Image source, Reuters

Let’s catch up with the latest developments this morning after the US carried out strikes against Iranian nuclear sites overnight:

• Speaking to the BBC, Israel’s president says the latest wave of strikes “substantially” hit Iran’s nuclear programme – but says full details have yet to emerge
• The UK says it's organising flights to evacuate British citizens and their dependants from Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories

• British foreign secretary David Lammy urges Iran to show restraint while Prime Minister Keir Starmer says the US strikes aimed to "alleviate" the "grave threat" Iran's nuclear programme poses
• Lammy adds the UK was not involved in the US strikes on Iran and was warned about the attacks in advance
• Iran's foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, accuses US President Donald Trump of "betraying" both Iran and the US public with his actions

• Meanwhile, Israel and Iran continued to trade missile fire this morning, with Tel Aviv saying they’ve launched new strikes on “military targets” in western Iran

To learn more about how the overnight strikes unfolded, you can check out our earlier post.

Trump's attack caught most by surprisepublished at 11:53 British Summer Time 22 June

11:53 BST 22 June

Gary O'Donoghue
Chief North America correspondent

Image source, Reuters

It was a dramatic series of events that unfolded on Saturday night in Washington.

In the late afternoon, President Trump landed back at the White House, having spent barely a day at his golf club in New Jersey, for a scheduled meeting of the National Security Council at 18:00 local time (23:00 BST).

He’s been holding those all week, so no one thought something was afoot.

In fact, the White House shortly after called what’s known as a “lid” – which is the jargon used to tell reporters there’s no more news for the night.

But at 19:50 local time (00:50 BST), that Truth Social post dropped announcing the strikes – and if my assumption is correct, expletives and gasps would have been heard in houses and apartments around this city and across the world.

The Truth Social network then went down – presumably under the weight of traffic.

Two hours later, Trump was standing in the East Room of the White House flanked by his vice-president, Defense Secretary, and his Secretary of State. This, the same spot where Barack Obama announced the death of Osama Bin Laden in 2011.

Iran had a choice, he said: "Peace or tragedy."

The gasps and expletives are all now out in the ether – and have been replaced by a country and a world which is holding its breath.

Hesham Shawish
BBC Monitoring Middle East

We've been getting plenty of international reaction in the hours after the US bombed nuclear sites in Iran.

Arab nations have been quick to respond, here's a breakdown of what they've said:

Oman, which was mediating nuclear talks between Washington and Tehran, strongly condemned US strikes on nuclear sites in Iran.

Saudi Arabia, which has strong security ties with the US and is one of its closest regional allies, said that it condemned “the violation of Iran’s sovereignty and stresses the need for restraint”, calling on the international community “to redouble efforts in these extremely sensitive circumstances to reach a political solution”.

Qatar’s foreign ministry warned that the current “dangerous tensions will lead to disastrous repercussions at the regional and international levels.” It said that it “hopes that all parties will exercise wisdom and restraint at this time”.

Egypt warned of "the dangers of the region sliding into further chaos and tension," stressing that "political solutions and diplomatic negotiations, not a military solution, are the only way out of the crisis".

Meanwhile, Lebanese President Joseph Aoun said that "the bombing of Iranian nuclear facilities raises the level of fear of an escalation of tensions that would threaten security and stability in more than one region and country".

Lucy Williamson
Middle East correspondent, reporting from Tel Aviv

Here in the upscale Ramat Aviv neighbourhood of Tel Aviv, there are large pieces of shrapnel strewn around a leafy square. In the centre, residents clutching pets and suitcases are mingling with rescue teams in the blazing sun.

Through the trees are glimpses of the devastation left by this morning’s missile barrage – Iran’s reply to the US strike on its nuclear sites. Heavy machinery is working to clear the debris from the worst apartment blocks hit, their roofs collapsed and walls shattered into rubble.

Opposite the impact site, rescue teams are leading frail and elderly residents out of a high-rise care home. Some emerging slowly on walking frames.

Iran has been bombarding Israeli cities for ten days now, but Israel’s military campaign in Iran has not slowed. Tehran’s ballistic missile threat has not been the deterrent it had hoped.

And after the US joined Israel’s offensive overnight, Iran faces a new and more dangerous situation.

Kawoon Khamoosh
Reporting from the Turkey-Iran border

I'm continuing to speak to Iranians who have fled their country to neighbouring Turkey, who have been telling me how they're anxious to see what will happen next.

I met a man who left Tehran on the day the conflict between Iran and Israel began. He has since been staying in a hotel with his mother and sister.

When asked about the US strikes on Iran, he tells me: “I'm sad that’s it's not ending." He thought he would only be in Turkey "for a short while", but it now seems that he'll be here for a "long time".

He says he has a business in Tehran and he’s just "counting the days" to be able to get back to it.

“I can only afford another two or three weeks to be outside and then I’ll run out of money. I’m very concerned now.”

I also spoke to Majd, a 28-year-old student who arrived here in Van city, Turkey, from Iran.

Majd says they're now worried they may not be able to see their family, who remains in Iran.

"That’s something I constantly think about.”

Image source, EPA

We can now bring you some more quotes from Iranian Foreign Minister Araghchi's press conference in Istanbul.

He's asked whether his country is considering targeting US military bases in the region or closing the Strait of Hormuz.

The Strait of Hormuz, a narrow shipping route in the Gulf region, is one of the world's most important shipping routes.

It's deep enough for the world's biggest crude oil tankers, and is used by the major oil and gas producers in the Middle East - and their customers.

"There are a variety of options available to us," he says.

Image source, Getty Images

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has been delivering a televised response to the strikes on his country's nuclear sites, during which he says Trump "betrayed" both Iran and the American people.

"While President Trump was elected on a platform of putting an end to America’s costly involvement of forever wars in our part of the world, he’s betrayed not only Iran by abusing our commitment to diplomacy but also deceived his own voters by submitting to the mission of a wanted war criminal who has grown accustomed to exploiting the lives and wealth of American citizens to further the Israeli regime’s objectives," Araghchi says.

Jonathan Beale
Defence correspondent

The British military base in Diego Garcia was not used by US military aircraft to conduct their bombing missions on Iran.

The US has carried out bombing missions from the island in the Indian Ocean in the past, but did not on this occasion.

Earlier, the UK's foreign secretary confirmed that it did not participate in the US strikes on Iranian nuclear sites.

Satellite images show activity at Iranian nuclear site, days before US strikespublished at 10:33 British Summer Time 22 June

10:33 BST 22 June

By Benedict Garman and Paul Sargeant

We're yet to see high-resolution satellite imagery of the sites targeted by the US in these overnight strikes, but satellite firm Maxar has shared photos captured in the last few days of one of them - Fordo uranium enrichment plant.

Maxar says the photos, captured on 19 and 20 June, show “unusual truck and vehicular activity” near the entrance to the underground military facility.

In the earlier image, a group of 16 cargo trucks is positioned along an access road leading to a tunnel entrance, and in the later image, trucks and bulldozers are visible near the main facility.

New excavations can be seen nearby, with signs of earthworks, including inside the entrances to the tunnels, indicating Iran may have been attempting to reinforce the complex in anticipation of strikes.

An image captured on Friday also shows newly constructed defences on the road just over a kilometre from the same site, according to Maxar.

More now from the Foreign Office, which is preparing flights to transport British nationals out of Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories.

In a statement, the Foreign Office says that those who are eligible to board the flight will be expected to pay for their seat, which they say is "in line with our approach to previous chartered flights from the region".

"Commercial flights are continuing to operate from Egypt and Jordan, and international land border crossings to these countries remain open," the statement adds.

All British nationals who have already registered via the Register Your Presence, external portal will automatically be contacted and provided with a link to the booking portal, the FCDO says, but it urges all those interested in flights back to the UK to register their presence now.

"This is a perilous and volatile moment for the Middle East", a spokesperson for the foreign office says, before adding that the government's ability to run flights out of Israel could change at short notice.

The UK is preparing a flight to transport British nationals and their dependants out of Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories early next week.

They have launched a registration form for British nationals to register their interest and further flights will be considered "depending on demand", a Foreign Office statement says.

Kawoon Khamoosh
Reporting from the Turkey-Iran border

I’m staying at a hotel in Turkey’s Van city, which lies 60 miles (96km) from the Iranian border. Majority of the guests here are Iranians.

People are glued to their screens to get updates. They’re talking about US strikes on Iran's nuclear facilities and I can feel the mood is down this morning.

“We are very angry,” one woman tells me.

“Donald Trump thinks he’s a superpower and he could do whatever he can," she says, before asking "why nobody could stop Israel and the US".

She arrived from Tehran this morning to accompany her daughter who is flying to Canada.

“I think people are really worried and panicked because they don’t know what’s going to happen in the country,” her 26-year-old daughter interrupts.

We're hearing more from Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi now, who says in the past week both Israel and the US decided to "blow up" diplomacy.

In a post on X, the Iranian FM says during last week's negotiations with the US "Israel decided to blow up that diplomacy".

The same thing happened, he says, during talks with European officials, but "the US decided to blow up that diplomacy".

He asks: "What conclusions would you draw?"

Araghchi adds: "To Britain and the EU High Rep, it is Iran which must 'return' to the table. But how can Iran return to something it never left, let alone blew up?"

• For context: A little earlier we heard from the UK's foreign minister who urged Iran to "show restraint" as Prime Minister Keir Starmer called for Iran to return to the negotiating table

Alice Cuddy
Reporting from Jerusalem

I've been speaking with British-Israeli Simon King, who survived the 7 October 2023 Hamas attacks in Kibbutz Be'eri. He messaged me as missile alerts sounded in the region.

He said he believed the US president had done "a really good thing for humanity".

"I'm glad he did what he did even though it might cost a lot in human resources," he added.

Meanwhile, a contact in the northern Israeli city of Haifa told me he hoped "this step is the step that will lead to an end to the war".

A recent survey by the Israel Democracy Institute has found that a large majority of Jewish Israelis support Israel’s strikes on Iran, while most Arab citizens oppose the action.

As we have been reporting, Iran has warned of "everlasting consequences", with its foreign minister condemning the US strikes as "outrageous".

Israel’s president has also been speaking to the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg, calling the US attack on Iran a “historic” and “brave” decision.

Pressed on whether Iran’s nuclear capabilities have been eliminated, Herzog says he doesn’t know the details, “but it’s quite clear to me that the Iranian nuclear program has been hit substantially”.

He is also asked if Israel directly requested Trump to attack Iran. Herzog says “we decided to leave it to the Americans", before adding that he didn’t know the US was going to attack Iran's nuclear facilities.

“I was woken up when it happened,” he says.

Kuenssberg then asks if Israel will now stop attacking Iran. Herzog doesn’t give a direct answer, only saying Iran is firing missiles at Israeli territory and “we have to do whatever it takes to defend ourselves against missiles”.

“The way to do it is of course to deal with it on an international level and make sure that there is an exit strategy,” he adds.

Image source, Getty Images

UK Foreign Minister David Lammy says "the UK did not participate in these strikes", referring to the US bombing of three Iranian nuclear sites.

Echoing the words of Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Lammy says "the US has taken action to alleviate the threat that would pose to the global community".

He reiterates that Iran "must never have a nuclear weapon" as he urges the country to "show restraint and reach a diplomatic solution to end the crisis".

• As a reminder: David Lammy attended a meeting of European foreign ministers and Iran's foreign minister on Friday. He said then that he and his fellow Europeans were "keen" to continue "ongoing discussions" on negotiations with Iran over its nuclear programme

We've just been hearing from the Iranian Ambassador to the UK, who tells the BBC that the US is "squandering" the United Nation Charter with its overnight attacks on Iran.

Seyed Ali Mousavi tells Laura Kuenssberg that the US strikes are a "violation of international law" as he dodges questions on the damage caused to his country's nuclear facilities.

He says the attacks are a violation of Iranian "sovereignty and territorial integrity".

Laura Kuenssberg asks whether Iran will renounce its nuclear aspirations and end its conflict with Israel should the US attack again.

Mousavi says Iran and the US are in the middle of nuclear talks before adding "the Israeli regime attacked us".

Kuenssberg challenges him on the civilian losses both sides have experienced over the past week, to which he replies: "We are defending."

Peter Hoskins
Business reporter, Singapore

Global oil prices are expected to rise when energy markets start trading on Monday morning in Asia.

“The US attacks have pushed the conflict to a new level and many fear it will only make a bad situation worse,” Dr Carole Nakhle, chief executive of Crystol Energy tells the BBC.

“That fear will be reflected in a higher geopolitical premium added to oil prices - no one knows how much that accounts for, but as a rule of thumb the bigger the fear, the bigger the premium,” she adds.

Brent crude ended the trading week on Friday at $77.01 a barrel after gaining almost 20% in the last month.

Despite those gains, oil prices are still currently lower than where they were at the same point last year.

The cost of crude oil affects everything from how much it costs to fill up your car to the price of food at the supermarket.

Image source, EPA

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) will hold an emergency meeting tomorrow "in light of the urgent situation in Iran", according to the chief of the UN nuclear watchdog.

Meanwhile, Iran’s nuclear chief Mohammad Eslam has written to the IAEA, saying Tehran wants an investigation into the US strikes and is urging the watchdog to condemn the US action, Iranian media reports.

Earlier, the IAEA confirmed there has been “no increase” in radiation levels after the US struck three nuclear sites in Iran.

Image source, EPA

Israel’s president has just released a statement, calling Donald Trump’s attack on Iran “historic”.

Isaac Herzog says Trump’s words show the “deep and courageous alliance” between the US and Israel.

But he also warns that “the campaign is not over”, adding that “the coming days may be sensitive, complex, and challenging”, and urges Israelis to keep following officials’ life-saving instructions.

• Herzog will shortly be on the BBC's Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg show - we'll bring you the key lines