Frank Gardner
Security correspondent

The BBC understands that there is "a credible threat" to the US-run Coalition Air Operations Centre at Al Udeid in Qatar.

The country has temporarily closed its airspace and I’ve been told the airbase is at a state of high readiness.

The threat is believed to come from a potential Iranian missile attack.

Al Udeid is a massive base outside the Qatari capital Doha and is home to US Centcom’s headquarters for all its air operations in the Middle East, where British military personnel also serve on rotation.

Qatar is temporarily suspending air traffic in its airspace, the country's foreign ministry has announced.

In a post on social media, it says this is part of a set of precautionary measures being taken based on developments in the region.

Qatar is home to the largest US military base in the Middle East, Al Udeid Air Base. About 8,000 US citizens live there, according to the State Department.

Israel's Economy Minister Nir Barkat says it is "very clear" that Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu "are totally aligned" when it comes to Iran.

Speaking to the BBC, he says they were aligned "from day one - from preparations, from collaborations, from decoying people".

"Many of the things said in the media was a decoy... to make sure we surprise Iran", he explains.

Asked if the plan was always for Trump to become involved, Barkat says Trump and Netanyahu would need to be asked, but repeats that it's clear there was a "huge amount of collaboration" between them.

Bernd Debusmann Jr
Reporting from the White House

Image source, Bernd Debusmann Jr/BBC News

We've yet to hear from Donald Trump directly on-camera today regarding the US strikes on Iran, or the threat of Iranian retaliatory action in the Middle East.

As things stand, that does not appear it will change.

At 13:00 EST (18:00 BST), Trump is scheduled to meet with his National Security Council here at the White House.

That will take place behind closed doors - and it's almost unthinkable it will be open to the press, given the sensitive nature of military and intelligence discussions that will be taking place inside.

We may, however, hear from officials outside. Journalists are currently braving the heat in the hopes that they can catch officials coming in or out.

If we don't hear from Trump directly today, we're likely to get more from him on his Truth Social platform.

Tomorrow, he's scheduled to fly to the Netherlands for a Nato summit, which will give journalists several opportunities to pose questions to him.

Key questions remain unanswered as White House waits for Iran's next movepublished at 16:33 British Summer Time 23 June

16:33 BST 23 June

Gary O'Donoghue
Chief North America correspondent

Washington is waiting with bated breath to see exactly what Iran’s next move will be.

At the White House, Donald Trump is set to chair another meeting of the National Security Council in the next few hours, which will assess the threat of potential Iranian retaliation.

While there are no concrete threats on US soil, the country remains on heightened alert – especially around the risk of cyber attacks. That concern has only grown after Iran’s escalating rhetoric towards Israel and warnings directed at the United States.

Meanwhile, the messaging from the Trump administration has been somewhat mixed.

Vice-President JD Vance and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth have insisted this is not about regime change - only for President Trump, all of a sudden, to openly muse about it.

He posted on social media: “If the current Iranian Regime is unable to MAKE IRAN GREAT AGAIN, why wouldn’t there be a Regime change???”

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt doubled down on those comments on US networks this morning.

"If Iran won’t negotiate," she told Fox News, “why shouldn't the Iranian people take away the power of this incredibly violent regime that has been suppressing them for decades?”

That has generated uncertainty about what the president’s ultimate intentions are.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio insists there will be no further action against Iran “unless they start messing around”. That leaves the options wide open.

Meanwhile, key questions remain unanswered – particularly, the whereabouts of Iran’s nuclear material. Can the US truly claim to have destroyed Iran’s nuclear programme if it doesn’t know where the enriched uranium is?

Ghoncheh Habibiazad
BBC Persian, World Service reporter

The chief of Iran's Armed Forces says the country will “respond proportionally” to the US following its attack on three Iranian nuclear sites, “regardless of the extent of the damages”.

That's according to reports from the Tasnim news agency, which is affiliated with Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

In a video message, Maj Gen Abdolrahim Mousavi says “Trump's move stems from desperation and aims to rescue his proxy force”, Israel, and “Netanyahu himself”.

He adds that when Trump saw signs of Israeli prime minister's "downfall”, Trump decided to give him “artificial respiration” by striking Iran.

Mousavi was appointed as the chief of the armed forces after his predecessor, Mohammad Hossein Bagheri, was killed by Israel on 13 June.

Just before we heard from the UK foreign secretary, the Israeli military issued an "urgent" warning to people living in Tehran that it will continue to strike targets in the city in the coming days.

In a post on its Farsi account on X, the Israel Defense Forces asks people to stay away from military and other security and manufacturing sites associated with the Iranian leadership in Tehran.

In response, shadow foreign secretary Priti Patel agrees with Lammy, saying that she believes Iran cannot have nuclear weapons.

Patel then asks a series of questions, including why the US was ahead of the UK in bringing back citizens abroad, and how many British nationals still need to be repatriated.

Lammy responds by saying there are just over 4,000 British nationals in Israel who have registered interest following the government's appeal last week.

"Around 25% [have] indicated to take up the British assistance to leave," Lammy says.

British nationals in the wider Middle East region should closely follow the government's travel guidance, Lammy tells Parliament.

He says that the government is now recommending British nationals in Qatar "shelter in place until further notice".

In an update on its website, the Foreign Office says the guidance comes as a result of the US telling its people to do the same out of an "abundance of caution".

He then speaks of risks of further escalation and urges Iran to "take the off-ramp" for diplomacy.

Lammy says one British national has been injured during the conflict in Israel.

He continues, saying that as the UK responds to the fast-moving situation, the "priority remains the safety of British civilians and staff".

The British embassy in Tel Aviv and British consulate in Jerusalem remain open, the foreign secretary says.

Lammy adds that a Royal Air Force plane has flown to Tel Aviv to evacuate 63 British nationals to Cyprus, where they will be brought back to the UK later today. More will follow in the coming days, he adds.

The foreign secretary continues by saying that it's difficult to support people in Iran, since air space remains closed and there's a near-total internet shutdown. He adds that the British Embassy in Iran is operating remotely. The embassy said it withdrew its staff from the country last week in response to the security situation.

Image source, Parliament TV

UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy starts his statement by recapping the strikes carried out by the US over the weekend.

"Britain was not involved in the strikes," Lammy says. "Just as Britain was not involved in Israel's operations."

He reiterates the UK government's position that Iran "can never have a nuclear weapon" and that the "US has taken action to alleviate that threat".

We're just about to hear from UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy, who will be giving a statement to the House of Commons.

Stay with us as we'll bring you the key lines. You can also watch live by pressing the button at the top of the page.

As we've been reporting, the Israeli military says it has hit a number of targets across Iran today.

In an update on social media, the Israel Defense Forces says that more than 50 Israeli Air Force fighter jets have struck military targets in Tehran.

It says that during a "recent series of strikes" fighter jets hit "military command centres".

"The sites struck included missile and radar production sites and missile storage infrastructure in Tehran," it says.

Donald Trump has called for oil prices to be kept down in a post on social media, reacting to talks of Iran closing the Strait of Hormuz.

"EVERYONE, KEEP OIL PRICES DOWN. I’M WATCHING! YOU’RE PLAYING RIGHT INTO THE HANDS OF THE ENEMY. DON’T DO IT!" he writes in a post on his Truth Social platform.

Trump does not make clear who he is calling on to do this.

In a follow up post, Trump instructs the US Department of Energy to "DRILL, BABY, DRILL!!! And I mean NOW!!!"

The Strait of Hormuz is a shipping route connecting the oil-rich Gulf with the Indian Ocean, through which roughly 20% of the world’s oil supplies flow daily.

Image source, Reuters

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt says Donald Trump was "simply raising a question" when he floated the idea of regime change in Iran, referring to his earlier comments in a Truth Social post.

"If they refuse to engage in diplomacy moving forward, why shouldn't the Iranian people rise up against this brutal terrorist regime? That's a question the president raised last night," she told reporters.

"But as far as far as our military posture, it has not been changed," she adds.

Leavitt says the US strikes on three Iranian nuclear sites on Saturday "took out their nuclear programme", however the head of global nuclear watchdog previously said that while significant is damage expected at the Fordo site, no one is currently able to fully assess the extent of the damage underground.

Asked about Iran potentially shutting down the Strait of Hormuz, Leavitt says the US is "closely monitoring the situation" and that "the Iranian regime would be foolish to make that decision".

The US embassy in Doha, Qatar is advising American citizens to "shelter in place" until further notice, a post on its website says - citing an "abundance of caution" as the reason.

No further information has been provided.

The Qatari foreign ministry's spokesman says that a number of embassies have issued advisories for their citizens to take precautions while in the country, but that these "do not necessarily reflect the existence of specific threats".

The security situation in the country is stable, he says in a statement, and adds that the public will be kept informed of any developments that require alerts or action.

Image source, Reuters

Nato Secretary General Mark Rutte is speaking to reporters ahead of a summit in The Hague.

"When it comes to Nato's stance on Iran's nuclear programme, allies have long agreed that Iran must not develop a nuclear weapon," he says.

"Allies have repeatedly urged Iran to meet its obligations under the non-proliferation treaty."

Turning to Russia's war in Ukraine, he adds that Iran is "heavily involved" there, saying Iran has delivered drones that Russia is using to kill Ukrainian civilians.

More now on reports that Iran could move to block the Strait of Hormuz - the world's busiest oil shipping lane.

According to one maritime security expert, it's a "credible scenario", but unlikely.

"It really is a worse-case scenario for Iran to attempt the closure of the strait," Cormac McGarry, a director of maritime security at consulting firm Control Risks, tells BBC Radio 4's World at One programme.

"By doing that they would basically be shooting a blow to the Gulf Arab states, as well as - and importantly - towards China, which relies on it to move large portion of its oil imports."

As we've been reporting, roughly 20% of the world’s oil supplies flow daily through the strait.

McGarry says Iran, and other Arab Gulf states, rely on the passage for the movement of oil supplies.

"As well as oil takers and product tankers, you're also talking about container ships which move all the materials into places like Dubai and Kuwait to supply the people there who need it - for everything from laptop imports, to electronics to food," he says.

Ghoncheh Habibiazad
BBC Persian, World Service reporter

Israel says it targeted Tehran’s Evin prison in its fresh wave of attacks today.

Iran is trying to downplay the strikes, with judiciary-affiliated Mizan news agency saying “all necessary measures” have been put in place to “protect the safety of prisoners.”

So what’s the importance of this notorious prison?

Evin holds many political detainees, and is the primary political prison in Iran.

While there is no official figure for how many people are currently held there, estimates suggest there could be thousands of prisoners - with the prison’s capacity thought to be around 15,000.

It is also where British-Iranian citizen Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe - who was allowed to return to the UK in 2022, six years after being arrested on spying charges - spent nearly four years of her sentence.

A wide range of prisoners are currently held there - including activists accused of protesting against the establishment, dual nationals, and foreigners accused of espionage, as well as members of religious and ethnic minorities.

The BBC cannot independently verify the accusations Iran has made against these individuals.

The prison has long been criticised by Western rights groups. Human Rights Watch has accused authorities at the prison of using threats of torture and of indefinite imprisonment, as well as lengthy interrogations and denial of medical care for detainees.

Iran has categorically denied these accusations.

Update 18:00 BST: This post has been updated to remove a video that purported to be CCTV footage of an explosion at the Evin prison gate. The video had been run on Iranian media and was shared by the Israeli foreign minister on social media. We initially verified the video through geolocation and recency checks, but now suspect it may have been AI-generated. The video has been removed while we work with forensic experts to confirm its authenticity

Why oil markets aren't more panicked over threats to block the Strait of Hormuzpublished at 13:38 British Summer Time 23 June

13:38 BST 23 June

Dharshini David
Deputy economics editor

The oil markets appear to be having a relatively chilled start to the week given the seismic events in the Middle East, with only modest price rises.

Investors seem to be betting there's only a 25% to 30% chance of the blocking of the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of the world's oil flows.

This is despite the Iranian parliament reportedly approving closure. So why aren't the markets more panicked?

First, this move has been threatened before and came to nothing. The decision also has to go Iran's National Security Council.

Part of the strait also falls into Oman's waters with maritime vessels already increasingly keeping to those.

And crucially, closure may be a step too far for Iran itself - more than 80% of the oil that flows through the strait goes to Asia, so Iran might be reluctant to rattle China. Not to mention the disruption to the flow of its own oil, a lucrative money spinner.

And finally, there's the transport of liquid natural gas; disrupt that and Iran might incur the wrath of producer Qatar.

But what if the markets are wrong? Analysts say closure could drive the oil price to $120 (£89.7) per barrel - or even higher if sustained.

• Read our explainer for more on how the attacks on Iran could affect energy prices