Trump thanks Tehran for weak response after Qatar attack – as it happened

Iran’s foreign minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi has responded to reports of a ceasefire with Israel, saying in a post on X.

As Iran has repeatedly made clear: Israel launched war on Iran, not the other way around. As of now, there is NO “agreement” on any ceasefire or cessation of military operations. However, provided that the Israeli regime stops its illegal aggression against the Iranian people no later than 4 am Tehran time, we have no intention to continue our response afterwards. The final decision on the cessation of our military operations will be made later.”

In a post on Truth Social, president Trump claims a 12-hr ceasefire between Israel and Iran has been reached. The ceasefire, he says, will begin in 6 hours.

He writes:

CONGRATULATIONS TO EVERYONE! It has been fully agreed by and between Israel and Iran that there will be a Complete and Total CEASEFIRE (in approximately 6 hours from now, when Israel and Iran have wound down and completed their in progress, final missions!), for 12 hours, at which point the War will be considered, ENDED!

Officially, Iran will start the CEASEFIRE and, upon the 12th Hour, Israel will start the CEASEFIRE and, upon the 24th Hour, an Official END to THE 12 DAY WAR will be saluted by the World. During each CEASEFIRE, the other side will remain PEACEFUL and RESPECTFUL. On the assumption that everything works as it should, which it will, I would like to congratulate both Countries, Israel and Iran, on having the Stamina, Courage, and Intelligence to end, what should be called, “THE 12 DAY WAR.” This is a War that could have gone on for years, and destroyed the entire Middle East, but it didn’t, and never will! God bless Israel, God bless Iran, God bless the Middle East, God bless the United States of America, and GOD BLESS THE WORLD!”

Oil prices dropped sharply after Iran’s retaliatory missile strike on a US airbase reduced concern that the country was poised to strain energy markets by closing off a vital trade route.

Crude oil prices sank by 7% on Monday, with West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures dropping to $68.51, as the Iranian action on the al Udeid base in Qatar raised hopes that the conflict would not immediately disrupt oil supplies from the region.

No casualties were reported after the strike, which the US defense department described as “largely symbolic” after the US bombed three nuclear sites in Iran on Saturday.

While the Iranian parliament voted to close the strait of Hormuz – through which more than a fifth of the world’s oil supply, 20m barrels, and much of its liquefied gas passes each day – it has so far remained open.

Related: The strait of Hormuz: how could Iran close it and why does it matter to global trade?

“It is somewhat the lesser of the two evils,” said Kpler analyst Matt Smith. “It seems unlikely that they’re going to try and close the strait of Hormuz.”

John Kilduff, a partner at Again Capital, said: “Oil flows, for now, aren’t the primary target, and are likely not to be impacted. I think it’s going to be military retaliation on US, bases and/or trying to hit more of the Israeli civilian targets.”

US stocks also rose slightly, with the benchmark S&P 500 up 0.6% and the Dow Jones industrial average up 0.5% in New York, on a broadly muted day of trading in the global equity markets.

Other leading indices struggled for direction. The FTSE 100 closed down 0.2% in London. The Nikkei 225 finished down just 0.1% in Tokyo.

Investors have become “jaded to geopolitical risks and greater uncertainty after the events throughout this year so far”, John Canavan, lead analyst at Oxford Economics, observed earlier on Monday.

Qatar has reopened its airspace after a brief suspension, its civil aviation authority said early on Tuesday (local time), following a missile attack by Iran on an American air base in Qatar on Monday that caused no injuries.

Iran’s foreign minister Abbas Araghchi said that Tehran’s attack on the US military base al Udeid in Qatar came in response to the US “aggression against Iran’s territorial integrity and sovereignty”.

He said Iran will be ready to respond again in case of further action by the US, according a statement posted by the Iranian foreign ministry’s account on Telegram.

What is more, Qatar’s foreign ministry spokesperson Majed Al Ansari said this escalation started with Israel’s “irresponsible practices” in Gaza, the West Bank, Lebanon, Syria and Iran.

He also said Qatar’s mediating role in the region would be undeterred “by any wrongdoing from any party”. (Qatar has been acting as a key third-party mediator on a number of geopolitical issues including mediating ceasefire negotiations between Israel and Hamas).

Qatar has said that its response to the Iranian attack on its al Udeid US air base is a “sovereign” issue, after Iran attacked the base in retaliation for US strikes on its nuclear sites over the weekend.

“There are deep ties between the two states [Iran and Qatar] and the two nations, but the attack undoubtedly calls for a genuine meeting and a clear stance,” foreign ministry spokesperson Majed Al Ansari said in a press conference.

He said 19 missiles in two separate strikes were launched from Iran towards the al Udeid air base, only one of which was not thwarted. (This is consistent with what Trump said earlier about one missile being “set free” as it was “heading in a non-threatening direction).

Following Iran’s strikes, some debris had fallen in residential areas, but no casualties were recorded, Al Ansari said.

He said Qatar would announce the reopening of its air space soon, and said communication was ongoing with different parties including with the US.

Russia’s foreign ministry has issued a new call for a halt to “escalation of armed conflict” and “provocative actions” in the conflict pitting Iran against the United States and Israel.

“We once again call for a halt to the unleashing of armed escalation and an end to provocative actions and rhetoric,” the ministry said in a statement on Telegram. “Today, more than ever, it is vital to return to political and diplomatic efforts and compliance with international law.”

The statement also called for an immediate end to the “unprovoked aggression of the US and Israel against Iran, open attempts at regime change and encroachment on the sovereignty of nations”.

If that all sounds very rich, you can read the latest developments from Russia’s war in Ukraine in today war briefing here:

Donald Trump has again claimed the US “obliterated” Iran’s nuclear facilities and called Tehran’s response “very weak”, with 13 out of 14 missiles intercepted.

Trump thanked Iran for giving the United States notice prior to shooting missiles at its military base in Qatar, which he said made it possible for no lives – both Qatari and American – to be lost.

“I am pleased to report that NO Americans were harmed, and hardly any damage was done. Most importantly, they’ve gotten it all out of their ‘system,’ and there will, hopefully, be no further HATE,” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social.

“Perhaps Iran can now proceed to Peace and Harmony in the Region, and I will enthusiastically encourage Israel to do the same,” Trump added.

Following Iran’s’s retaliatory attack on the US’s al Udeid air base in Qatar, supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamanei has said on X:

We have not attacked anyone, and we absolutely do not accept anyone’s aggression, nor will we submit to anyone’s aggression; this is the logic of the Iranian nation.

More countries have criticized Iran’s retaliatory missile strike on the military base in Qatar that stations thousands of US troops.

Egypt and Lebanon condemned the retaliatory attack on the al Udeid air base, according to a statement issued by Egypt’s ministry of foreign affairs and Lebanon’s president Joseph Aoun.

Oman condemned the regional escalation “triggered by Israel’s unlawful missile attack” on 13 June, as well as Iran’s attack on Qatar. In a post on X, the foreign affairs ministry said:

An official spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs expressed the Sultanate of Oman’s condemnation of the ongoing regional escalation in the region, which was caused by Israel on June 13th with its illegal missile attack on the Islamic Republic of Iran and the continuous exchange of missile attacks since then.

Egypt, Lebanon and Oman expressed their solidarity with Qatar and called for de-escalation and a return to diplomacy.

The secretary general of the Gulf Cooperation Council, which includes Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, also condemned Iran’s attack on Qatar. All six countries have independently condemned the attack as well.

The national security committee of Iran’s parliament approved the general outline of a bill meant to fully suspend Tehran’s cooperation with the UN nuclear watchdog, the semi-official Tasnim news agency is reporting, citing committee spokesperson Ebrahim Rezaei.

Rezaei said that according to the bill, installing surveillance cameras, allowing inspections, and submitting reports to the IAEA would be suspended as long as the security of nuclear facilities is not guaranteed. Parliament still has to approve the bill in a plenary.

The Israel Defense Forces said they have conducted their “most extensive wave of strikes to date in Tehran”, with 50 Israeli air force jets involved and more than 100 munitions dropped in the attack on Monday.

A spokesperson for the IDF said that Israel has “many more attacks planned” and confirmed that they targeted the notorious Evin prison in Tehran - a “symbol of oppression for the Iranian people” - in an earlier attack.

The BBC reports that Israel’s defence minister earlier said it hit “regime targets and agencies of government repression” across Tehran, including Evin. Iran’s judiciary’s Mizan news agency reported that the situation was “under control” following the attack, which it said violated international law.

The Israeli military also said on Monday that it had struck access routes to the Fordow uranium enrichment plant, south of Tehran, a day after US aircraft dropped “bunker-busting” bombs on the underground facility.

The UAE has also condemned Iran’s retaliatory attack on the al Udeid air base in Qatar. In a statement reported by WAM, the state-run news agency, it said:

The UAE condemns in the strongest terms the Iranian Revolutionary Guard’s targeting of Al Udeid Air Base in the State of Qatar, considering it a blatant violation of Qatar’s sovereignty and airspace, and a clear contravention of international law and the UN Charter. The UAE affirms its categorical rejection of any attack that threatens the security and safety of the State of Qatar and the region.

Iran will continue its retaliation in response to the United States’ attacks, a senior Iranian official has told Reuters.

He said Iran has the necessary rationality to begin diplomacy after punishing the aggressor, adding if the US seeks negotiations, Israeli and US attacks must stop.

French president Emmanuel Macron has called for a return to diplomacy to end what he called “the spiral of chaos” after Iran’s retaliatory strike on a US military base in Qatar.

In a post on X, Macron urged “all parties to exercise the utmost restraint, de-escalate, and return to the negotiating table”.

Earlier, foreign minister Jean-Noel Barrot told France 2 television that the missile strikes, which had not caused any casualties, were a “dangerous escalation” and he urged all sides to show restraint.

Iran’s attack on the al Udeid air base in Qatar will impact relationship-building efforts that have been underway between the Gulf states and Iran, a Gulf official has told Reuters.

“Iran’s actions play into the hands of Israel, which wants to sow discord and derail recent improvements in relations between Iran and the Gulf countries,” the official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity.

In recent years, Gulf countries Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have restored once-frayed ties with Iran.

The US defense department has confirmed that Iran attacked the al Udeid air base in Qatar “in a retaliatory but largely symbolic response to US strikes over the weekend”.

The official said Iran launched medium-range ballistic missiles after communicating the move in advance to Qatari and American officials. There were no reports of US casualties.

Saudi Arabia has condemned Iran’s retaliatory attack on the al Udeid military base in Qatar “in the strongest terms”.

In a statement from the foreign ministry, Saudi Arabia called Iran’s retaliatory attack on US forces in Qatar “a flagrant violation of international law and the principles of good neighborliness”.

“The Kingdom affirms its solidarity and full support for the sisterly State of Qatar and is deploying all its capabilities to support the sisterly State of Qatar in all the measures it takes,” the ministry said.

Donald Trump is attacking the media on his Truth Social platform and claiming “the sites that we hit in Iran were totally destroyed and everyone knows it”.

In the post, the US president appears annoyed about reports from several news outlets that the nuclear facilities struck in Iran may not have been completely destroyed by the US attacks.

The sites that we hit in Iran were totally destroyed, and everyone knows it. Only the Fake News would say anything different in order to try and demean, as much as possible — And even they say they were “pretty well destroyed!” Working especially hard on this falsehood is Allison Cooper of Fake News CNN, Dumb Brian L. Roberts, Chairman of “Con”cast, Jonny Karl of ABC Fake News, and always, the Losers of, again, Concast’s NBC Fake News. It never ends with the sleazebags in the Media, and that’s why their Ratings are at an ALL TIME LOW — ZERO CREDIBILITY!

There was no Iranian attack detected at any US military base other than in Qatar, a US military official told Reuters on Monday. There was no impact on the US al Udeid airbase in Qatar, the official said.

Military sources told Reuters that air defense systems were activated in the US Ain al-Asad airbase in Iraq for fear of a potential attack.

Two US officials have confirmed to Reuters that there were no casualties after Iran’s attack on the al Udeid air base in Qatar.

The officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said the Iranian attack was carried out by short-range and medium-range ballistic missiles.

Further to that, Kuwait has now shut down its airspace temporarily, along with Bahrain and Qatar earlier.

The Trump administration was aware in advance of Iran’s attack on the al Udeid air base in Qatar, according to Axios.

Reuters is also reporting that Iran informed the US via two diplomatic channels hours ahead of the attack.

The main remaining base in northeast Syria hosting US troops is on full alert and mobilized for possible attacks by Iran or Iran-aligned groups, a Syrian security source has told Reuters.

The base is known as Qasrak and is one of two bases in the northeast Hasakah province where US troops are based.

US joint chiefs chair General Dan Caine and defense secretary Pete Hegseth are in the Situation Room right now monitoring potential Iranian retaliation, per a senior White House official. Donald Trump is currently in the room with them, CNBC reports.

You can find more updates from the US here:

Bahrain has said it has shut down its airspace temporarily amid fears of Iranian retaliation against US attacks.

Iran said its missile attack on al Udeid air base in Qatar matched the number of bombs dropped by the United States on Iranian nuclear sites this weekend, signaling Iran’s likely desire to deescalate, AP reports.

Iran made the announcement on Monday night in a statement from its Supreme National Security Council after the attack, which Qatar said caused no injuries.

Iran also said it targeted the base because it was outside of populated areas.

Iran coordinated its strikes on US bases in Qatar with Qatari officials in advance in a bid to minimize casualties, the New York Times is reporting, citing three Iranian officials.

Reuters is also reporting that Iran gave advanced warning to Qatar, prompting air space closure earlier, citing a source familiar with the matter.

In his statement in my last post, Qatar’s foreign ministry spokesperson Majed Al Ansari did not confirm this, but did say there had been no casualties after the base had been evacuated earlier. He said: “The base had been evacuated earlier, following established security and precautionary measures, given the tensions in the region.”

Here’s more on that Qatari response.

Qatar has condemned Iran’s attack on the al Udeid air base and said that “Qatar reserves the right to respond directly in a manner equivalent with the nature and scale of this brazen aggression, in line with international law”.

In a post on X the Qatari foreign affairs ministry spokesperson Majed Al Ansari added that “Qatar’s air defenses successfully thwarted the attack and intercepted the Iranian missiles” and there had been no casualties.

He said Qatar had warned of the dangers of Israeli escalation in the region and called for “the immediate cessation of all military actions and for a serious return to the negotiating table and dialogue”.

Qatar has said it reserves the right to respond directly and in accordance with international law after Iran targeted the al Udeid US military base in Doha in response to US attacks on its nuclear facilities over the weekend.

The Associated Press is reporting that missiles have been launched at a base housing US troops in Iraq, citing a security official. More on this as we get it.

Iran has said that it attacked American forces stationed at Qatar’s Al Udeid air base.

The announcement was made on state television as martial music played, with a caption on the screen calling it “a mighty and successful response by the armed forces of Iran to America’s aggression”.

The attack came shortly after Qatar closed its airspace as a precaution amid threats from Iran.

The White House and the Defense Department are closely monitoring potential threats to Al Udeid air base in Qatar, an American facility, a senior White House official said on Monday.

“The White House and the Department of Defense are aware of, and closely monitoring, potential threats to Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar,” the official said.

Joint chiefs chair general Dan Caine and secretary Pete Hegseth are currently in the situation room monitoring potential Iranian retaliation, CNN reporter Kaitlan Collins is reporting, sourcing a senior White House official.

Explosions have been heard over the Qatari capital city Doha today, Reuters is now reporting.

It comes as the Middle Eastern country closed its air space and both US and UK embassies advised its citizens to “shelter in place”.

An Axios reporter, citing an Israeli official, said that six missiles had been launched by Iran directed towards US air bases in Qatar.

Sky News in the UK is reporting that it is thought Iran has targeted American air bases in Iraq also.

This is a fast-developing situation and we will update as more news lines materialise.

A Western diplomat told Reuters on Monday that there has been a credible Iranian threat against the US-run al Udeid air base in Qatar since noon.

The air base in Qatar is the Middle East’s largest US base that houses around 10,000 troops.

Qatar said it has shut down airspace temporarily as part of measures taken amid developments in the region, a statement by the Qatari foreign ministry said on X.

It said the move comes to ensure safety of residents and visitors, Reuters reported.

The shutdown of Qatari airspace comes as Iran repeated earlier threats to retaliate against the United States after strikes on its nuclear sites.

The British government has joined the US in advising its citizens in Qatar to shelter in place until further notice.

The notice on Monday has triggered a slew of messages from various Doha-based institutions to employees and students, while Qatar maintained that the situation was stable, Reuters reported.

The advice comes as Iran repeated earlier threats to retaliate against the United States after strikes on its nuclear sites.

The US and British messages noted that the recommendation was “out of an abundance of caution” and offered no further information.

Two US officials separately told Reuters that Iran could carry out attacks targeting American forces in the Middle East soon, with one source saying it could happen in the next day or two.

Commenting on the message, Qatari foreign ministry spokesperson Majed Al Ansari said in a statement that the security situation in the country remained stable, adding that the embassy’s advisory did not suggest any specific threat.

Al Ansari said Qatar was ready to take all necessary measures to ensure the safety of its citizens and residents.

Qatar hosts Al Udeid Air Base, the largest US base in the Middle East, which serves as the forward headquarters for US Central Command and accommodates approximately 10,000 troops.

The UK’s foreign office has said a flight evacuating British nationals from Israel has departed.

Foreign secretary David Lammy said further flights would follow in the coming days.

The 63 British nationals on board were taken to Cyprus, Reuters reported.

It comes as Lammy also confirmed that a Briton had been injured in Israel during missile attacks by Iran.

The Israeli military issued on Monday an evacuation warning to residents of Tehran, telling them to stay away from weapons production centres and military bases, according to a post by the Israeli military on X in Farsi and in Arabic.

Iranian authorities arrested on Monday a European national on suspicion of spying for Israel, state TV reported, as fighting raged between the foes for the 11th day.

State television cited judicial authorities as saying that a spy for Israel was arrested in the western province of Hamadan, adding that the “spy is a citizen of a European country”, without elaborating.

“The spy entered the country disguised as a tourist and continued the mission of networking, gathering information, and disrupting offensive and missile systems in Iran,” it added.

The UK home secretary has said she will ban Palestine Action under anti-terrorism laws, ignoring a warning from the group’s solicitors that the proposal was “unlawful, dangerous and ill thought out”.

In a statement to parliament on Monday, three days after activists from the group broke into RAF Brize Norton, Yvette Cooper said a draft proscription order would be laid in parliament on 30 June. If passed, it would make it illegal to be a member of, or invite support for, Palestine Action.

The group, founded in 2020, says it aims to prevent the commission of genocide and war crimes in Palestine and to expose and target property and premises connected to such crimes against humanity.

Many of its activists have been acquitted by juries in the past and a letter from Kellys Solicitors, representing Palestine Action, sent to Cooper on Monday said the group “has gathered a significant level of public support”.

Read the full report here:

Donald Trump thinks Iranians should overthrow their government if it refuses to negotiate on its nuclear programme, but the US president is “still interested” in diplomacy, the White House said Monday, AFP reports

“If the Iranian regime refuses to come to a peaceful diplomatic solution, which the president is still interested and engaging in, by the way, why shouldn’t the Iranian people take away the power of this incredibly violent regime that has been suppressing them for decades?” press secretary Karoline Leavitt said on Fox News.

German chancellor Friedrich Merz said on Monday that there was “no reason to criticise” the United States over its strikes on three nuclear sites in Iran.

In a speech to the Federation of German Industries, Merz said:

There is no reason to criticise what America did at the weekend. Yes, it is not without risk. But leaving things as they were was not an option either.

Donald Trump has doubled down on claims “monumental damage” had been done to Iran’s nuclear sites, as the head of the UN’s nuclear agency said that while he anticipated “very significant damage” at the underground Fordow site, the agency had not been able to assess it.

Rafael Grossi, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, confirmed that Iran had told the agency it had planned to take “special measures” to protect equipment and nuclear materials on 13 June.

Trump, who has a reputation for hyperbole, again stated that the sites had been “obliterated” by this weekend’s US bombings, in contrast with the more cautious language from the Pentagon and Israeli officials.

“Monumental Damage was done to all Nuclear sites in Iran, as shown by satellite images,” he said in a social media post. “Obliteration is an accurate term!” Pentagon officials have characterised the damage to the sites – at Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan – as “severe”.

Assessing the extent of the damage has been complicated by the fact that the US, Israel and the IAEA only have access to surface satellite imagery of the sites and reporting from Iran’s nuclear agency on any contamination.

You can read the full report here:

Any Iranian attempt to close the 33km wide straits of Hormuz would almost certainly see Tehran trying to mine the two 2km wide shipping lanes with munitions ready to explode if they detect passing traffic.

Sea mines are feared, and Iran is thought to possess several thousand, including the Chinese-made EM-52, which, if it detects a target, launches a rocket from the sea bed, as well as other mines that can lie moored in the water.

However, a challenge for Tehran would be successfully laying the weapons, as the exercise would have to be done relatively quickly and would rely on submarines - three larger Russian-made Kilo-class and a fleet of midget Ghadir-class submarines.

Sea mining could be supported by a combination of anti-ship batteries from the Iranian coast, small fast patrol boats operated by the IRGC and air and sea drones, though any shore-based capability is likely to be promptly attacked by Israel and probably the US.

Clearing mines is a complex task, ideally handled in a relatively uncontested environment, and two US warships, the USS Tripoli and USS Princeton, were damaged by Iraqi mines in the 1991 Gulf War, but the US has considerable military assets in the region.

Nick Childs, an analyst with the IISS, said Iran could “cause very significant disruption and also potentially seriously hazard US and other naval units” seeking to keep the waterway open but “for these reasons, a concerted effort by Iran to close the strait of Hormuz would likely provoke a considerable and comprehensive US military response”.

“Today, it is clearer than ever that the Islamic Republic is collapsing,” says Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi.

Credible reports indicate that Ali Khamenei family and the family of senior regime officials are making preparations to flee Iran. The regime is on its last legs in towns and cities across the country. The military is fractured. The people are united. The foundation of this 46 year tyranny are shaking. This is our Berlin Wall moment, but like all moments of great change, it comes fraught with danger. We stand at a crossroads. One road leads to bloodshed and chaos, the other to a peaceful and democratic transition.

Pahlavi emphasised that for a democratic transition to succeed, Western powers must not extend the current regime a “lifeline.” If that happens, he says, “there will be more bloodshed and chaos, because this regime will not submit or surrender after it has been humiliated. It will lash out as long as it is in power. No country and no people are safe, whether on the streets of Washington, Paris, Jerusalem, Riyadh or Tehran, there is only one way to achieve peace a secular, democratic Iran.”

“To my compatriots: This is our moment. I am with you. Let us build this new Iran together. I am here today to submit myself to my compatriots to lead them down this road of peace,” Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi, an Iranian opposition leader, told a press conference in Paris on Monday.

Pahlavi, the eldest son of Farah Diba and Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the last shah of Iran, also blamed Iran’s supreme leader Ali Khamenei for the “devastating conflict” developing in the region.

Pahlavi says Ali Khamenei and his corrupt, destructive faction “has driven our nation’s economy to the brink of collapse, plundered our national infrastructure and resources, squandered the nation’s wealth on developing nuclear weapons, shattered Iran’s Security and stolen the sovereignty of the Iranian people.”

Pahlavi adds that the regime “is defeated, teetering on the edge of collapse, and must not be allowed to continue.”

The time has come to end this ruin and begin a new era for Iran.. Ladies and gentlemen, over the past few days, I have spoken with people across Iran from every walk of life, an officer in the armed forces, a mother fleeing Tehran, a factory worker from Tabriz, a young woman activist for the woman life Freedom Movement. These voices represent a nation, embattled but resilient that is not asking for its freedom. It is fighting for it.

More to follow…

Israel’s military said on Monday it was striking command centres of Iran’s powerful Revolutionary Guards and other domestic security forces responsible for “maintaining the regime’s stability” (see earlier post).

“These forces consist of various corps and command centers and are responsible, on behalf of the Iranian regime’s military, for defending the homeland security, suppressing threats, and maintaining the regime’s stability,” it said in a statement, Reuters reports.

Israeli defence minister Israel Katz said on Monday the military was carrying out strikes on Tehran, including on the Evin Prison, which he said holds political prisoners and opponents of the Islamic Republic, Reuters reports.

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar had earlier shared footage of the prison being targeted on his X account and wrote “long live freedom” in Spanish.

Iran’s Mizan news outlet confirmed the Israeli attack on Evin prison and said part of the prison was damaged but the situation was under control.

Iran’s Nournews said that families of detainees in Evin prison “should know they are safe”.

Nournews are also sharing CCTV footage of the prison entrance being hit.

Meanwhile, an Israeli miliary spokesperson says the military is attacking Iran’s Revolutionary Guards sites in Tehran.

US bombing probably caused “very significant” damage to the underground areas of Iran’s Fordow uranium enrichment plant dug into a mountain, though no one can yet tell the extent, UN nuclear watchdog chief Rafael Grossi said on Monday.

“Given the explosive payload utilised and the extreme(ly) vibration-sensitive nature of centrifuges, very significant damage is expected to have occurred,” Grossi said in a statement to an emergency meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency’s 35-nation Board of Governors.

He added: “I indicated that any transfer of nuclear material from a safeguarded facility to another location in Iran must be declared to the Agency as required under Iran’s Safeguard Agreement, and I expressed my readiness to work with Iran on this matter.”

Israel carried out a fresh strike on Iran’s underground Fordo nuclear site south of Tehran, AFP reports, citing a media outlet in the country.

“The aggressor attacked the Fordow nuclear site again,” Tasnim news agency reported, quoting a spokesperson for the crisis management authority in Qom province where the site is located.

Russia deeply regrets and condemns the US strikes on Iranian nuclear sites, the Kremlin said on Monday.

The US actions have increased the number of participants in the conflict and ushered in a new spiral of escalation, spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said.

Reuters is quoting the Israeli defence minister Israel Katz a saying the military is now attacking with “unprecedented intensity” targets in central Tehran.

An Iranian closure of the strait of Hormuz would be dangerous and “not good for anybody”, the European Union’s top diplomat said on Monday.

“The concerns of retaliation and this war escalating are huge, especially closing of the strait of Hormuz by Iran is something that would be extremely dangerous and not good for anybody,” Kaja Kallas told reporters ahead of a meeting with EU foreign ministers.

Iran’s Press TV reported on Sunday that Iran’s Supreme National Security Council needed to make a final decision on whether to close the strait, after parliament was reported to back the measure. About 20% of global oil and gas demand flows through the channel, Reuters reports.

China said on Monday that the international community must do more to prevent fighting between Israel and Iran from affecting the global economy, noting the “Persian Gulf and surrounding waters are important international trade routes”.

“China calls on the international community to make greater efforts to promote the de-escalation of the conflict and prevent regional instability from having a greater impact on global economic development,” foreign ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun said.

China urged Iran and Israel on Monday to de-escalate in order to prevent the “spillover” of their war.

“The Chinese side urges the parties to the conflict to prevent the situation from escalating repeatedly, resolutely avoid the spillover of war, and return to the path of political resolution,” foreign ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun said, AFP reports.

Recent hostile action by the United States expanded the scope of legitimate targets for Iran’s armed forces, a spokesperson for its Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters said in a video shared on Monday.

Ebrahim Zolfaqari said the US should expect heavy consequences for its actions, Reuters reports.

At the end of his recorded statement Zolfaqari said in English:

Mr Trump, the gambler, you may start this war, but we will be the ones to end it.

Spain’s foreign minister José Manuel Albares has told reporters he will ask the EU Council to approve an immediate suspension of the pact that governs the relationship between the EU and Israel to protest against what he called human rights violations in Gaza.

He also said he would ask the council to approve a embargo on weapons sold to Israel and approve sanctions on individuals who are undermining the two-state solution, according to Reuters.

We’ll bring you more on that soonest.

Since Israel’s first attack on Iran ten days ago, Israeli officials believe that Iran has used up between a third and half of its ballistic missile stock. Senior military leaders have been killed, air defence systems have been crippled, key command centres have been destroyed, and now the US has dealt a devastating blow to Iran’s nuclear programme.

But it would be a mistake to think Iran’s leadership is therefore bound to accept the “unconditional surrender” Trump has demanded. “They are pragmatic people,” Mohammad Ali Shabani, an Iran expert and editor of Amwaj.media, said.

“They prefer to live to fight another day. But there is a question with Trump about whether, if you exact no cost, you increase the risk of further bombing. There will be a desire to show that Israel has not obliterated their retaliatory capacity, and to show a domestic audience that they are not defeated.”

Read on below to find out the four ways Iran might choose to respond:

In Israel, it can seem like only one other place really matters. Washington DC is on the other side of the world but provides Israel with weapons, the backing of the most powerful military in the world, and a critical diplomatic shield in forums like the United Nations.

Yet the country’s economy is bound far more closely to Europe than to the United States. A third of its trade is with the European Union, key academic work is supported by grants from the EU’s multi-billion dollar Horizon research fund, and it is the top destination for Israelis who want to travel.

“Geography doesn’t change, and not having any partners apart from UAE in the region means Europe will always be the gateway. The US will always be 8,000km away,” said one western diplomat.

These ties have never translated into much political clout for Europe though, in part because the continent has long been hobbled by divisions over policy on Israel.

Critics of Israel’s illegal settlements and more recently its war in Gaza have repeatedly been outweighed and outvoted by a combination of older member states like Germany and Austria who are bound to Israel by history, and newer member nations, particularly Hungary, drawn by a shared ethno-nationalist vision.

“To have leverage implies that you are willing and able to use it,” said Josep Borrell, former EU policy chief. “If you can live in an illegal settlement and still travel freely to Europe, and export [products] to Europe, how do we expect them to take our condemnations seriously?”

There is a “chilling pattern of Israeli forces opening fire on crowds gathering to get food” the head of the UN”s humanitarian agency in Gaza and the West Bank (Ocha) has said. According to a statement issued on Sunday, Jonathan Whittall told reporters in Deir al-Balah:

The attempt to survive is being met with a death sentence … It shouldn’t be this way. There shouldn’t be a death toll associated with accessing the essentials for life.

As we reported earlier, medical sources in Gaza say about 450 people have been killed and thousands injured in the past 12 days in attacks by Israeli forces on starving people trying to collect aid from sites operated by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), a secretive Israeli- and US-backed private organisation.

Francesca Albanese, the UN’s special rapporteur on Palestine, wrote in a post on X on Sunday “That the state accused of genocide and starvation is left in charge of ‘distributing aid’ is ludicrous and obscene: an insult to human decency.”

Whittall also said water wells had run dry or were located in dangerous areas while sanitation systems had collapsed and disease was spreading rapidly.

He noted that partially functioning hospitals – Israeli attacks have disabled most of them – are overwhelmed by near-daily mass casualty events.

He said that humanitarian agencies had a plan capable of reaching every family in the occupied territory but “we are prevented from doing so at every turn.”

He urged the international community to press for a ceasefire and accountability for Israeli actions in Gaza adding that what is happening “appears to be the erasure of Palestinian life from Gaza.”

AFP reports that oil prices have surged while Asian markets traded lower on concerns of disruption to energy markets after US air strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities.

The dollar strengthened as traders assessed the weekend’s events, with Iran threatening US bases in the Middle East as fears grow of an escalating conflict in the volatile region.

Iran is the world’s ninth-biggest oil-producing country, with output of about 3.3 million barrels per day.

It exports just under half of that amount and keeps the rest for domestic consumption.

If Tehran decides to retaliate, observers say one of its options would be to seek to close the strategic Strait of Hormuz - which carries one-fifth of global oil output.

When trading opened on Monday, Brent and the main US crude contract WTI both jumped more than four percent to hit their highest price since January.

They pared these gains however and later in the morning Brent was up 2.1% at $75.43 per barrel and WTI was 2.1% higher at $78.64.

Japan has stopped short of voicing support for the US attacks on Iranian nuclear facilities at the weekend, calling instead for a de-escalation in the situation. Speaking to reporters on Sunday, the prime minister, Shigeru Ishiba, said Japan was monitoring the situation with “grave concern”.

But Ishiba declined an invitation to publicly support the US strikes, according to the Kyodo news agency, saying only that he would respond “when appropriate”. Instead, he emphasised the importance of lowering tensions in the region, adding that Iran’s development of nuclear weapons must be “blocked”.

Japan’s dependence on Middle East oil means it has had traditionally friendly relations with Iran. While the recent exchange of missile attacks between Iran and Israel have not had an immediate impact on energy supplies, any disruption to shipments of crude oil could have serious consequences for Japan, which has few energy resources of its own.

The world’s fifth-biggest economy relies on the Middle East for 90% of its crude oil imports. Ishiba said:

We are gathering and analysing information and closely monitoring developments with grave concern.

Japan’s response to Israeli airstrikes against Iran also put it at odds with other US allies. Earlier this month, Ishiba condemned Israel’s attacks on nuclear and military facilities in Iran, describing them as “absolutely unacceptable” while efforts were still being made to find a diplomatic solution to Tehran’s nuclear programme.

“This is extremely regrettable and we strongly condemn it.” Japan did, though, sign a G7 statement last week that affirmed Israel’s right to defend itself.

Japan has followed other countries in making preparations to evacuate its citizens from the region. At the weekend, two Self-Defence Force transport aircraft left for Djibouti to evacuate people from Israel and Iran. Twenty-one Japanese nationals and their family members arrived by bus in Azerbaijan from Iran on Sunday, the foreign ministry said. Last week 87 people left Iran and Israel. The ministry said about 200 Japanese remained in Iran and around 1,000 in Israel.

One way Iran could retaliate to US strikes, analysts say, is to close off the strait of Hormuz, a vital trade route, through which over a fifth of the world’s oil supply, 20m barrels, and much of its liquified gas, passes each day.

Iran has in the past threatened to close the strait, which would restrict trade and impact global oil prices, but has never followed through on the threat.

About one-fifth of the world’s total oil consumption passes through the strait. Between the start of 2022 and last month, approximately 17.8 million to 20.8m barrels of crude, condensate, and fuels flowed through the strait daily, according to data from analytics firm Vortexa. Read on below:

“Monumental damage” was done to “all Nuclear sites” in Iran during the US attack on the country at the weekend, Donald Trump has said in his latest comments, after officials said the extent of damage done remained unconfirmed. In a post on his social media platform Truth Social the US president wrote:

Monumental Damage was done to all Nuclear sites in Iran, as shown by satellite images. Obliteration is an accurate term! The white structure shown is deeply imbedded into the rock, with even its roof well below ground level, and completely shielded from flame. The biggest damage took place far below ground level. Bullseye!!!

The comments came after Gen Dan Caine, the chair of the joint chiefs of staff, said the scale of the damage underground was not yet confirmed. He said it was not clear whether Iran retained some nuclear capability.

Donald Trump when announcing the strikes on Saturday night said that the sites had been “completely and totally obliterated”.

Just after midnight on Thursday morning, Abdullah Ahmed left his sleeping wife and children in their small and crowded home in the battered al-Bureij camp in central Gaza and headed north.

The 31-year-old vegetable seller had heard that the nearby food distribution site recently opened by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), a secretive Israeli- and US-backed private organisation that began operations in the territory last month, would be handing out food at 2am.

To get there early and maximise his chance of grabbing a box of flour, oil, beans and other basics, Ahmed and some friends set out across the dangerous rubble-strewn roads.

Just reaching the vicinity of the centre, one of four run by the GHF, was dangerous. “All the time we could hear the sound of shells and stray bullets flying over us. We kept taking cover behind the ruins of houses. Whoever doesn’t take cover is exposed to death,” he said.

All last week, every night and most mornings, there were similar scenes across Gaza, as tens of thousands of hungry, desperate people converged on the GHF sites or waited at points where trucks loaded with UN flour were expected.

Every day, somewhere in the devastated territory, these gatherings had a similarly lethal conclusion when Israeli forces open fire.

The exact toll over the last 12 days is unclear. Medical authorities in Gaza say about 450 have died and thousands more have been injured. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) admit that some have been hurt by their fire but have not admitted any deaths in shootings, which they say are directed at “suspects” who have posed a threat to their forces and only ever follow warning shots.

More than $10bn has been wiped from the Australian share market on opening after the US bombing of Iranian nuclear facilities, as traders react to worsening economic growth prospects.

The benchmark S&P/ASX200 fell below 8,460 points, back to near where it was at the start of June after holding above 8,500 points on Friday. It had closed at an all-time high of 8,592 on 11 June, days before Israel began its military strikes on Iran, but has fallen in six of the subsequent seven trading days.

Energy companies including Woodside, Origin and Santos rose in value after predictions the widening conflict in the Middle East would drive up global oil and gas prices.

But those higher prices would restrict economic activity in Australia, which saw traders sell down the big banks as well as consumer-facing companies from Flight Centre and Qantas to Breville and gambling company Tabcorp. Furniture retailer Temple and Webster shed more than $100m in value.

Worsening prospects for global economic growth mean a poorer outlook for Australian commodity prices, pushing down share prices for Mineral Resources, Pilbara Minerals and Champion Iron.

Israel has made a “grave mistake” and “must be punished”, a social media account associated with Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has said in what would be his first comments since the US joined Israel’s war on his country. The post on X read:

The Zionist enemy has made a grave mistake, committed a great crime; it must be punished and is being punished; it is being punished right now.

The post was accompanied by a picture of a skull with the star of David on it sitting on top a darkened city with missiles raining down.

The US State Department has issued a “worldwide caution” for Americans, saying the conflict between Israel and Iran could put those travelling or living abroad at an increased security risk. In a post on its website it wrote:

The conflict between Israel and Iran has resulted in disruptions to travel and periodic closure of airspace across the Middle East. There is the potential for demonstrations against US citizens and interests abroad. The Department of State advises US citizens worldwide to exercise increased caution.

The statement made no mention of the US bombing of Iranian nuclear facilities over the weekend which Tehran has warned will have “irreparable consequences.”

Iran on Sunday warned that US forces could be attacked in retaliation for the unprecedented air strikes, which were condemned by international law experts as illegal.

“Any country in the region or elsewhere that is used by American forces to strike Iran will be considered a legitimate target for our armed forces,” Ali Akbar Velayati, an advisor to Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said in a message carried by the official Irna news agency.

The US on Saturday began evacuation flights from Israel for American citizens and permanent US residents living in Israel or the West Bank.

It also ordered staff at its diplomatic missions in Iraq and Lebanon to leave those countries.

Israel and Iran have exchanged another round of missiles in the past hour.

In Iran, explosions were heard in Karaj, west of Tehran, Iranian news agencies reported. In an update last week, the International Atomic Energy Agency said Israeli strikes had destroyed two buildings in Karaj where different centrifuge components were manufactured.

Iranian outlet Nour news also reported early on Monday that airstrikes had hit Parchin, a military complex south-east of Tehran.

In Israel, sirens were sounded after 3am when the military said that Iran had launched a missile attack, but no direct impacts or injuries were reported.

On Sunday at least three people were killed when an Israeli airstrike hit an ambulance in central Iran, local media reported, according to Agence France-Presse (AFP).

The ISNA news agency reported, quoting Hamidreza Mohammadi Fesharaki, the governor of Najafabad county in the central Isfahan province:

The ambulance … was en route to transfer a patient when it was severely damaged by a drone strike.

All occupants of the ambulance – including the driver, the patient, and the patient’s companion – were martyred.

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

Hello and welcome to our live coverage of the US and Israeli war on Iran.

US president Donald Trump has brought up the possibility of regime change in Iran following US military strikes against key Iran military sites over the weekend, even as top members of his administration insisted the US was not seeking to topple the Iranian leadership.

“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!!!” Trump wrote in a post on his social media platform Truth Social.

Earlier, vice-president JD Vance had insisted the US was “not at war with Iran, we’re at war with Iran’s nuclear programme” while US secretary of state Marco Rubio said that that the US was “not looking for war in Iran”.

The world was meanwhile braced for Iran’s response after to the US attacks, which saw it joining Israel in the biggest western military action against the Islamic Republic since its 1979 revolution.

Speaking in Istanbul, Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi said his country would consider all possible responses. There would be no return to diplomacy until it had retaliated, he said. “The US showed they have no respect for international law. They only understand the language of threat and force,” he said.

He later flew to Moscow to discuss “common threats” with President Vladimir Putin.

In other key developments:

• Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Israel is very close to meeting its goals in Iran of removing the threats of ballistic missiles and the nuclear programme. Speaking to Israeli reporters, he said: “We won’t pursue our actions beyond what is needed to achieve them, but we also won’t finish too soon. When the objectives are achieved, then the operation is complete and the fighting will stop.”

• The UK, France and Germany have released a joint statement following American strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities, saying that they call upon Iran to engage in negotiations leading to agreement that addresses all concerns associated with its nuclear program. The three countries also urged Iran “not to take any further action that could destabilize the region”, adding: “We have consistently been clear that Iran can never have a nuclear weapon and can no longer pose a threat to regional security.”

• Iran’s health ministry said that the US strikes on its nuclear facilities had wounded an unspecified number of people but that none “showed any signs of radioactive contamination”. “For years, the ministry of health has set up nuclear emergency units in the nearest medical facilities to nuclear sites,” ministry spokesperson Hossein Kermanpour said on X.

• Israel said that its fighter jets had struck “dozens” of targets across Iran on Sunday, including a long-range missile site in Yazd in the centre of the country for the first time, Agence France Presse reports. A military statement said that “approximately 30 IAF (air force) fighter jets struck dozens of military targets throughout Iran” - including “the ‘Imam Hussein’ Strategic Missile Command Center in the Yazd area, where long-range Khorramshahr missiles were stored”.

• US secretary of state Marco Rubio said that “there are no planned military operations right now against Iran.” In a new interview with CBS, Rubio added that “no one will know for days” whether Iran had moved some of its nuclear materials prior to the strikes.

• Iran’s parliament has reportedly approved the closing of the key strait of Hormuz shipping lane. Reuters reported Iran’s supreme national security council will make the final decision on the move, which could hamstring global trade by shutting the narrow passage between Iran and Oman.

• Pete Hegseth, the US secretary of defence, said the impact of the air strikes was still being assessed, but that the bombing had hit the areas that had been identified in the planning of the operation. Hegseth said: “The battle damage assessment is ongoing, but our initial assessment as the chairman said is that all of our precision munitions struck where we wanted them to strike, and had the desired effect.”

• Pete Hegseth praised Donald Trump’s leadership, and said he had overseen the “obliteration” of Iran’s nuclear ambitions. Hegseth said: “Many presidents have dreamed of delivering the final blow to Iran’s nuclear program, and none could until President Trump.”