Mikey Kay
Host of the Security Brief on BBC News

There is certainly risk.

The consequences for the US are fairly significant.

There are about 40,000 to 50,000 US-based troops at around 19 locations across the Middle East.

There are US personnel based in Cyprus, you have got a US naval facility in Bahrain. It will all depend on how the US decides to - and to what extent the US decides to - get involved.

Nafiseh Kohnavard
Middle East correspondent, BBC World Service, in Beirut

People are divided.

What we gather is that the division is going deeper and deeper.

Iran has witnessed massive protests only two years ago against the regime. Women participated in those protests, demanding their rights and freedoms.

But we cannot ignore that this regime still has its own roots and its own supporters.

The percentage of support is not really clear, but most of the armed forces are connected to the regime and they still support it.

Mikey Kay
Host of the Security Brief on BBC News

Fordo is about 200km (124 miles) south of Tehran and is one of two critical enrichment facilities Iran has.

It has very much been built in a mountainous region, the key reason for that is protection. And it is basically one of the key enrichment facilities that Iran has been using to get uranium-235.

Fordo has been struck by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) already. However, it is believed the Israeli air strikes were going after Iran's surface-to-air missiles and air defence capabilities around it, in order to make it more vulnerable.

Image source, MAXAR

Nafiseh Kohnavard
Middle East correspondent, BBC World Service, in Beirut

Iran's supreme leader is the head of state. He is a religious figure, but he has much more power than Iran's president.

He is considered the commander-in-chief of the armed forces and is a decision-maker for the country, including negotiations with the US.

He would give the green light to diplomats and the foreign ministry so they can go ahead and speak with the US over a nuclear programme.

Image source, Reuters

Frank Gardner
Security correspondent

Israel's position on this is that it has no choice, that it believes in the last few months Iran was accelerating towards building a nuclear weapon, and that talks aimed at curbing Iran's nuclear programme were going nowhere, and that therefore this was the last resort.

They have said they see an existential threat from Iran, and have argued that if Iran acquired a nuclear weapon it would use it because it has previously vowed to destroy the state of Israel.

That Iran was close to building a nuclear weapon is not necessarily a view shared by the rest of the region, and it is not necessarily shared by the International Atomic Energy Agency, nor is it shared by the last open source report we have seen from US intelligence which did not say that Iran was about to produce a nuclear weapon.

Only US 'bunker buster' can reach Iran's Fordo nuclear sitepublished at 15:39 British Summer Time 18 June

15:39 BST 18 June

Chris Partridge
BBC News weapons analyst

In the world of open-source intelligence, all eyes now are on whether US Air Force B-2 bombers will be heading back to the Indian Ocean military base of Diego Garcia.

The Spirits, as they are known, were there earlier this year in support of US operations against Houthi targets in Yemen.

These are the stealth bombers, based at Whiteman Air Force base in Missouri, that are capable of dropping the feared GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrator (MOP), a huge precision-guided bomb said to be able to destroy targets 200ft underground. It is the biggest "bunker buster" around.

It's the only type of munition that can really get to the Fordo nuclear site in Iran, which so far appears to have been untouched in Israeli air strikes.

The GBU-57 weighs a shade under 30,000lbs and contains some 5,300lb of explosive. Its thickened outer casing and delay fusing allow it to detonate sufficiently long after burying itself deep in the ground.

Image source, USAF

Israel has bunker busters of its own, but these are much lighter weapons that are not capable of reaching the depths of Fordo. And, anyway, Israel lacks the size of aircraft to be able to deploy the GBU-57.

So the question is not only whether the United States joins the military action, but whether it will use the MOP too.

Our BBC experts and correspondents will soon start answering the questions you sent in via Your Voice, Your BBC News on the Iran-Israel conflict.

On the panel are:

• Frank Gardner - BBC security correspondent
• Mikey Kay - host of the Security Brief on BBC News
• Nafiseh Kohnavard - BBC World Service Middle East correspondent in Beirut

They'll be responding to questions you've sent us here on this page and on the BBC News channel.

You can follow along by clicking watch live at the top of the page, or below.

With Iran crisis, Trump's unpredictability on full displaypublished at 15:14 British Summer Time 18 June

15:14 BST 18 June

Bernd Debusmann Jr
Reporting from the White House

Image source, Reuters

In 2016, before he even became US president the first time around, Donald Trump delivered an address in which he said that "we must, as a nation, be more unpredictable."

"We are totally predictable. We tell everything," he said at the time, in what was a thinly veiled swipe at the Obama administration.

"We're sending troops, we tell them. We're sending something else. We have a news conference."

In his first term - and so far in his second - he has stuck to the principle. As the US mulls jumping into the fray in Iran, that makes it impossible to say with any certainty what he might do. US officials have made it clear that all options remain on the table.

He faces a difficult choice. On the campaign trail and opening months of this term, he has repeatedly vowed to avoid costly foreign entanglements and wants to be known as a "peacemaker".

Joining Israeli strikes on Iran would risk alienating large swathes of his MAGA base, with whom this message resonated.

On the other hand, he has also made it clear that Iran can under no circumstances have a nuclear weapon - a belief that may force his hand if he feels that Israel cannot stop that on its own.

This too, will be deeply unpopular with the many Iran "hawks" in the Republican Party.

It may well be that we don't know which option he has chosen unless US weapons begin falling in Iran - or don't at all by the time the conflict is over.

He made this clear in his remarks earlier.

"I may do it," he said. "I may not do it. Nobody knows what I want to do."

Bernd Debusmann Jr
Reporting from the White House

Trump went on to say that Iran's negotiators suggested they "may come to the White House", although he said it was difficult.

He also says he isn't sure "how long" the conflict would take place, with Iranian air defences decimated.

"Two very simple words: unconditional surrender," he says. "I've had it."

He also says that he believes the Iranians have "bad intentions" with the country's nuclear programme.

Trump added that that he is fond of Iranians, and has met many in his career.

He swiftly moved onto other topics, including Ukraine and Russia.

Bernd Debusmann Jr
Reporting from the White House

We've just seen Donald Trump on the South Lawn of the White House, just a few metres from the Rose Garden. He was there for the raising of a massive flag pole - a project he's clearly excited about.

After joking with workers, he delivered brief remarks to the White House press "pool", which initially focused on the the US economy and interest rates and debt.

He quickly dismissed any questions about US involvement in Iran.

"I can't say that," he said. "I may do it, I may not do it. Nobody knows what I want to do. But I can say this: Iran's got a lot of trouble and wants to negotiate."

He then repeated his assertion - made several times in recent days - that Iran should have been more willing to negotiate before Israel struck.

Image source, AFP via Getty Images

US President Donald Trump is now speaking outside the White House at a flagpole installation event.

We don't know yet whether he'll make fresh comments on the conflict between Israel and Iran, but we're primed to bring you the latest if he does.

Chris Partridge
BBC News weapons analyst

Israel today gave interesting details of the planning around the strikes on Iran.

The Israel Defence Forces says from early on it decided air superiority would play a vital role.

IDF spokesman Lt Col Nadav Shoshani says: “It started with a joint effort to carefully map out the Iranian air defence system. This required meticulous mapping of thousands of intelligence sources…and required additional intelligence sources to be cross-referenced.

“By early 2025, the mapping was completed. The intelligence teams began to build out the aerial defence target banks, with a focus on where key IDF activity was slated to take place.”

Air superiority is the ability to conduct air operations without prohibitive interference by opposing forces. Israel effectively achieved this in a vital area from the west of Iran through the capital, Tehran, in less than 48 hours. It has since controlled the skies over Tehran too.

With Iranian air defences severely damaged, Israeli jets have been able to hit targets with little chance of Iranian counter fire.

In particular, we’ve seen or heard nothing from Iran’s ageing air force, which has likely decided to stay grounded in the face of a more advanced Israeli Air Force.

But Iran has claimed one aerial success: the downing of a large drone from a surface to air missile system, showing that there is still some threat from the ground.

Image source, BBC Persian

Following reports of food and supply shortages in some Iranian cities, BBC Persian put out an open call for ordinary Iranians to share what they were seeing in their neighbourhoods.

One contributor from Karaj, a city just outside of Tehran, says: "Yesterday, I went to a supermarket to buy fruit and found almost empty shelves.

"Due to issues with fuel, transportation, and recent [Israeli attacks], there’s no way to distribute goods. And this has really created problems for us."

Another contributor who stayed in Tehran said there are "enough essentials, and the shelves are being restocked" in shops nearby. "Right now, people are mostly buying dried fruits and spaghetti. The bakeries are much quieter, but the gas stations are still crowded," they say.

Bank cards are not working, and people are being advised to carry cash, they add.

Another person from Qazvin, another city near Tehran, says there are long lines for bakeries that are normally quiet.

Bernd Debusmann Jr
Reporting from the White House

Image source, Bernd Debusmann Jr/BBC News

Things are currently quiet at the White House - and by the looks of Trump's public schedule, it may stay that way.

As things stand, the US president has no public events planned today.

At 12:00 EST/ (17:00 BST), he is scheduled to participate in a swearing-in ceremony for the US ambassador to France and Monaco.

An hour later, he's expected to have lunch with the Pakistani army's chief of staff.

Both these events will take place in the Oval Office, behind closed doors.

Earlier in the day, the White House also plans to unveil two large flag poles - which Trump described on Truth Social as "the most magnificent poles made" - on each side of the White House, followed by flag raisings.

It's unclear if Trump will appear at this event, but in the past he has come out to inspect the flag locations, and on one occasion stopped and chatted with reporters at length.

As always, it's possible that things may change suddenly or that he posts about the Iran-Israel conflict on social media.

BBC News has spoken to British national Naomi Brookarsh, who was visiting her brother in Tel Aviv when his building was hit by an Iranian missile on Monday morning.

"It was really, really scary, but thank God we survived. We were in the bomb shelter, which saved our life," she says.

Brookarsh describes being woken in the early hours. "Suddenly we had a massive explosion - the biggest noise I've ever heard - and it was like the whole room was shaking and we could feel our bodies shaking."

She is still in Tel Aviv and says of the strike: "It was over within seconds, but it felt like it lasted forever."

Only after leaving the shelter did they see the damage. The roof had "caved in" and windows had "shattered." As they left the building, they saw fire, smoke and ambulances.

"It was like a movie scene, it was like an apocalypse," she says.

Israel Defense Forces says its air force is now attacking military targets "in the Tehran area".

Meanwhile, Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps says "several projectiles" have targeted Tehran's northern and eastern suburbs.

As we've reported, Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has responded to US President Donald Trump in a televised statement.

But this isn't the first time he's spoken to the US.

Trump and Khamenei have been exchanging words online for some time now.

On Tuesday, Trump claimed to have "complete and total control of the skies over Iran".

In another post on his Truth Social platform, he warned Khamenei: "We know exactly where the so-called 'Supreme Leader' is hiding. He is an easy target, but is safe there - We are not going to take him out (kill!), at least not for now... [but] our patience is wearing thin."

A final post read: "UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER!"

In his own flurry of posts on X on Wednesday, Khamenei warned that the US entering the "war" is "100% to its own detriment".

He also wrote that it isn't "wise" to tell Iran to surrender, adding that they "will never surrender in response to the attacks of anyone".

Another X post read: "With his [Trump's] absurd rhetoric, he demands that the Iranian people surrender to him... The Iranian nation isn’t frightened by such threats."

Image source, EPA

Israel's Defence Minister Israel Katz says Israel is now able to "gradually open" up in several parts of the country, calling it a "message of victory" over Iran.

Katz says that, as well as protecting the Israeli population, they are "beginning a gradual process of opening the economy and the various regions" depending on security considerations.

This suggests the government believes the risk of attacks has gone down.

He also says the "intense fighting" against Iran will carry on "until the threats are removed".

Image source, PA Media

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer will chair a meeting of the emergency Cobra committee on Wednesday to discuss the security situation in the Middle East.

A Downing Street spokesperson says the UK’s position is still that “we want to de-escalate the situation”.

“This is an extremely fast-moving situation and we are working with partners to reiterate the need to return to diplomacy,” the spokesperson adds.

The government says Britons in Israel should "follow the advice of local authorities on staying close to shelter".

The UK Foreign Office says family members of staff at the British Embassy in Tel Aviv and the British consulate in Jerusalem have been temporarily withdrawn as a precaution.

In its latest travel advice for Israel, it says the embassy and consulate are still carrying out essential work, including services to British nationals.

Image source, Reuters

It has been six days since Israel began its offensive on Iran. Tehran has returned fire, sending waves of missiles towards Israel.

Here's what's happened since the conflict started:

On Friday, Israel hit multiple sites including a nuclear facility and residential areas in Tehran, which killed a number of senior commanders of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), nuclear scientists, and civilians. Iran then retaliated by launching drones and a ballistic missile at military centres and airbases in Israel.

Over the weekend, strikes from both sides continued and oil infrastructure was hit. Israel said at least 20 people were killed in multiple different strikes, leading into Monday. Meanwhile, Iran's health ministry said 224 people had been killed and 1,277 injured as of Sunday evening.

On Monday Israel issued an evacuation order for northern parts of Tehran. Later that day, US President Donald Trump posted on social media that "everyone should immediately evacuate Tehran".

On Tuesday, people tried to flee Tehran - which has a population of 10 million people - and traffic jams were reported around the city. Separately in a social media post, Trump wrote that Khamenei is "an easy target", but that they are not going to "take him out" for now.

It's a fast-moving situation, and we'll continue to bring you the latest.