

Earlier, Iran said it reserved the right to take any actions to defend itself.

“The events this morning are outrageous and will have everlasting consequences,” Abbas Araghchi, the Iranian foreign minister, wrote on X. “Iran reserves all options to defend its sovereignty, interest, and people.”

While most Israelis appeared to strongly support President Trump’s decision to bomb Iran, there were dissenting voices.

“I am both concerned about further Iranian retaliation, whose possible targets are my friends and family, and also worried about how (Israel’s prime minister) Netanyahu will try to capitalise on these developments for his own political gains,” said Uri Weltmann, a senior member of Standing Together, an Israeli peace movement.

The movement has also accused Netanyahu of lying about Iranian nuclear weapons to maintain power: the Israeli leader could face prison time over corruption charges, if he is voted out of office.

“The truth would expose the real agenda: more war, more death, more fear, so he can cling to power while we pay the price,” Weltmann also said.

At least 16 people were injured in Israel as Iran launched two waves of missiles after the US bombing of its nuclear facilities.

Rescue and emergency services said they had “evacuated 16 people to hospital, including a 30-year-old man in moderate condition after being wounded in the upper body by shrapnel” at an unnamed location in central Israel. Iranian missiles also hit Tel Aviv, according to Israeli media reports.

National television broadcast images of a devastated building surrounded by mounds of rubble that it said was in central Israel.

Israeli police said missile debris had fallen in and around the northern city of Haifa, where emergency services said they were heading to a “accident site”.

Israeli rescue workers evacuate a resident after a missile strike

REUTERS/TOMER APPELBAUM

Loud explosions sounded over Tel Aviv on Sunday as Iran responded with its first barrage of missiles since the United States bombed nuclear facilities in the Islamic Republic.

The walls of a beachfront hotel shook briefly as guests took shelter in a stairwell, although most made their way to an underground shelter. There was strong support for President Trump, even as reports came in of missile impacts.

“This needed to be done a long time ago. Iran is a threat,” said Bertha, a hotel employee who has lived in Israel for 20 years. “We are not afraid because God is with us.”

The attack came shortly after 7:30am local time, following a rare night in the city without air raid alerts. “I am so happy I am here, this is where I need to be right now,” said Kathy, an Australian Jewish tourist who declined to give her surname. “It’s a matter of survival,” said John, her husband.

Britain’s military base of Diego Garcia was not used by the US as a staging post for the US military attack on Iran, The Times can confirm.

The jets were flown from the US military base in Guam in the Pacific — twice as far from Iran as Diego Garcia.

There had been speculation that Diego Garcia would be used by the US, which would have caused a legal, diplomatic and military headache for the UK government as it would have had to give approval to any US attack.

This would have dragged the UK directly into the conflict. Government sources said Diego Garcia was not used.

Six B-2 stealth bombers were seen on satellite images of Diego Garcia in April

PLANET LABS VIA AP

Sir Keir Starmer has backed President Trump’s decision, saying the US took action to “alleviate the threat”.

The prime minister said: “Iran’s nuclear programme is a grave threat to international security. Iran can never be allowed to develop a nuclear weapon and the US has taken action to alleviate that threat. The situation in the Middle East remains volatile and stability in the region is a priority. We call on Iran to return to the negotiating table and reach a diplomatic solution to end this crisis.”

Starmer visited President Trump at the White House in February

AP

Iranian missiles caused “large-scale destruction” at one impact site that injured at least 11 people, the Israeli emergency services said, without naming the location.

“Several two-storey residential buildings were severely damaged, and some have collapsed,” said Moti Nissan, a spokesman. The injuries were not life-threatening, he said.

Images posted by emergency services showed rescuers pulling a man from the ruins of a block of flats. Nissan said searches for people who may have been trapped in rubble were ongoing at other sites across Israeli.

Witnesses said that Iran had also struck a shopping centre in the north of Tel Aviv. It was unclear if there were any casualties. Iran said it had targeted the Ben Gurion airport near Tel Aviv, as well as a “biological research centre”, and an Israeli command and control centre.

A rescue worker evacuates two children from the site of a missile strike in Haifa, Israel

AP/BAZ RATNER

Israel’s military says it has begun further strikes on military targets in western Iran.

In a post on social media, the IDF claimed that the air force “neutralised” the launchers that fired missiles towards Israel earlier this morning and targeted other launchers that were preparing to fire.

The UN nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), said there has so far been no increase in radiation levels following the US strikes on Iran.

“Following attacks on three nuclear sites in Iran — including Fordow — the IAEA can confirm that no increase in off-site radiation levels has been reported as of this time”, the IAEA said in a statement.

“IAEA will provide further assessments on situation in Iran as more information becomes available.”

Eleven people have been taken to hospital after Iranian missiles hit “multiple sites” across Israel, the national emergency service said.

Images and video posted on social media appeared to show extensive damage to apartment buildings.

Ten “hits” have been reported across northern and central Israel, including in Haifa, Nes Ziona, Rishon Lezion and Tel Aviv, according to the state broadcaster Kan and other Israeli media.

Israel’s air defence systems were seen in action in the skies above Jerusalem following the Iranian missile launches.

Magen David Adom, Israel’s emergency service, said it had dispatched teams to the affected areas.

Iranian state TV reported that 30 missiles were fired at Israel.

Israeli air defence attempts to intercept a Ballistic missile above Jerusalem

EPA

Iran’s foreign minister described the US strikes as “extremely dangerous, lawless and criminal behaviour” in a post on social media.

Abbas Araghchi added that Iran “reserves all options” to defend itself following the attack on Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan.

Israel’s military says it has detected missile launches from Iran following the US strikes.

The Israeli air force “is operating to intercept and strike where necessary to eliminate the threat,” the IDF said in a statement.

Iran’s National Nuclear Safety System Centre has issued a statement reporting “no signs of contamination” at the Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan sites following the US strikes.

“There is no danger to the residents living around the aforementioned sites,” the statement added.

“This attack is an illegal, unjustifiable and extremely dangerous act of aggression,” the Venezuelan government said in a statement while calling for an “immediate end to hostilities”.

Miguel Díaz-Canel, the president of Cuba, said the bombings were a violation of international law. “We strongly condemn the US bombing of Iran’s nuclear facilities, which constitutes a dangerous escalation of the conflict in the Middle East,” he said. “The aggression seriously violates the UN Charter and international law and plunges humanity into a crisis with irreversible consequences.”

Analysis by David Charter in Washington

President Trump’s political allies are out in force to try to get ahead of the inevitable political fallout from the Iran strikes.

Trump is facing two-pronged domestic criticism — usurping the exclusive power of Congress to declare war and breaking his “America First” promise to voters to avoid new wars.

There are already calls from some Democrats to impeach him. A notable feature of Trump’s second term has been his pushing of the boundaries of executive power but with the Republicans in control of both chambers of Congress, he will not be concerned about impeachment. Trump is much more worried about placating his core supporters who hate the cost to taxpayers of foreign adventurism.

Hence the appearance of loyalists like Markwayne Mullin, a senator from Oklahoma, on Fox News last night, to reassure the base that this is what they voted for all along. “Peace through strength is what President Trump has been talking about from day one,” he said.

The White House has released pictures from the National Security Council last night:

Trump chaired the meeting after flying in from New Jersey

THE WHITE HOUSE/REUTERS

With his vice-president, JD Vance

Susie Wiles, the White House chief of staff, and General Dan Caine, chairman of the joint chiefs of staff

After addressing the nation, President Trump issued another warning to Iran on Truth Social.

Any retaliation, he said, “will be met with force far greater than what was witnessed tonight”.

Leading Republicans who have previously clashed with Trump praised his decision to strike.

Mike Pence, his former vice-president with whom Trump had a spectacular falling out, said he “should be commended for his decisive leadership”. Mitch McConnell, the Republican senator, also said Trump had made the correct decision.

Iran’s Atomic Energy Organisation struck a defiant tone in response to the American strikes and said it would not allow development on its “national industry” to be halted.

The US attacks were a “blatant” violation of international law, the agency said, and the international community should condemn them.

The organisation did not mention the extent of the damage inflicted by the bombings.

António Guterres, the secretary-general of the United Nations, condemned the American strikes and said the situation was in danger of spiraling out of control.

“This is a dangerous escalation in a region already on the edge — and a direct threat to international peace and security,” he said in a statement. “There is a growing risk that this conflict could rapidly get out of control — with catastrophic consequences for civilians, the region, and the world.”

Guterres called for UN member states to de-escalate and uphold their obligations under the UN charter. “At this perilous hour, it is critical to avoid a spiral of chaos,” he added. “The only hope is peace.”

NATHAN POSNER/ANADOLU /GETTY IMAGES

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the Democratic congresswoman, said Trump should be impeached for launching strikes without congressional approval.

“The president’s disastrous decision to bomb Iran without authorization is a grave violation of the Constitution and Congressional War Powers,” she wrote on X. “He has impulsively risked launching a war that may ensnare us for generations. It is absolutely and clearly grounds for impeachment.”

As the world waits to see how Iran will respond, Trump warned that the US will inflict further destruction if Tehran does not seek peace.

“This cannot continue,” he said. “There will be either peace or there will be tragedy for Iran far greater than we have witnessed over the last eight days.

“Remember, there are many targets left. Tonight’s was the most difficult of them all, by far, and perhaps the most lethal.

“But if peace does not come quickly, we will go after those other targets with precision, speed and skill, most of them can be taken out in a matter of minutes.”

Trump said that Pete Hegseth, the defence secretary, would hold a press conference at the Pentagon on Sunday morning at 8am (1pm UK time).

“Thank you very much. A short time ago, the US military carried out massive precision strikes on the three key nuclear facilities in the Iranian regime: Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan. Everybody heard those names for years as they built this horribly destructive enterprise. Our objective was the destruction of Iran’s nuclear enrichment capacity and a stop to the nuclear threat posed by the world’s number one state sponsor of terror.

“Tonight I can report to the world that the strikes were a spectacular nilitary success. Iran’s key nuclear enrichment facilities have been completely and totally obliterated. Iran, the bully of the Middle East, must now make peace. if they do not future attacks will be far greater and a lot easier.

“For 40 years Iran has been saying, ‘death to America, death to Israel’. They have been killing our people, blowing off their arms blowing off their legs with roadside bombs. that was their specialty. We lost over a thousand people. Hundreds of thousands throughout the Middle East and around the world have died as a direct result of their hate.

“In particular so many were killed by their general Qasem Soleimani. I decided a long time ago that I would not let this happen. It will not continue.

“I want to thank and congratulate Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu. We worked as a team like perhaps no team has ever worked before, and we’ve gone a long way to erasing this horrible threat to Israel. I want to thank the Israeli military for the wonderful job they’ve done and most importantly I want to congratulate the great American patriots who flew those magnificent machines tonight and all of the United States military on an operation the likes of which the world has not seen in many, many decades.

“Hopefully we will no longer need their services in this capacity. I hope that’s so. I Also want to congratulate the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, General Dan “Razin” Cane — spectacular general — and all of the brilliant military minds involved in this attack. With all of that being said this cannot continue.

“There will be either peace or there will be tragedy for Iran far greater than we have witnessed over the last eight days. Remember, there are many targets left. Tonight’s was the most difficult of them all by far and perhaps the most lethal. But if peace does not come quickly, we will go after those other targets with precision speed and skill.

“Most of them can be taken out in a matter of minutes. There’s no military in the world that could have done what we did tonight Not even close. There’s never been a military that could do what took place just a little while ago. tomorrow General Cane and Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth will have a press conference at 8am [1pm UK time] at the Pentagon.

“I want to just thank everybody and in particular God. I want to just say we love you God and we love our great military. protect them. God bless the Middle East. God bless Israel and God bless America. Thank you very much.”

President Trump said Iran’s nuclear capabilities had been “obliterated” and Tehran must now make peace or face further destructive attacks.

Addressing the nation from the White House, the president said “massive precision strikes” on the three Iranian nuclear sites had been a “spectacular military success”.

Iran’s nuclear facilities — “a horribly destructive enterprise” — were destroyed, according to Trump.

He said Tehran was the world’s “number one state sponsor of terror”.

In his first public comments on the US strikes, Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu praised President Trump and said “the forces of civilisation thank you”.

Trump, Netanyahu said, had made a “bold decision” that “will change history”.

He added: “History will record that President Trump acted to deny the world’s most dangerous regime the world’s most dangerous weapons. His leadership today has created a pivot of history that can help lead the Middle East and beyond to a future of prosperity and peace.”

Netanyahu said he and Trump believed in “peace through strength”.

He added: “God bless America, God bless Israel, and may God bless our unshakeable alliance, our unbreakable faith.”

The governors of California and New York, states that are both home to significant Jewish communities, said they were closely monitoring the situation in case of any threats following the strikes on Iran.

Gavin Newsom, the governor of California, said that while there have been no specific threats so far, “we urge everyone to stay vigilant and report suspicious activity”.

Kathy Hochul of New York said she is receiving intelligence briefings. “The New York State Police are working to protect at-risk sites and fight cyberattacks,” she said.

Siavash, a 30-year-old completing his military service in Iran, said that he was in shock.

“I keep rereading Trump’s tweet. We did everything to prevent this moment. Since Obama said, ‘all options are on the table,’ we’ve tried — as citizens — to keep war off the table. But here we are. I’m sitting in uniform, watching the US strike … It feels like an absolute failure for me and people like me.

“Those nuclear sites were supposed to bring progress. Instead, they devoured our youth. I keep replaying every year since 2009 in my head. Honestly, I haven’t lived since 2019. Today, I remembered how the US attacked Iraq. I knew Trump would do the same — and now it’s happened. I once told a friend I couldn’t leave Iran, that the grief of absence would kill me. He said, ‘I just don’t want you to die here — under both the regime and a war.’ Maybe he saw more clearly than I did.”

The American strikes involved six “bunker-buster” bombs dropped on the Fordow site, President Trump appears to have told a Fox News host.

Sean Hannity said he had spoken to Trump, who told him that the Natanz and Isfahan nuclear sites were “wiped out” by 30 Tomahawk missiles launched by American submarines 400 miles away.

Hannity, a favoured confidant of Trump’s, said Iran’s nuclear ambitions were “officially dead”.

“Everyone is out of harm’s way for now, that does not mean that American assets in the region are not at risk,” Hannity added.

Analysis by Katy Balls, Washington Editor

Steve Bannon, the Maga isolationist, with Donald Trump Jr in 2023

JOSE LUIS MAGANA

Donald Trump pitched himself as an antiwar president, winning support on the promise of a move away from the ‘forever wars’ that have dominated previous presidencies and a focus back home.

His decision to strike three nuclear sites in Iran will test his coalition. It risks upsetting the isolationists in his party and comes after a week of public fighting among Republicans and members of the wider Maga movement over the best course of action.

Last week Trump told a reporter that he decides what counts as America First. That claim is about to be tested.

Already tensions are clear with Steve Bannon, the former Trump adviser and godfather of Maga, who has just called on Trump to “talk to Maga”. He said: “There’s a lot of Maga who are not happy about this. I’ll just be blunt”.

• Read Katy Balls’s full analysis of the fight for the soul of Maga

An Iranian state-run news agency has acknowledged the attack on the country’s Fordow nuclear site, though did not provide any details on the extent of the damage.

Quoting a statement from Iran’s Qom province, IRNA said: “A few hours ago, when Qom air defences were activated and hostile targets were identified, part of the Fordow nuclear site was attacked by enemies.”

Tasnim, a semi-official news agency, also reported that air defence opened fire in the area. Further details were not immediately available.

Yoav Gallant, the former Israeli defence minister, praised the US strikes.

“President Trump took a bold decision for the United States, for Israel, for all of humanity,” Gallant, who was fired by Binyamin Netanyahu last year in a clash over the war against Hamas, said on X.

“The world is now a safer place.”

CNN reported that the Israeli government had been given advance notice that the US was going to strike Iran.

Thomas Massie

TOM WILLIAMS/CQ-ROLL-CALL

While some senior Republicans praised Trump for striking Iran, Thomas Massie, the isolationist congressman from Kentucky, said it was “not constitutional”.

Massie introduced a war powers resolution to Congress last week seeking to block US involvement in Israel’s conflict with Iran.

He says that under the US constitution presidents must seek approval from Congress before launching a war. He was joined by prominent Democrats, including the Californian congressman Ro Khanna.

After Trump announced the strikes on Saturday night, Khanna called on his colleagues to vote on Massie’s resolution “to prevent America from being dragged into another endless Middle East war”.

World leaders have been calling for restraint since Israel began bombing Iran, with Sir Keir Starmer urging Binyamin Netanyahu to seek a diplomatic solution.

At the G7 meeting in Canada last week, the heads of some of the world’s wealthiest economies urged de-escalation but stopped short of calling for a ceasefire.

Beyond the West there was strident criticism of Israel. Wang Yi, the Chinese foreign minister, said Beijing explicitly condemned Israel’s “violation of Iran’s sovereignty, security and territorial integrity”.

President Putin offered to serve as a mediator between Israel and Iran. In his first public comments since the conflict broke out last week, Putin said it was a “delicate issue” but that, “in my view, a solution could be found.”

From 2018: an American B-2 Spirit bomber takes off from a US airbase on Guam

AIRMAN 1ST CLASS GERALD WILLIS

That the US was planning to strike Iran after President Trump spent days mulling over the decision was teased by the news that B-2 bombers were on the move.

Flight trackers first reported that the planes had taken off from Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri early on Saturday morning local time.

The aircraft, which can be equipped with the 30,000lbs “bunker buster” bombs needed to destroy Iran’s nuclear facilities, were believed to be heading to a US base on the Pacific island of Guam.

However, Trump’s announcement of a “very successful” raid suggests that the B-2s had been on a mission to Iran. The B-2 can fly at an altitude of 50,000ft and is equipped with stealth technology making it difficult for enemies to detect.

The US military first used B-2 Spirit stealth bombers in combat during the 1999 Kosovo War.

Trump’s social network, Truth Social, appears to be down for many of the users trying to view it.

The president regularly uses the channel, which he owns, for official announcements. About 40 minutes ago he used the platform to confirm America’s “very successful attack” on three Iranian nuclear facilities.

Trump has said he will make a national TV address to Americans at 10pm eastern daylight time (3am in Britain).

He posted on social media: “I will be giving an Address to the Nation at 10:00 P.M., at the White House, regarding our very successful military operation in Iran. This is an HISTORIC MOMENT FOR THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, ISRAEL, AND THE WORLD. IRAN MUST NOW AGREE TO END THIS WAR. THANK YOU”

Lindsey Graham, the US senator who was among the most vociferous supporters of bombing Iran, praised Trump for making the “right call”.

“The regime deserves it,” he said on X.

“Well done, President @realDonaldTrump.”

Israeli officials told the Trump administration that they did not want to wait up to two weeks before striking Iran, according to Reuters.

That is how long the US president gave himself to decide on Thursday, a deadline that would have expired on July 10. On what was described as a “tense” phone call on Thursday, Israel is said to have warned the White House that it could act alone rather than wait, citing a limited window in which to target Iran’s nuclear facilities.

JD Vance, the US vice-president, is believed to have been against American involvement, illustrating the split inside the Maga movement over taking military action.

For more than a decade, even before he officially ran for president, Donald Trump has repeatedly said Iran cannot have a nuclear bomb.

In 2018 he withdrew from the Iran nuclear deal, an agreement reached by his predecessor Barack Obama that restricted Tehran’s atomic ambitions in return for sanctions relief.

Trump’s stance has not changed during his second term. “Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon, it’s very simple” he said last week while mulling over US strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities.

The Trump administration had been negotiating with Iran over a fresh deal, but the countries were unable to reach an agreement before Israel launched its surprise assault last week.

“We have completed our very successful attack on the three Nuclear sites in Iran, including Fordow, Natanz, and Esfahan. All planes are now outside of Iran air space. A full payload of BOMBS was dropped on the primary site, Fordow. All planes are safely on their way home. Congratulations to our great American Warriors. There is not another military in the World that could have done this. NOW IS THE TIME FOR PEACE! Thank you for your attention to this matter.”

The United States struck at targets inside Iran in a high-stakes attempt to extinguish Tehran’s nuclear programme. It risks spiralling into an unpredictable regional war.

After spending days deliberating taking military action, President Trump said the US had targeted three nuclear sites inside Iran: “Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan”.