The Middle East has been plunged into conflict after the US and Israel launched attacks on Iran, with Donald Trump declaring the start of “major combat operations” and calling on Iranians to rise up against their government.
Explosions were heard across the country on Saturday morning, including in the capital Tehran, with strikes appearing to target the compound of supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Iran has vowed a “crushing retaliation” and launched a wave of missiles towards Israel and US military bases in Qatar, Kuwait, the UAE and Bahrain, sparking concerns the region could be dragged into a major conflict.
In a video address, President Trump called on the Iranian people to “take over your government” and stressed Iran could never be allowed to have a nuclear weapon, adding: “It’s been mass terror, and we’re not going to take it any longer.”
Hundreds of flights have been grounded across the region, leaving thousands of travellers stranded after Iran, Israel, the UAE and Kuwait closed their airspaces and major carriers and airports suspended services.
Sir Keir Starmer said British planes “are in the sky today” in the region “as part of coordinated regional defensive operations to protect our people, our interests and our allies” but he confirmed the UK was not involved in the strikes. He condemned Iran’s authoritarian regime and demanded that it end attempts to develop nuclear weapons.
He said: “We have long been clear the regime in Iran is utterly abhorrent. They have murdered thousands of their own people, brutally crushed dissent and sought to destabilise the region. Even in the United Kingdom, the Iranian regime poses a direct threat to dissidents and to the Jewish community.”
However, the UK government is at odds with the Trump administration, having denied permission for the US to use RAF bases for the strikes because of concerns they could be a breach of international law.
On a dramatic day of developments:
The Foreign Office urged British nationals in the Middle East to “immediately shelter in place” and told them to remain indoors in a secure location, avoid all travel and follow instructions from the local authorities. This includes Dubai, which is home to 240,000 Britons.
Meanwhile, Iran’s Foreign Ministry has said the country “will not hesitate” in its response, adding: “The time has come to defend the homeland and confront the enemy’s military assault.” The Revolutionary Guard said it considers “all US bases, resources and interests in the region to be legitimate targets” for retaliation.
It promised a stronger response to come, with a senior Iranian Revolutionary Guards commander, Ebrahim Jabbari, saying it had so far used only “scrap missiles” and would soon unveil unforeseen weapons, state television reported.
The Iranian-backed Houthis in Yemen also vowed to resume attacks on Red Sea shipping routes and on Israel, according to two senior officials.
An Iranian source close to the establishment told the Reuters news agency that several political officials and senior commanders in Iran’s Revolutionary Guards had been killed. Unconfirmed reports say they include Iran’s defence minister Amir Nasirzadeh and Revolutionary Guards commander Mohammed Pakpour.
.png?width=1200&auto=webp&trim=0%2C0%2C0%2C0&w=390&resize=390,220&ssl=1 "Body of California father who went missing after Super Bowl party found in ravine six days later")
