James Landale
Diplomatic correspondent reporting from the G7 in Canada

Diplomats say they still do not know what Trump intends to do.

Does he share Israel’s analysis that only military action can remove nuclear weapons from Iran? Or European analysis that diplomacy is the only way - in the long term - of containing any threat from the Islamic republic?

For now, Trump’s messaging is contradictory and mixed - torn between the hawks and isolationists in his administration and base, torn between his desire to project US influence and his reluctance to entangle US forces in another “forever war”.

Trump says he wants a deal, but does that mean Iran’s surrender? He told reporters on the plane back from the G7 on Monday that he wanted "a real end. Not a ceasefire. An end. Or giving up entirely. That’s OK, too."

Some diplomats hope that might be the closest to the truth, namely that Trump is hinting the US might get involved to put pressure on Iran to come to the table.

But those left here at the G7 summit in Canada's Rocky Mountains are still scratching their heads.

The former chief of the UK's intelligence service MI6, Sir John Sawers, tells the BBC News Channel that Israel hasn't targeted some of the most important nuclear facilities in Iran because they don’t have the military capacity to dig deep underground.

"Only the Americans have got that," he says.

He says the big decision in Washington will be "shall we join the Israelis and complete the job" or find a diplomatic way out of this.

He cautions that there is also a danger that "you end up with a damaged and wounded Iran which has the nuclear programme still intact".

But he thinks Israel's aim is to "bring the Americans into the conflict" so that US power can be used to destroy the nuclear facilities.

Image source, EPA

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has expressed his gratitude towards Israel doing what he calls "the dirty work" for all of them through its bombardment of Iran.

Talking to German broadcaster ZDF on the sidelines of the G7 summit, he says: "I can only say I have the greatest respect for the fact that the Israeli army and the Israeli government had the courage to do this."

He says the Iranian leadership has "brought death and destruction to the world with attacks, with murder and manslaughter, with Hezbollah, with Hamas", but adds that if they are to return to the negotiating table, "there would be no need for further military interventions".

If not, Merz warns that the "complete destruction" of Iran's nuclear programme could be on the agenda. He says that while he assumes the programme is "largely over", Israel lacks the weapons necessary to completely destroy it, but the US does.

In a separate interview with Germany's Welt TV news channel, he says Iran's leadership had been "weakened" by Israel's attacks, and "will probably not return to its former strength, making the future of the country uncertain".

Gabriela Pomeroy
Live reporter

Image source, Max Royston

I've spoken to Max Royston, 29, from London, who is part of a group of 20 Brits who travelled to Tel Aviv for the annual Pride celebration.

"Pride is cancelled and we are stranded," he says.

It is "very scary" living through missile barrages, Max says. "Even in a bomb shelter underground, you hear the explosions."

All flights in and out of Israel have been halted.

Max wants help from the UK government, but says "we have had nothing from them".

"I registered with the UK embassy, who have evacuated their staff but seem uninterested in evacuating their citizens. I am calling for them to organise safe transport out of Israel."

He says it's "risky" for LGBT+ people to travel overland through Jordan and Egypt.

"We don't know how long we'll be stuck here."

In response, the Foreign Office press office directed the BBC to Foreign Secretary David Lammy's comments on Monday, where he said: "We are further updating our Travel Advice to signpost border crossing points, and sending Rapid Deployment Teams to Egypt and Jordan to bolster our consular presence near the border with Israel, which has already been supporting British nationals on the ground.”

US President Donald Trump is considering joining Israel to strike Iranian nuclear sites, including in Fordo, sources familiar with the issue are quoted as saying by CBS, the BBC's news partner in the US.

They say this was expected to be discussed in today's meeting in the Situation Room, adding that there is not a full agreement among Trump's closest advisers.

We're hearing now from the White House that Donald Trump's meeting with his National Security Council in the White House situation room has now concluded.

The meeting lasted an hour and 20 minutes.

We did not hear from Trump after the meeting, but we'll bring you any updates on the outcome of those discussions as we get it.

Bernd Debusmann Jr
Reporting from the White House

We've so far heard very little about the United States' potential courses of action, other than an emphatic message that President Trump believes Iran must not be allowed to have a nuclear weapon.

State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce, for example, declined to provide any details about Trump's plans to bring a "real end" to the conflict. The White House has been largely quiet other than Trump's Truth Social posts.

In such a fast-moving situation, it's clear that anything that spokespeople or administration officials say could quickly become dated.

In the last 48 hours, we've also seen Trump offer contradictory remarks about Iran and the potential US role in the conflict and its end, contributing to a sense of confusion among many in Washington as what the administration's assessment of the situation is.

Trump had been meeting with his National Security Council behind closed doors at the White House.

While we are unlikely to hear from him directly, we may well get more Truth Social posts later today about the meeting.

Anbarasan Ethirajan
South Asia editor

The Indian embassy in the Iranian capital has urged its nationals and people of Indian origin to leave Tehran.

It is estimated that about 10,000 Indians live and work in Iran.

The Indian External Affairs Ministry says, in view of the developing situation in Iran, Indian students in Tehran "have been moved out of the city for safety reasons" and some of its nationals "have been facilitated to leave Iran through the land border with Armenia". Many of the Indian students are said to be from Indian-administered Kashmir.

Iran was one of the top suppliers of crude oil to India, the world’s third biggest oil importer and consumer. But Delhi stopped importing the Iranian fuel due to the US sanctions in 2019.

Delhi maintains friendly ties with both Israel and Iran. Last year Delhi signed a 10-year deal with Tehran to develop and operate the strategically important Chabahar port in south-eastern part of the country in a contract estimated to be about $370m (£272m).

The port opened a transit route for Indian goods and products to Afghanistan and Central Asia, avoiding the land route through India’s arch-rival Pakistan. Soon after the deal was signed, the US warned of potential sanctions for any country considering business deals with Iran. With the escalating conflict between Israel and Iran, there may be concerns over the future of the Chabahar port project.

World leaders try to predict Trump's next movepublished at 20:16 British Summer Time 17 June

20:16 BST 17 June

Chris Mason
Political editor, reporting from the G7 summit in Canada

World leaders here at the G7 appear to be trying to second guess what President Donald Trump may or may not do next in the Middle East.

The German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said the leaders had "talked about" American involvement.

Sir Keir Starmer had suggested earlier, before the US President’s more recent comments, that Trump hadn’t said anything that suggested he was about to get involved.

Things changed rather rapidly within hours of those remarks.

So, in short, the G7 is trying to second guess what President Trump is up to.

Iran and the Iranian people are trying to do the same. And so is the wider world. Which may well be exactly the point.

How does the Iranian regime and how do the Iranian people react to this huge uptick in threatening language and posture from the US?

I asked Sir Keir Starmer if he would welcome people in Iran overthrowing the government there.

"I'm no supporter of the regime in Iran," he told me.

"So, if the people there rose up against it, you'd welcome that?" I asked.

"Look, it's not for me as the UK prime minister to start, you know, encouraging people in relation to what they might do at home. My absolute focus is on the need to deescalate this."

The questions now are how, when and at what cost that might come about.

Image source, AFP via Getty Images

France's President Emmanuel Macron has just spoken at the G7 summit in Canada.

He says it would be a big error for a regime change in Iran to be achieved through military means, according to reporting from Reuters and the AFP news agency.

He says a regime change would bring "chaos" and he believes nations should come back to the negotiation table to discuss Iran's nuclear programme.

"I believe we need the United States of America to bring everyone back around the table," he says.

Meta has issued a statement in response to Iran's government urging citizens to delete WhatsApp.

The tech giant denies Iran's allegations that information from the messaging app is shared with Israel.

A spokesperson for WhatsApp's parent company Meta - which also owns Facebook and Instagram - says it is "concerned these false reports will be an excuse for our services to be blocked at a time when people need them the most".

The statement says that all "messages you send to family and friends on WhatsApp are end-to-end encrypted meaning no-one except the sender and recipient has access to those messages".

"We do not provide bulk information to any government. For over a decade, Meta has provided consistent transparency reports that include the limited circumstances when WhatsApp information has been requested," the spokesperson adds

Back at the US State Department briefing, spokesperson Tammy Bruce is asked about Trump's comments that he wants a "real end" to the Iran-Israel conflict.

"We can take his [Trump's] word for his word," Bruce says.

"But I'm not going to speculate in a larger sense on what that would mean. That is up to the president, he is the singular guiding hand about what will be occurring from this point forward," she adds.

Bernd Debusmann Jr
Reporting from the White House

President Trump is meeting with his National Security Council, the White House has confirmed.

Moments ago, a solitary Marine was standing outside the West Wing of the White House, indicating that the President is inside.

We are very unlikely to get much in the way of details of the meeting, and we aren't expecting a media "read-out" afterwards.

Image source, US State Department

Spokesperson for the US State Department, Tammy Bruce, is speaking now.

She says that as the conflict between Israel and Iran continues, President Trump has been clear that Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon.

Bruce adds that the State Department has established a Middle East task force to help coordinate support for citizens and diplomatic missions.

She reminds US citizens to not travel to Israel, Iraq, or Iran.

She clarifies that the task force involves people taking calls from American citizens around the world and making sure they get what they need.

Bruce takes a moment to say that there will be less that she can answer at today's briefing "because of the circumstances we're dealing with around the world".

Image source, IDF

More now from IDF spokesperson Effie Defrin, who says Israel "faces threats on many fronts".

"While we are working to remove threats from Iran, we are still fighting their proxy, Hamas, in Gaza," he says.

He says Hamas is still holding 53 hostages "in brutal conditions".

"We will not rest until they are returned home," the spokesperson says.

That's the end of the short press briefing.

Israeli Defence Force spokesperson Effie Defrin has just held a media briefing.

"We have struck deep, hitting Iran's nuclear, ballistic and command capabilities," he says.

Defrin says that Israel killed another major Iranian security member overnight, Ali Shadmani. The Israeli military had already announced this in one of its update earlier today.

"The IDF eliminated Ali Shadmani, the regime's wartime chief of general staff. Shadmani held the role for only four days before meeting the same fate as his predecessor," Defrin said.

He took over in the role after his predecessor Gholamali Rashid was killed in an Israeli strike last week.

There were no immediate reports of Shadmani's death in Iranian media.

There are fresh media reports of more explosions in the Iranian capital, Tehran.

The AFP news agency is reporting loud blasts have been heard across the city. Iran's Irna news agency is reporting "continuous and intense" explosions.

Jonathan Beale
Defence correspondent

The UK Defence Secretary, John Healey, says the deteriorating situation in the Middle East is "a dangerous moment" for the entire region. The government has always supported Israel’s right to security – and had grave concerns about Iran’s nuclear programme, he says.

But he calls on all sides to show restraint. Healey says a diplomatic resolution rather than military action was the only route to a lasting peace.

The defence secretary says additional military assets has been arriving in the region – including extra Typhoon jets at RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus. It was a response to protect UK military personnel in the region - who are now on high alert. The move was to reinforce security.

Asked whether he was concerned the US might join Israel’s attacks on Iran – with more US jets also being sent to the region, Healey says President Trump has been leading the calls for Tehran to do a deal.

He describes the increased UK and US military posture as reinforcing the messages to Iran that the diplomatic route is the way to settle the situation.

Ghoncheh Habibiazad
BBC Persian

Iran's Armed Forces chief of staff says in a video message posted by Iranian outlets to the residents of Israel that "especially Tel Aviv and Haifa need to evacuate as soon as possible to save their lives".

Major General Abdolrahim Mousavi also says that the "operations carried out so far have been a warning for deterrence", and a "punitive operation" by Iran "will be carried out soon".

Although Iranian attacks have killed at least 24 Israelis since Friday, most Iranian missiles have been stopped by Israel’s air defence systems.

Bernd Debusmann Jr
Reporting from the White House

President Trump is expected to meet with his National Security Council shortly, according to the White House.

No further details were immediately available.