Israel's defence minister warns that "Tehran will burn" if Iran keeps firing missiles, after both sides exchanged strikes overnight
Explosions were heard in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and Tehran after Iran launched waves of missiles in retaliation for Israeli strikes which targeted Iran's nuclear programme on Friday
Iran warns the UK, US and France it will target their bases and ships in the region if they help stop the strikes on Israel, state media reports
Downing Street hasn't responded yet, but it's understood the UK has not taken part in any military action, including efforts to defend Israel against strikes, our political correspondent reports
In Israel, officials say three people have been killed and dozens injured, while Iranian state TV reports 60 people have been killed in a strike in Tehran
Israeli PM Netanyahu has opened another open-front war, and the Iranian regime is going to see this as a battle for survival, reports Lyse Doucet
'A long night of attacks, with fears of more to come'
Iranian state-run Nour News says 78 people were killed and 329 injured during Israel's strikes on areas of Tehran overnight.
In a post on their Telegram channel, the outlet says this is an unofficial figure.
These figures have not been independently verified
We'll bring you more on this as we get it.
Image source, AFP via Getty ImagesBenjamin Netanyahu will speak to US President Donald Trump today, according to a statement posted on the official X account of the Israeli prime minister.
It adds that the Israeli leader has already spoken to the chancellor of Germany, India's prime minister, and the French president.
He will also call Russian President Vladimir Putin and UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
Image source, AFP via Getty ImagesPeople have been seen stocking up on supplies at shops in Jerusalem today
Gaby, who lives in Jerusalem, tells our colleagues at BBC 5 Live that when he first heard the sirens at around 02:30 local time, he first thought it was the Iran-backed Houthi rebels attacking.
"Most of my family didn’t even hear it – we’re so used to these things that I had to go and wake them up," Gaby says.
Earlier, the Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz issued a statement declaring a "special state of emergency" across Israel.
But on the streets today, Gaby says people are continuing with their lives as normal.
“I was just out and about shopping. I wouldn’t say there was any panic," he says, adding that "people are just going about their day as we’re kind of used to it".
"That’s the sad reality of the situation.”
By Jake Horton, BBC Verify
The team at BBC Verify has been working to locate footage showing the aftermath of strikes in Iran. So far, we have verified footage from five locations across the country.
Many are from the capital, Tehran - where clips from several different areas show damage to what appear to be residential buildings.
Another key site is in Natanz - about 220km south of the capital - where a uranium enrichment facility is located. We’ve verified three videos from near there which show smoke billowing into the sky.
There are three other areas we’ve confirmed footage from - Piranshahr, Kermanshah and Tabriz - in the west of the country. These are reportedly locations of Iranian military facilities.
Image source, XAs our reporter in Jerusalem said a short while ago, new social media content has been shared from the city of Tabriz, north-west Iran, in the last hour.
The new videos show a long column of black smoke rising from within the city’s airport complex.
By checking the videos and reports from the city, BBC Verify has been able to pinpoint the location of the smoke to an area close to the main airport runway and the Shekari military base next to it.
Tabriz has been a target of IDF strikes earlier this morning. The Head of East Azerbaijan province’s crisis management said on his official Telegram channel that three people were killed in the city, with 10 locations targeted in the province. This has not been independently verified.
It is currently unclear what has caused the explosion and the column of smoke visible from all over the city.
The IDF has not confirmed any new strikes on an ongoing operation via its official channels.
More now from US President Donald Trump, who urged Iran about an hour ago to make a deal over its nuclear programme.
He now writes on his Truth Social platform that Iran perhaps has a "second chance" to reach a nuclear deal, after Israel's strikes on the country.
He writes: "Two months ago I gave Iran a 60 day ultimatum to 'make a deal.' They should have done it! Today is day 61. I told them what to do, but they just couldn’t get there. Now they have, perhaps, a second chance!"
Talks between the US and Iran on a nuclear deal were about to enter their sixth round on Sunday in Oman. Earlier, Iran accused the US of supporting Israel's strikes, which Washington has denied.
Raffi Berg
Digital Middle East editor
Image source, Satellite image 2020 Maxar TechnologiesOut of all of Iran's multiple nuclear sites, Israel appears to have targeted only a small number, including Natanz.
It raises the question: why this facility in particular?
The answer is because Natanz is the principal site for large-scale uranium enrichment - the process which produces material for civilian or military nuclear use.
Iran has denied seeking nuclear weapons and is not known to have produced military-grade uranium. But the global nuclear body the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) recently assessed that it could - theoretically – produce nine nuclear bombs if the enriched uranium stockpile it has was further refined to military-grade level.
The 2015 nuclear deal restricted what Iran was permitted to do at Natanz, but since Donald Trump withdrew from the deal in 2018, Iran has accelerated activity there.
Israel is believed to have targeted Natanz in recent years with sabotage operations. It was hit by a major cyber attack in 2010, and damaged by explosives reportedly hidden inside a table there 10 years later.
Natanz suffered further, extensive damage in a mysterious attack the following year, which Iran blamed on Israel.
Tom Bennett
Reporting from Jerusalem
In the past few hours, Israel has continued carrying out strikes across Iran as part of ‘Operation Rising Lion’.
In the north-western city of Tabriz, Israel has hit a military airbase, according to a news agency affiliated with Iran's Revolutionary Guards.
A video verified by the BBC also shows black plumes of smoke rising above the base. It is unclear what has caused the column of smoke visible from all over the city.
There are also reports of Israel launching a second wave of strikes on Natanz - Iran’s main site for large-scale uranium enrichment - after it was hit earlier this morning.
Natanz has tens of thousands of centrifuges and is a major contributor towards Iran's stockpile of highly enriched uranium.
These new strikes come just hours after Israel assassinated the head of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps, along with several other leading military figures and nuclear scientists.
Image source, IDFAn image of Natanz shared by the Israeli military
We've just heard from Israel Defense Forces (IDF) spokesperson Brig Gen Effie Defrin, who has provided more details on Israel's overnight strikes.
Defrin says the IDF "significantly harmed" the Natanz nuclear site, which is Iran's main uranium enrichment facility. Earlier, the International Atomic Energy Agency confirmed that the site was hit by Israeli strikes.
"This facility served the Revolutionary Guards to advance their military nuclear programme," the IDF spokesperson says.
"For many years the people of the Iranian regime made an effort to obtain nuclear arms in this facility," he says, before claiming that the site "has the necessary infrastructure to enrich uranium to a military grade".
The IAEA was informed by Iranian authorities earlier today that there had been no increase in radiation levels.
Ghoncheh Habibiazad
BBC Persian
Image source, WANA/ReutersIran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei awards a medal to Amir Ali Hajizadeh, in Tehran, back in October 2024
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and Iran's official IRNA news agency has confirmed that the commander of the IRGC's air force has been killed.
Brig-Gen Amir Ali Hajizadeh was appointed commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Aerospace Force by Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei in October 2009.
Born in Tehran in 1962, Hajizadeh joined the IRGC in 1980, shortly after the start of the 1980–1988 Iran–Iraq War, and served as a sniper in various operations.
Following the war, he joined the IRGC Air Force and began working in the IRGC's missile development programme.
Later, in 2006, he was appointed commander of the IRGC Air Defence.
Hajizadeh was sanctioned by the US Treasury along with other IRGC commanders after Iran shot down a US surveillance drone near the Strait of Hormuz in June 2019.
After the downing of the Ukrainian airliner near Tehran in January 2020 by an IRGC missile, which killed all 176 people on board, Hajizadeh described the incident as an accident, took full responsibility, and stated that he would accept any punishment determined by the Iranian authorities.
Image source, EPAOvernight, Israel launched a massive attack on Iran, assassinating senior Iranian military leaders and six nuclear scientists. There have also been reports in Iranian media claiming civilians have been killed, but this has not been independently verified.
Iran has vowed to retaliate - threatening a "bitter, painful fate" for Israel. It has since launched around 100 drones at Israel in retaliation, but many of those have been intercepted.
Here’s the latest:
Bernd Debusmann Jr
Reporting from Washington DC
Last night, we had a brief statement from Secretary of State Marco Rubio in which the US seemed to distance itself from Israel's operation in Iran - explicitly saying that the US played no part in the strikes.
This morning, however, Washington awoke to an early morning Truth Social post from President Trump in which he seems to justify the attack and warning Iran to come to the table.
In his post, Trump said he gave Iran "chance after chance" but that "no matter how hard they tried, no matter how close they got, they just couldn't get it done".
The post also seems to warn Iran against any retaliatory actions that could catch the US military in the crossfire, which administration officials - including Rubio - have so far made clear is the American priority for the time being.
Trump has left room for negotiations, saying that "Iran must make a deal". Last night, it was reported in US media outlets that American officials still hope to hold negotiations with Iran which were scheduled to take place in Oman on Sunday.
US officials have yet to comment on that publicly and it remains unclear whether Iran would still be willing, although it could potentially provide an "off-ramp" from the fighting.
Trump is meeting with his National Security Council behind closed doors at the White House today.
During the day, we're likely to hear and see strongly worded statements from the administration, with a particular focus on repeating that the US played no active part in the strike, and warning Iran of a stern response should US forces in the Middle East be attacked.
Image source, Getty ImagesUS President Donald Trump has urged Iran to make a deal over its nuclear programme, saying he gave Tehran "chance after chance"
The talks between the US and Iran on a deal were about to enter their sixth round on Sunday.
"I told them, in the strongest of words, to “just do it,” but no matter how hard they tried, no matter how close they got, they just couldn’t get it done," Trump writes on Truth Social.
"There has already been great death and destruction, but there is still time to make this slaughter, with the next already planned attacks being even more brutal, come to an end," he says.
"Iran must make a deal, before there is nothing left, and save what was once known as the Iranian Empire. No more death, no more destruction, JUST DO IT, BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE."
Trump previously said he was aware of Israel's plans before they launched strikes overnight, but made it clear the US military played no part in the operation.
Iran's foreign minister, Seyyed Abbas Araqchi, says the Israeli strikes were a "declaration of war" in a letter to the United Nations. Abbas Araqchi also shared the letter to his Telegram channel.
Abbas Araqhchi has also called on the UN Security Council to "immediately address this issue” and says the attack is a "gross violation of Iran's sovereignty".
Image source, ReutersIran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei
Iran launched around 100 drones towards Israel on Friday morning and according to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), many of these were intercepted.
Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Israel "should anticipate a severe punishment" and that military forces "won’t let them go unpunished.”
Iran's foreign ministry said its armed forces would not "hesitate to defend Iran's sovereignty with full strength and in the manner they deem appropriate".
In a video statement released earlier, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel has launched Operation Rising Lion, a targeted military operation to roll back the Iranian threat to "Israel's very survival".
He said that Israel had targeted Iranian scientists "working on the Iranian bomb" and that the strikes "would continue for as many days as it takes".
Steve Rosenberg
Russia editor, reporting from Moscow
We’ve just received the first reaction from the Kremlin to the Israeli strikes on Iran.
According to Vladimir Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov: "Russia is concerned by and condemns the sharp escalation in tensions."
He added that President Putin is receiving updates on the situation from the Russian defence ministry, foreign intelligence service and Russian foreign ministry.
Russia is a close ally of Iran.
Earlier this year, presidents Putin and Pezeshkian signed a comprehensive strategic partnership agreement between their two countries. But the deal doesn’t represent a formal military alliance or include mutual military assistance obligations.
Explosions were reported in Iran's capital Tehran around 03:30 local time (01:00 BST).
Iranian state TV said residential areas in Tehran were hit, with blasts also heard north-east of the capital.
Hours after the initial strikes, an explosion was reported at the Natanz nuclear facility, which is located about 225km (140 miles) south of the capital, according to Iranian state media.
The global nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), later confirmed the Natanz facility had been hit, adding that it was informed by Iranian authorities that there had been no increase in radiation levels.
Israel's military said it had struck "dozens of military targets, including nuclear targets in different areas of Iran".
Paul Adams
Diplomatic correspondent
Israel says Operation Rising Lion has only just begun.
The attacks so far have not just targeted elements of Iran’s nuclear programme but also its air defences.
This suggests that Israel is preparing the ground for further attacks in the coming days.
Israel says the operation involved 200 jets, but some reports already point to a clandestine element similar to Ukraine’s recent drone attack on Russian airbases.
Security sources are reported as saying that Israel’s spy agency, Mossad, smuggled explosive drones into Iran "well before the Israeli strike".
The drones are believed to have been used to attack surface-to-surface missile launchers that might pose a threat to Israel in the event of a large-scale Iranian retaliation.
But the drones that Iran has launched so far today seem mostly symbolic - a far cry from the Tehran’s major ballistic missile attack on Israel last October.
Israel’s retaliation, later that month, is believed to have targeted Iran's air defences, missile and drone production, almost certainly rendering Iran more vulnerable to future attacks and reducing its ability to strike back.
For all its defiant rhetoric, Iran’s ability to mount a direct military response is not what it was.
The Israeli Air Force (IAF) says it has destroyed "dozens" of radars and surface-to-air missile launchers as part of the attacks on Iran's air defence systems in the west of the country.
Calling it a "large-scale strike", the IAF says this forms part of ongoing operations to damage Iran's air defence systems and those of its proxies.
As a reminder, Israel said the focus of this overnight operation had been military and nuclear targets. Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei says Israel "should anticipate a severe punishment" in response.
