Iran's deputy foreign minister has warned the US as President Donald Trump considers whether to join Israel’s strikes on Iran’s nuclear sites.

Iranian state media quotes Kazem Gharibabadi as saying: "If the US wants to actively intervene in support of Israel, Iran will have no other option but to use its tools to teach aggressors a lesson and defend itself."

"Our recommendation to the US is to at least stand by if they do not wish to stop Israel's aggression," he says, adding that Iran's "military decision-makers have all necessary options on the table".

As the world waits for Trump’s decision, his former deputy national security advisor KT McFarland has given some insight into how he might decide.

She tells BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that the US president may turn to his personal network for advice on whether to attack Iran.

McFarland says that, unlike most presidents who rely on their staff and cabinet for briefings, Trump prefers to talk to people he knows, like Mohammed bin Salman, Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia.

But in the end, McFarland says, it will be Trump alone who makes the call.

“And once he’s made the decision, he doesn’t second-guess himself. He just lets it happen,” she says.

When the US bombed Syrian airfields in 2017, McFarland says Trump went to have dinner with President Xi of China straight after ordering the strikes.

“He got word in the middle of eating chocolate cake for dessert that the American mission had been completed,” she says.

Image source, AFP

"I may do it, I may not do it. I mean, nobody knows what I'm going to do."

That was what Trump said on the White House lawn yesterday, when asked if the US was getting closer to striking nuclear sites in Iran.

Since then, reports say he approved plans for a US attack, but is holding off for now in case Iran agrees to give up its nuclear programme.

Iran's mission to the UN has cast doubt on this happening, saying it does not "negotiate under duress".

Trump's former deputy national security adviser KT McFarland says the US president will wait until the last minute to decide.

But without an outside deadline, it’s not clear what that might mean.

Arielle Harper, a third-year medical student in Beersheba, told BBC World Service's Newsday she was next to Soroka Hospital when the Iranian strike happened.

"There was an incredible thud and shake of the whole building, louder than anything I have heard," she says.

Harper also says the Israeli military's Home Front Command have done everything possible to keep people safe, sending alerts and sharing information about shelters.

Tom Bennett
Reporting from Holon

Image source, EPA

I’ve just arrived in Holon where Israeli authorities say three people were seriously injured by an Iranian missile that struck here earlier.

A block of flats has had its roof caved in, and dozens of police and rescue workers are combing through the debris.

As we’ve seen with almost all of these ballistic missile strikes, buildings as far as 200m (656ft) away have had their windows and shutters blown through by the shockwave.

One man, whose apartment was torn apart by the blast, managed to escape with his pet parrot.

Lucy Williamson
Middle East correspondent, reporting from Beersheba

The reception area at Soroka Hospital is full of army, police and emergency teams.

There's a chemical smell mixed in with the dust floating through the doors to the surgery department.

One of the soldiers assisting with the clean-up there says it looks bad, and it's lucky no-one is hurt.

Doctors tell Israeli radio that patients were moved from this department only yesterday to a secure underground site.

Others, including one man waiting in the emergency department, are covered with debris in the blast.

A stream of officials and politicians are now arriving at the site as a drone flies constantly overhead.

Here are the latest updates:

In Israel

• An Israeli hospital in Beersheba, in the south of the country, has been damaged by a missile strike
• Iran says the intended target was a military site near the hospital
• Several places in Israel were hit overnight, with dozens injured
• Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says Tehran would "pay the price"

In Iran

• Israeli forces say they have attacked Iran’s nuclear sites, including the Arak heavy water reactor and the Natanz uranium enrichment plant
• Iran has filed a complaint with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)

Elsewhere

• Donald Trump has approved plans to attack Iran, but hasn't made a final decision on whether to go ahead, according to the BBC's US partner CBS

Stay with us for the latest developments.

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has long warned that Iran is close to developing nuclear weapons.

After Israel launched attacks on Iran last week, Netanyahu said Iran could produce a bomb within months.

BBC Verify's Ros Atkins explains what we know about Iran's nuclear programme.

Victoria Gill
Science correspondent

While attacks have targeted Iran’s nuclear programme, they have focused on uranium enrichment facilities.

Damage to those sites does not pose the risk of a “nuclear incident” the likes of disasters at Chernobyl or Fukushima, experts have told BBC News.

That’s because there is no nuclear reaction taking place in an enrichment facility.

In a nuclear power station’s reactor, atoms of uranium are split in a controlled fission reaction that produces heat for power and waste products that are more radioactive than the uranium fuel.

Enrichment facilities, on the other hand, simply produce the fuel.

Nuclear materials scientist Simon Middleburgh from Bangor University explains that if an enrichment facility were bombed “the uranium being enriched would be ejected from the facility - possibly into the environment.

“But no nuclear reaction is likely to occur, and therefore the hazards would remain local and pose no radiological risk beyond a small exclusion zone around the facility.”

Image source, Getty Images

Let's step away from the Israeli hospital for a moment.

Nuclear sites, including the Arak heavy water reactor and the Natanz facility, were attacked by Israel overnight, as we've mentioned earlier.

Iran's official news agency, IRNA, says Iran has reported the attack to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), accusing Israel of "continuing its aggression and actions contrary to international laws that prohibit attacks on nuclear facilities".

The agency also reports there were no casualties in the attack on the Arak nuclear site.

Israel could use Iran strikes to pressure Trump to actpublished at 08:37 British Summer Time 19 June

08:37 BST 19 June

Hugo Bachega
Middle East correspondent, reporting from Jerusalem

Israel has justified its attacks by saying Iran was reaching the "point of no return" in its nuclear programme, and that it was close to developing a nuclear weapon, although it has provided no evidence of that.

Iran says its nuclear programme is for civilian, peaceful purposes, and the recent assessment of US officials was that Iran had not made a decision to weaponise its nuclear programme - although it is not clear whether it had plans to do so.

The attacks this morning come at a critical time, as President Trump considers the possibility of direct American involvement in Israel's campaign.

The strikes will probably be used by Israeli officials and those in favour of military action to put pressure on Trump to act.

The Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has rejected Trump's calls to surrender, and Iran has threatened to strike American military interests in the Middle East in response.

Its proxies in Iraq and Yemen could attack too, leading to even more violence.

Efforts to de-escalate the conflict have so far been unsuccessful, with Israel indicating this campaign will continue.

Image source, EPA

Iran inflicts significant damage in Israelpublished at 08:29 British Summer Time 19 June

08:29 BST 19 June

Hugo Bachega
Middle East correspondent, reporting from Jerusalem

After days of very limited impact with its attacks, Iran has managed to inflict significant damage in Israel, as missiles penetrated the country’s air defences, hitting several locations.

The intensity of the recent barrages had diminished, which was an indication of the damage from Israel’s air strikes on the Iranian military.

Reflecting that, the Israeli government had announced the easing of some of the restrictions that had been imposed because of the war.

This morning’s attacks, however, show that Iran still has the ability to fire missiles and cause harm. The locations hit include the Soroka Medical Center in the southern city of Beersheba, Holon, where a missile landed between buildings, and Ramat Gan, both in the Tel Aviv area.

Iran said the target in Beersheba was what it said was a military target near the hospital but Sharren Haskel, the Israeli deputy foreign affairs minister, accused Iran of deliberately targeting Soroka. It is not clear what were the possible targets in the other cities hit.

Iran has been responding to almost a week of Israel’s air strikes on military and nuclear sites, energy facilities, airports, government buildings and also residential areas.

Iran says this is a war of aggression, and that it has the right to defend itself.

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters

We've had another update from Israel's emergency service Magen David Adom.

They say a total of 65 people are now being treated for injuries after recent Iranian strikes across the country.

This includes a man in his 80s and two women in their 70s who are in "serious condition", two women in their 80s in "moderate condition", 42 people in "mild condition" and 18 people who were hurt while on their way to bomb shelters.

The service says more updates are on the way.

The main target of this morning’s missile strike was a military site next to Soroka Hospital in Beersheba, not the hospital itself, Iranian state media says.

According to the IRNA news agency, the attack was aimed at an Israel Defence Forces (IDF) “command and intelligence (IDF C4i) headquarters” and an army intelligence camp in the Gav-Yam Technology Park.

“The hospital was only exposed to the blast wave and did not suffer serious damage, but military infrastructure was a precise and direct target,” the report adds.

The Gav-Yam Negev advanced technologies park’s website says it is “adjacent to the Ben Gurion University campus and the IDF C4i Branch campus”. Israeli media has also previously reported that an IDF campus is being built on this site.

Our correspondents are on their way to the hospital. We’ll bring you updates as we get them.

We’re getting more pictures from the aftermath of an Iranian strike that hit Israel’s Soroka Hospital this morning.

Medical staff are still working at the site, as Israel’s emergency services say more than 30 people have been injured.

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters

Image source, EPA

We're now hearing from Israel's president, Isaac Herzog.

Speaking about the hospital in Beersheba hit by Iranian strikes, Herzog says: "A baby in intensive care. A mother by their bedside. A doctor rushing between beds. An elderly resident in a nursing home. These were some of the targets of Iran’s missile attacks on Israeli civilians this morning."

He adds that "in moments like these, we are reminded of what’s truly at stake, and the values we are defending."

Image source, Reuters

We're now hearing from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu following an Iranian strike that hit Israel's Soroka Hospital.

In a post on X, Netanyahu says: "This morning, Iran's terrorist tyrants launched missiles at Soroka Hospital in Beersheba and at a civilian population in the centre of the country.

"We will exact the full price from the tyrants in Tehran."

In a separate announcement, Israel's military says its air force attacked a site in Natanz, Iran, last night, which it says is used to develop nuclear weapons.

"The site houses unique components and equipment used to develop nuclear weapons, and projects are being developed there that enable the acceleration of the nuclear weapons programme," Israel Defense Forces (IDF) says.

This isn't the first reported strike on Natanz. Earlier this week, the head of the global nuclear watchdog told the BBC that centrifuges at Iran's underground uranium enrichment plant at Natanz were likely to have been "severely damaged if not destroyed altogether" after Israeli strikes last Friday.

Israel has alleged that Iran has recently "taken steps to weaponise" its enriched uranium stockpile, which can be used for power plants or nuclear bombs.

On Sunday, Iran repeated that its nuclear programme is peaceful and urged the IAEA's 35-nation board to strongly condemn the Israeli strikes.

The Israeli military has confirmed it has carried out an attack on the nuclear reactor in Arak, saying it is "inactive".

The Israel Defense Forces says the reactor is designed to produce high-yield plutonium, which is a material used to make nuclear weapons.

"The strike targeted the component intended for plutonium production, in order to prevent the reactor from being restored and used for nuclear weapons development," they say in a statement.

They also say their latest strikes involved 40 fighter jets targeting dozens of military sites, including factories making raw materials, parts used to assemble ballistic missiles, and locations for building Iranian air defence systems and missiles.

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters

Paramedics in Israel are treating at least 32 people for injuries after Iran’s latest round of strikes, according to Israel’s emergency service Magen David Adom (MDA).

Two people, a man aged about 80 and a woman aged about 70, are being taken to hospital in a serious condition, while another 30 people have mild injuries, mostly from blasts and shrapnel, MDA says.

In a separate report, MDA paramedic Yossi Shilo says his team saw “extensive destruction” at a building site. A woman aged around 60 was taken to hospital in “serious but stable condition”, he adds.