Hugo Bachega
Middle East correspondent, reporting from Jerusalem

As diplomacy seems to be going nowhere, de-escalation is elusive. Israel says it has assassinated another three top Iranian military officials, further proof of its deep penetration of Iran’s security forces.

One of them was Saeed Izadi, described as being one of the architects of the Hamas attacks on Israel on 7 October. The Israeli military called his killing a major achievement.

Image source, IDF/ Handout

Another commander Israel says it killed was Benham Shariyari, of the Revolutionary Guards overseas arm. He was believed to have been responsible for weapons transfers from Iran to its regional proxies, including Hamas and Hezbollah.

IDF spokesman Effie Defrin, an Israeli military spokesman, said both men were at the forefront of the Iranian project to take the war to Israeli territory. In this operation, he said, we took the war to their territory.

The Israeli military also hit the Isfahan nuclear facility for the second time in this conflict. It released footage showing extensive damage to the complex, but there were no reports of radioactive leaks.

In response to the attacks, Iran fired more ballistic missiles at Israel overnight. In the morning, an Iranian drone penetrated Israeli air defences and hit a house in the north, but there were no injuries.

Amid international calls for a negotiated solution to this crisis, the chief of Israel’s armed forces said his country should be ready for a prolonged conflict against Iran.

An IDF spokesperson has told Fox News that their mission is to keep the pressure on Iran's military and leadership so that they cannot regroup.

Lt Col Nadav Shoshani said their goal was to make sure Iran "is in disarray" so they have "a hard time carrying out operations".

"We're pushing all the time, we're hunting down their commanders, we're hunting down their missile launchers, making sure they don't have a second to regroup," Shoshani said.

At least five army personnel were killed in an Israeli attack on Sumar in western Iran, the Fars news agency has reported.

Nine others were also left injured in the strike, according to Iranian media - quoting the acting governor of the town of Qasr-e-Shirin.

Image source, Reuters

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian says his country will not stop its nuclear activity nor give up its right to pursue a civilian nuclear programme, according to the country's official IRNA news agency.

In a phone call with French President Emmanuel Macron, Pezeshkian is reported to have said Iran was ready to provide guarantees to build confidence in Iran's nuclear activities, but its nuclear programme could not be taken away by threats or war.

Pezeshkian also warned Macron that his country's response to continuing Israeli attacks would be "more devastating", the IRNA reports.

Pezeshkian said Iran is “ready for dialogue and cooperation to build trust regarding peaceful nuclear activities” of the country, the agency adds.

Joe Inwood
World news correspondent

Reports from the Reuters news agency that B-2 stealth bombers are moving to the island of Guam is not being officially connected to discussions around the US joining Israel’s war on Iran - but few will doubt there is a link.

The huge planes, which have wingspans of more than 50 metres, are the only aircraft capable of carrying the GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrator, a 30,000lb bunker busting bomb that experts say are required to destroy Iran’s deep nuclear facility at Fordo.

The facility is thought to be buried around 100m below the surface, protected by reinforced concrete. Despite their overwhelming aerial superiority, Israel lacks the munitions to damage the facility, hence requiring US support.

Around 9,500km (5,900m) to the east of Fordo, Guam is maybe not the most obvious base from which to launch any attack.

There had been speculation that the UK facility, Diego Garcia, which is around half the distance, might be used as a staging post. That would have caused a potential political and diplomatic headache for the British government, as they would have to give their blessing to any US attack, which might in turn make UK bases a target for Iranian retaliation.

Image source, Reuters

Members of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) "tried to carry out an attack on Israeli citizens in Cyprus", Israel's foreign minister says.

Gideon Saar writes on X , externalthat the island's security authorities worked alongside Israeli security services and "thwarted" the attack.

"The Iranian criminal regime is deliberately targeting Israeli civilians both in Israel and abroad," he says.

He concludes the post saying Israel “will continue to act to remove the existential threat posed” by Iran.

Image source, Reuters

Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has told Iran's foreign minister that resuming nuclear talks with the US is the only way to solve the conflict with Israel and the dispute over its nuclear programme, according to the Reuters news agency.

Erdogan has met Abbas Araqchi in Istanbul today and says that Turkey is ready to play a facilitator role to help resume the nuclear talks between Iran and the US.

The Turkish president has said Israel's decision to attack Iran just before nuclear talks with the United States was an act of sabotage.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have provided further details on their strikes in southwest Iran.

"Earlier today approximately 30 Air Force fighter jets, under intelligence guidance from the Intelligence Department, attacked dozens of military targets in the Mahvaz area in southwestern Iran with more than 50 munitions," they write on X.

A military site storing missile launchers and other military infrastructure were targeted, the statement adds.

"The IDF continues to intensify its attacks on the Iranian regime's military capabilities in order to maintain the security of the State of Israel," the IDF says.

Joe Inwood
World news correspondent

A suspected Iranian spy has been arrested near an RAF base in Cyprus, following intelligence suggesting he was planning a terrorist attack.

Local media are reporting the man is of Azerbaijani descent and has connections to Iran’s Revolutionary Guards.

He appeared in a district court earlier today and was detained for a further eight days, pending investigations.

Although it’s not in the Middle East, RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus is the UKs most significant base for the region. It is home to fast jets, reconnaissance, transport and refuelling aircraft - and has previously been used to help defend Israeli skies from attack by Iran.

Last week it was announced that further planes would be sent there to protect existing UK assets.

In a statement, the UK's foreign office said “we are in contact with the authorities in Cyprus regarding the arrest of a British man.” The statement was provided to the BBC following a question regarding the reports in Cypriot media about the counter-terror arrest.

Ghoncheh Habibiazad
BBC Persian, World Service reporter

Iranian media have reported that an emergency centre in the city of Hoveyzeh, Khuzestan province, was targeted by Israel today.

According to the reports, the province’s emergency services and Ahvaz University of Medical Sciences issued separate statements on the 115 Hoveyzeh emergency centre.

In its statement, the university said the centre was “completely” destroyed, though the attack resulted in no casualties or injuries.

Israel has not responded.

Yemen's Iran-backed Houthis have warned Washington that they will target American ships in the Red Sea if the US military becomes involved in strikes on Iran, according to the AFP news agency.

As a reminder, the US and the Houthis agreed a ceasefire in May for it to stop targeting shipping in the Red Sea.

The Houthis said it was attacking shipping in solidarity with the Palestinians in Gaza. In response former US president Joe Biden began US air strikes against the Houthis, which intensified under Trump.

Israel has struck an Iranian nuclear plant in Isfahan, the UN's nuclear watchdog has confirmed.

The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Grossi, says Israel struck a centrifuge workshop, which made the machines used to enrich uranium.

“We know this facility well. There was no nuclear material at this site and therefore the attack on it will have no radiological consequences,” Grossi says.

This is the third such facility Israel has targeted in Iran since fighting began on June 13, the agency says. Israel previously struck the Tehran Research Centre and a workshop in the city of Karaj, it says.

Grossi told the United Nations Security Council on Friday “attacks on nuclear sites in the Islamic Republic of Iran have caused a sharp degradation in nuclear safety and security” in the country, adding: “Though they have not so far led to a radiological release affecting the public, there is a danger this could occur.”

Read more: BBC Verify identifies fresh damage to several buildings in a northern part of Iran's Isfahan nuclear site

Image source, Reuters

Strikes are ongoing on the ninth day of hostilities between Israel and Iran. If you are just joining us, here are the latest developments in the region:

In Iran:

• Several explosions were heard in Khuzestan province, state media reports, as Israel said it is launching more strikes targeting "military infrastructure" in southwestern Iran
• More than 400 people have been killed and 3,056 injured by Israeli strikes since the conflict began on 13 June, a spokesperson for Iran's health ministry said
• BBC Verify identified fresh damage to several buildings in Iran's Isfahan nuclear facility following renewed strikes
• Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, who is meeting with the Turkish president in Istanbul, said US involvement in the ongoing conflict between Israel and Iran would be "very very dangerous"
• There are mixed reports on the restoration of internet in Iran. Millions of people still have only intermittent access, or none at all, following a multi-day blackout
• The BBC spoke to Iranians trying to get back into Iran from Turkey. "It's our home," said one Iranian woman at the border crossing. "I can't just leave it behind"

In Israel:

• Israel said its assassination of a senior Iranian commander in a strike on an apartment in Qom is "a key point" in the conflict. The IDF said Saaed Izadi was instrumental in planning the October 7 attacks by Hamas
• Israel said 25 people have been killed by Iranian strikes and 2,517 injured since the conflict began

• The Israeli military also said they killed another Iranian commander - Quds Force commander Behnam Shahriyari

• Earlier, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) said eight Iranian drones flew into Israeli airspace over the course of just over one hour this morning

Ghoncheh Habibiazad
BBC Persian, World Service reporter

Iranian media has acknowledged that another nuclear scientist has been killed in Israeli strikes on the country, rising the official death toll announced to 10.

The killing of the scientist named Isar Tabatabei Ghomsheh was first announced by the newsletter of Tehran’s Sharif University, where he was an alumni.

The newsletter of the university said that he was killed “late last week in his home” alongside his wife, Mansoureh Hajisalem.

Iran previously confirmed the killing of nine other nuclear scientists.

Fereydoon Abbasi was the former head of the Atomic Energy Organisation of Iran, while Mohammad Mehdi Tehranchi served as the president of the Islamic Azad University in Tehran.

Abdolhamid Minouchehr, Ahmad Reza Zolfaghari, and Amirhossein Feghhi were all members of the academic staff at Tehran’s Shahid Beheshti University.

Akbar Motallebizadeh, Ali Bakaei Karimi, Mansour Asgari, and Saeed Borji have also been killed.

Meanwhile, Israel’s channel 12 reported that Israel, under “Operation Narnia”, has killed 9 Iranian nuclear scientists “simultaneously” and killed the tenth Iranian nuclear scientist shortly after.

Ghoncheh Habibiazad
BBC Persian, World Service reporter

Over 400 people have been killed in Iran by Israeli strikes since the conflict began on 13 June, the spokesperson for Iran's health ministry says.

Hossein Kermanpour, external wrote on X that 3,056 people have been injured due to the strikes. Of the people who have been killed, 54 were women and children and five were healthcare workers, he said before adding, the majority of casualties and injured "have been civilians".

The update is the first official death toll released since 15 June, when the authorities reported 224 people were killed and over 1,200 injured.

Earlier, the Nour news agency reported at least 430 people had been killed and 3,500 injured in Iran over the last 9 days, citing Iran's health ministry.

Hugo Bachega
Middle East correspondent

Image source, EPA

A poll by the Israel Democracy Institute released on Thursday suggests that 82% of Jewish Israelis support the decision to attack Iran, including 57% who identify themselves as being on the left. Among Arab Israelis, 11% support it and 65% are opposed to it.

The numbers do not come as a surprise. For at least three decades, Israel has been warning about the “existential threat” posed by Iran’s nuclear programme. And one man has been at the centre of those calls: Benjamin Netanyahu, the longest-serving Israeli prime minister.

From his book, called Fighting Terrorism, published in 1995, to his famous speech at the United Nations Security Council in 2012, when he displayed the illustration of a bomb to explain how close Iran was to obtaining a nuclear weapon, he has long said Iran must be stopped.

Israel says the goal is to damage Iran’s nuclear capabilities, as the country was near the “point of no return” in developing a nuclear weapon. Iran insists its programme is for peaceful, civilian purposes.

But more and more Israeli officials have been hinting at something else: regime change. The hope seems to be that the bombing campaign will lead to an uprising against the Iranian supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamanei, toppling the Islamic Republic.

It is a risky gamble, as the Middle East has a history of foreign interventions that promise freedom but result in chaos and even more violence. Iran calls it a war of aggression and has vowed to continue to retaliate.

• Listen to more analysis from Hugo on From Our Own Correspondent

IDF footage shows new damage to key Iranian nuclear sitepublished at 14:10 British Summer Time 21 June

14:10 BST 21 June

By Paul Brown and Seb Vandermeersch

The Israeli military has released footage showing damage to Iran's Isfahan nuclear facility following renewed strikes.

By comparing the footage with satellite imagery captured by Maxar last week, BBC Verify has identified fresh damage to several buildings in a northern part of the site.

In a separate statement, the IDF said it had struck "centrifuge production facilities", which are used as part of the uranium enrichment process.

The new damage covers an area of around 0.3 sq km, within which seven structures appear to have been completely flattened.

Maxar images captured on 14 June showed clear damage to at least two buildings at different parts of the site, and a burn mark on the perimeter. No structures had been completely destroyed at that point.

Yesterday, the head of the UN's nuclear watchdog, Rafael Grossi, told the Security Council that "attacks on nuclear sites in the Islamic Republic of Iran have caused a sharp degradation in nuclear safety and security in Iran."

We've just reported an update from the Israeli military who say more strikes "targeting military infrastructure" have been launched in southwestern Iran.

This marks the ninth day of fighting between the two countries, since Israel launched strikes on 13 June.

The Nour news agency, citing Iran's health ministry, says at least 430 people have been killed and 3,500 injured in Iran since the conflict began. Israel says 25 people have been killed and 2,517 wounded.

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, EPA

Image source, Getty Images

Israel has launched more strikes "targeting military infrastructure" in southwestern Iran, an IDF spokesperson says.

Avichay Adraee writes on X: "Air Force warplanes are currently launching raids targeting military infrastructure in southwestern Iran." He did not provide further details.

Iranian media reports several blasts were heard in Ahvaz and Bandar-e Mahshahr, in Khuzestan Province in southwestern Iran.

We'll bring you more information as we get it.

Kawoon Khamoosh
BBC World Service

Huge numbers of Iranians continue to flee Tehran and other cities under Israeli attack, with some heading across the border into neighbouring countries.

But at the Kapıköy crossing at the Turkish border, the BBC spoke to Iranians who are instead doing the opposite – crossing back into Iran.