Key events
Israel has made a ‘grave mistake’, Khamenei’s social media account says
Israel has made a “grave mistake” and “must be punished”, a social media account associated with Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has said in what would be his first comments since the US joined Israel’s war on his country. The post on X read:
The Zionist enemy has made a grave mistake, committed a great crime; it must be punished and is being punished; it is being punished right now.
The post was accompanied by a picture of a skull with the star of David on it sitting on top a darkened city with missiles raining down.
US state department issues ‘worldwide caution’ for Americans
The US State Department has issued a “worldwide caution” for Americans, saying the conflict between Israel and Iran could put those travelling or living abroad at an increased security risk. In a post on its website it wrote:
The conflict between Israel and Iran has resulted in disruptions to travel and periodic closure of airspace across the Middle East. There is the potential for demonstrations against US citizens and interests abroad. The Department of State advises US citizens worldwide to exercise increased caution.
The statement made no mention of the US bombing of Iranian nuclear facilities over the weekend which Tehran has warned will have “irreparable consequences.”
Iran on Sunday warned that US forces could be attacked in retaliation for the unprecedented air strikes, which were condemned by international law experts as illegal.
“Any country in the region or elsewhere that is used by American forces to strike Iran will be considered a legitimate target for our armed forces,” Ali Akbar Velayati, an advisor to Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said in a message carried by the official Irna news agency.
The US on Saturday began evacuation flights from Israel for American citizens and permanent US residents living in Israel or the West Bank.
It also ordered staff at its diplomatic missions in Iraq and Lebanon to leave those countries.
Israel and Iran exchange another round of missiles
Israel and Iran have exchanged another round of missiles in the past hour.
In Iran, explosions were heard in Karaj, west of Tehran, Iranian news agencies reported. In an update last week, the International Atomic Energy Agency said Israeli strikes had destroyed two buildings in Karaj where different centrifuge components were manufactured.
Iranian outlet Nour news also reported early on Monday that airstrikes had hit Parchin, a military complex south-east of Tehran.
In Israel, sirens were sounded after 3am when the military said that Iran had launched a missile attack, but no direct impacts or injuries were reported.
On Sunday at least three people were killed when an Israeli airstrike hit an ambulance in central Iran, local media reported, according to Agence France-Presse (AFP).
The ISNA news agency reported, quoting Hamidreza Mohammadi Fesharaki, the governor of Najafabad county in the central Isfahan province:
The ambulance … was en route to transfer a patient when it was severely damaged by a drone strike.
All occupants of the ambulance – including the driver, the patient, and the patient’s companion – were martyred.
The impact of the drone caused the ambulance to veer off course and collide with a passing vehicle.
Opening summary
Hello and welcome to our live coverage of the US and Israeli war on Iran.
US president Donald Trump has brought up the possibility of regime change in Iran following US military strikes against key Iran military sites over the weekend, even as top members of his administration insisted the US was not seeking to topple the Iranian leadership.
“It’s not politically correct to use the term, “Regime Change,” but if the current Iranian Regime is unable to MAKE IRAN GREAT AGAIN, why wouldn’t there be a Regime change??? MIGA!!!” Trump wrote in a post on his social media platform Truth Social.
Earlier, vice-president JD Vance had insisted the US was “not at war with Iran, we’re at war with Iran’s nuclear programme” while US secretary of state Marco Rubio said that that the US was “not looking for war in Iran”.
The world was meanwhile braced for Iran’s response after to the US attacks, which saw it joining Israel in the biggest western military action against the Islamic Republic since its 1979 revolution.
Speaking in Istanbul, Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araqchi said his country would consider all possible responses. There would be no return to diplomacy until it had retaliated, he said. “The US showed they have no respect for international law. They only understand the language of threat and force,” he said.
He later flew to Moscow to discuss “common threats” with President Vladimir Putin.
In other key developments:
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Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Israel is very close to meeting its goals in Iran of removing the threats of ballistic missiles and the nuclear programme. Speaking to Israeli reporters, he said: “We won’t pursue our actions beyond what is needed to achieve them, but we also won’t finish too soon. When the objectives are achieved, then the operation is complete and the fighting will stop.”
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The UK, France and Germany have released a joint statement following American strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities, saying that they call upon Iran to engage in negotiations leading to agreement that addresses all concerns associated with its nuclear program. The three countries also urged Iran “not to take any further action that could destabilize the region”, adding: “We have consistently been clear that Iran can never have a nuclear weapon and can no longer pose a threat to regional security.”
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Iran’s health ministry said that the US strikes on its nuclear facilities had wounded an unspecified number of people but that none “showed any signs of radioactive contamination”. “For years, the ministry of health has set up nuclear emergency units in the nearest medical facilities to nuclear sites,” ministry spokesperson Hossein Kermanpour said on X.
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Israel said that its fighter jets had struck “dozens” of targets across Iran on Sunday, including a long-range missile site in Yazd in the centre of the country for the first time, Agence France Presse reports. A military statement said that “approximately 30 IAF (air force) fighter jets struck dozens of military targets throughout Iran” – including “the ‘Imam Hussein’ Strategic Missile Command Center in the Yazd area, where long-range Khorramshahr missiles were stored”.
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US secretary of state Marco Rubio said that “there are no planned military operations right now against Iran.” In a new interview with CBS, Rubio added that “no one will know for days” whether Iran had moved some of its nuclear materials prior to the strikes.
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Iran’s parliament has reportedly approved the closing of the key strait of Hormuz shipping lane. Reuters reported Iran’s supreme national security council will make the final decision on the move, which could hamstring global trade by shutting the narrow passage between Iran and Oman.
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Pete Hegseth, the US secretary of defence, said the impact of the air strikes was still being assessed, but that the bombing had hit the areas that had been identified in the planning of the operation. Hegseth said: “The battle damage assessment is ongoing, but our initial assessment as the chairman said is that all of our precision munitions struck where we wanted them to strike, and had the desired effect.”
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Pete Hegseth praised Donald Trump’s leadership, and said he had overseen the “obliteration” of Iran’s nuclear ambitions. Hegseth said: “Many presidents have dreamed of delivering the final blow to Iran’s nuclear program, and none could until President Trump.”
