Anthony Zurcher
North America correspondent

Image source, Reuters

As the massive size and scope of Israel's overnight attacks on Iran have come into view on Friday, Donald Trump is presented with a major new foreign policy crisis - as well as a diplomatic dilemma.

How does the American president who promised to be a peacemaker handle a dramatic military escalation in the Middle East?

In the hours after the strike, Trump appears to be struggling to find a consistent message in the face of a grave blow to his diplomatic efforts.

Last night, US diplomats reacted coolly to the first reports of the Israeli strikes. While it was clear that American forces had advance notice of what was coming, a statement from Secretary of State Marco Rubio emphasised the US was not involved in the logistics or planning of the attack.

By Friday morning, the president himself was commenting on his Truth Social account, with a sombre message directed at the Iranian leadership - more "I told you so" than a clear plan to stop the warfare.

In comments to American media outlets, though, Trump's message was more muddled. "I think it's been excellent," he said of Israel's strikes in an ABC interview. He added that the US gave Iran a chance, but they didn't take it.

Trump's strategy, at the moment, appears to be hoping that the military action jolts Iran into making new concessions – a delicate dance of distancing the US from Israel's actions while still trying to use them to gain advantage at the negotiating table.

Read more of Anthony Zurcher's analysis here.

As we've just reported, sirens were heard in Jerusalem as the Israeli military said a rocket had been launched at the country from Yemen.

In a new update, the Israeli Defence Forces says residents across Israel are instructed to stay close to protected spaces and minimise movement in open areas.

Gatherings should also be avoided, it adds, and if an alert is issued, people should go to a protected space until an official update is provided.

Jerusalem's air raid alert system was triggered a short while ago, but it has since been turned off, according to the country's official red alert system.

It comes after the Israeli military reported that they had identified the launch of a rocket from Yemen towards Israel.

They are now "operating to intercept the threat", a statement from the IDF adds.

In a post on Telegram, Israeli police say: "Jerusalem District Police are prepared to conduct scans to locate areas where weapons have fallen."

Ghoncheh Habibiazad
BBC Persian

The IRGC-affiliated Fars News Agency is reporting that two explosions have been heard several minutes ago near the Fordow nuclear site.

Fordow is located south of Tehran and about 20 miles (32km) northeast of the central city of Qom. It lies about a 100m underground.

There were some earlier reports of people hearing explosions near the site.

The US and top European powers had previously expressed alarm over the discovery of uranium particles enriched to 83.7% purity at this specific site.

Israel targeted the Natanz nuclear site in Iran’s Isfahan province earlier today.

The International Atomic Energy Agency says levels of radiation outside that facility have remained unchanged, but the radioactive contamination inside can be managed with “appropriate protective measures”.

As we've been reporting, the Israeli military says it is continuing to strike targets in Iran. Tehran has so far not commented on the latest strikes.

Earlier today, Israel said it hit multiple nuclear and military sites across the country. The earliest explosions were reported in Iran's capital Tehran at about 03:30 local time (01:00 BST).

Below, we've mapped the sites across Iran where Israel says it hit in those overnight strikes.

Verifying new air strikes reported near Tehranpublished at 17:24 British Summer Time 13 June

17:24 BST 13 June

By Emma Pengelly, BBC Verify

In the last few minutes, we’ve verified a video which appears to show the aftermath of a new air strike near the Iranian capital, Tehran.

In the footage, which was filmed to the west of the city, there’s a smoke plume in the distance and the sun is in the west - so we can tell it was captured in the evening.

A BBC colleague has translated the audio in the footage. The speaker begins by saying that it is, "right now", 18:32 local time. "This is Garmdareh… now I can hear explosions and you can see the smoke.”

18:32 local time would be 16:02 BST - so a little over an hour ago.

We’re continuing to monitor reports of further Israeli strikes on Iran.

Ghoncheh Habibiazad
BBC Persian

Videos are circulating online and on some Iranian media outlets that show Tehran being targeted for the second time today.

There have also been citizens saying that they have heard explosions in western Tehran, as well as other parts of the city.

Meanwhile, state TV has not been reporting on the new videos that have been circulating that show the alleged strikes. Instead, outlets have invited one Iranian official after another, each of them vowing revenge on Israel.

In the attacks overnight, Israel targeted nuclear and military bases, as well as residential buildings of Iranian officials.

We're now receiving reports that there have been fresh explosions across Iran.

The Israeli Air Force says in a post on X that it is continuing "to attack missile launchers and infrastructure" in Iran.

We are working to bring you more on this.

New satellite images show damage to Natanz nuclear site in Iranpublished at 17:00 British Summer Time 13 June

17:00 BST 13 June

By Paul Brown

The first satellite imagery from Iran has arrived and it shows clear signs of damage at the Natanz nuclear facility.

As we reported earlier, Natanz is important because it's the principal site for large-scale uranium enrichment.

The image was captured by the US company Umbra Space using Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR), rather than more conventional methods. The result is a high resolution, black and white image of the Earth’s surface.

The benefit of this technology is that it cuts through cloud cover, which can often obscure images captured by conventional satellites.

In one of the areas, we can see at least four buildings have been damaged - we’ve marked those in the image below. We’re also consulting experts to understand what these structures may have been used for.

What is clear from the images is that these were highly precise strikes. Buildings not directly targeted appear to have sustained minimal or no damage.

• BBC Verify has been authenticating more images that show the aftermath of Israel's strikes on Iran over on their live page

Image source, Umbra Space

Image source, Armin Karami/Middle East Images/ AFP

The new head of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) has just released a statement, after his predecessor was killed in the Israeli strikes overnight.

Mohammad Pakpour says Israel will "suffer a bitter and painful fate with huge and destructive consequences".

The statement adds that Iran will "avenge" those killed in the attack and goes on to say that Israel is "violating the national security and territorial integrity" of the country.

• At least six nuclear scientists and several senior Iranian military figures were killed in Israeli strikes

Ben Hatton
Live reporter

In the last hour, Israel has said it is continuing to carry out strikes on Iran. This comes after it killed several senior IRGC commanders and nuclear scientists in a major overnight attack on Iran.

Here's a quick recap of what else has been happening today:

• Israel claims Iran has been taking steps to weaponise its nuclear programme - Iran denies this
• Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has vowed "severe punishment" for the attack. Iran launched around 100 drones towards Israel this morning, according to the Israeli military, which says many were intercepted
• Inside Iran, state media is reporting that civilians, including children, are among the dead following Israeli strikes – this has not been independently verified
• Key Iranian commanders have been killed, including the chief of staff of the armed forces, and the commander-in-chief of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC)
• Many world leaders have called for restraint on both sides. Trump has urged Iran to "make a deal" on its nuclear programme, "before there is nothing left"
• Elsewhere, our Middle East correspondent Hugo Bachega has analysed how Israel managed to penetrate deep inside Iran
• And our North America correspondent Nomia Iqbal has been taking a look at how Trump's position could divide his base

Some more now from Israel's ambassador to the UN, who's continuing to give an update on last night's strikes on Iran.

Danny Danon tells reporters that in "recent months, the Iranian threat took a dramatic turn", as he claims the country "advanced significantly" in its nuclear capabilities.

Iran has enough material for "multiple nuclear weapons", Danon claims. He adds that his country also found evidence that Iran had planned a surprise attack and planned to "invade".

Israel "acted to protect our citizens", the ambassador says.

"We won't sit quietly while our people are targeted, not again, not ever. Empty words will not stop Iran. Israel will."

Image source, Reuters

We're now hearing from Israel's ambassador to the United Nations, who is delivering an update on the strikes that Israel carried out against Iran overnight.

Speaking at the UN, Danny Danon says the strikes were "necessary action" in the face of a threat from Iran.

You can watch his statement by pressing watch live at the top of this page and we'll also bring you the key lines here.

Image source, EPA-EFE/Shutterstock

US President Donald Trump has been speaking to US media outlets this morning and has taken to praising Israel's attack on Iran..

He confirmed to the Wall Street Journal that he was informed about Israel's plans ahead of time. When asked about the extent of this, Trump said: "it wasn't a heads up. It was, we know what's going on."

He called the operation "a very successful attack, to put it mildly".

In a separate interview with ABC News, he expressed a similar sentiment, describing the strikes as "excellent".

"We gave them a chance and they didn't take it," he said, echoing his Truth Social post from earlier this morning.

"They got hit hard, very hard. They got hit about as hard as you're going to get hit. And there's more to come. A lot more."

• A reminder: Earlier, Iran accused the US of supporting Israel's strikes in Iran, which Washington has denied

Bernd Debusmann Jr
Reporting from the White House

Image source, Bernd Debusmann Jr/BBC News

I've just arrived at the White House, which is buzzing with activity as the world's media continues to react to the Israeli strikes on Iran.

Fridays are normally fairly calm here - by this administration's standards - with only a handful of events before Trump's usual departure for the weekend.

Today, however, there are dozens of reporters trickling in from around the world. Walking in, I heard reporters speaking to cameras in Italian, Spanish, French, Arabic and Kurdish.

President Trump is scheduled to meet his National Security Council in the next 30 minutes.

That meeting will take place behind closed doors in the West Wing - so we won't get any visuals or updates as to what's happening.

There is nothing else currently on Trump's schedule for the day, and it remains unclear if we'll hear from the president or any of his cabinet members directly today.

A bit earlier, our reporter in Jerusalem said there were reports that Israel's strikes across Iran were ongoing as part of its 'Operation Rising Lion'.

We can now bring you confirmation from the Israel Defense Forces, which says it "continues to attack targets in Iranian territory".

Israel began carrying out a wave of strikes on Iran overnight, with the IDF saying it targeted nuclear sites and military chiefs. Revolutionary Guard chief Hossein Salami and other senior military figures have been assassinated, the IDF and Iran confirmed.

Iran says six scientists have been killed, with state media reporting that civilians, including children, are among the dead – this has not been independently verified.

How Israel managed to penetrate deep inside Iranpublished at 15:33 British Summer Time 13 June

15:33 BST 13 June

Hugo Bachega
Middle East correspondent, in Jerusalem

Image source, Getty Images

The large-scale Israeli attacks appeared to have three main objectives:

• Damage Iran’s nuclear programme
• Degrade its defence capabilities
• And assassinate part of its military and scientific leadership

The strategy, which would have been years in the making, seems similar to the one Israel successfully applied against Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed group in Lebanon, that was severely weakened in last year’s war.

And just like it did with Hezbollah, Israel managed to penetrate deep inside Iran.

It had detailed and accurate information about some of the country’s top military officials and scientists, while some of the strikes were launched from inside Iranian territory.

The timing of the attack may have come as a surprise, but Israeli officials have for years raised concerns about Iran’s nuclear programme, describing it as an existential threat to Israel.

Iran has consistently denied it is seeking weapons and says its programme is for peaceful purposes.

In recent months, however, Israel talked about a unique window of opportunity to strike Iranian facilities: Iran’s air defences had been damaged by Israeli attacks last year and its proxies in the region, part of what Tehran calls the Axis of Resistance, had been degraded, including Hezbollah.

Jonathan Josephs
BBC business reporter

Israel’s air strikes on Iran have led to a big jump in the oil price.

But there’s been a more muted response on the New York stock markets as they open, suggesting traders aren’t sure how bad things will get.

The S&P 500 and Nasdaq are both down less than 1% in the first hour of trading.

The importance of oil to creating energy for manufacturing and its many other uses mean that does have the potential to push up prices for goods as well as filling up our cars.

As I write, benchmark Brent Crude is up just over 7% at almost $73 a barrel, which is a lot less than the 13% we saw earlier.

Whether it stays there will be dictated by how long these tensions last.

Image source, Reuters

• French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz both call on Iran and Israel to exercise restraint, as they condemn Iran's nuclear programme and - in this context - "reaffirm that Israel has a right to defend itself"
• UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer has urged Iran and Israel to "step back and reduce tensions urgently"
• Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said in a statement that Israeli strikes are a "clear provocation that disregards international law"

• Oman, which is mediating the Iran-US nuclear talks on Sunday, said it "holds Israel responsible for this escalation and its consequences"
• Saudi Arabia has denounced Israel's strikes, saying they "constitute a clear violation of international laws and norms"

• And China has said it is deeply concerned about the attacks and has urged Israel and Iran to avoid further escalation

Israel’s ambassador to the UN is due to deliver an update on last night's attack at 16:00 BST. And the UN security council will also meet today to discuss the situation, Reuters reports, after Iran called on them for an emergency meeting.

Stick with us as we continue to bring you all the latest.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) says its air force and navy have intercepted an "unmanned aircraft", which it claims was launched from Iran.

In a post on X, the IDF also includes video footage of what looks like missile fire followed by an explosion.

Iran has yet to comment.