Israel and Iran Airstrikes Exchanged
BBC News
This video can not be played
Donald Trump tells Israel and Iran to stop "shooting", after the countries attacked each other's territory for the first time since the April ceasefire
In a later post, he says Israel and Iran are "looking to do an immediate ceasefire"
Israel carried out air strikes in western and central Iran after Iran fired missiles at northern Israel
Israel said "dozens" of its fighter jets "completed" strikes on Iranian defence systems
Iran says it's "the beginning of a full week of continuous strikes" – it launched its attacks after Israel carried out air strikes on Beirut in Lebanon on Sunday
The Israeli military said those strikes, on Hezbollah targets in the city's southern suburbs, were a response to Hezbollah firing rockets at Israel
On Sunday, Trump had reportedly urged Israel not to attack Iran
The Middle East is in turmoil on every level – and there is no sign of that turmoil easing, says our international editor Jeremy Bowen
Edited by Charlotte Hadfield and Andrew Humphrey
Ghoncheh Habibiazad
Senior reporter, BBC Persian
Iran’s top military command Khatam al-Anbiya central headquarters has said in a statement that “the cessation of armed forces operations is hereby announced”.
But they have warned in the same statement that if the attacks continue, “including in southern Lebanon,” Iran will respond “more severe and forceful than before.”
Iran started its operations yesterday in response to Israel attacking southern Beirut. Israel retaliated by attacking Iran.
Senior Iranian political and military officials had issued warnings yesterday evening that Iran would respond militarily what they described as breaches of ceasefire.
Iran has maintained that they see the ceasefire in Lebanon as part of the ceasefire with Iran as well.
By Sarah Jalali and Shayan Sardarizadeh
We’ve just verified two videos showing a cloud of smoke rising over a petrochemical plant in south-western Iran after Israeli strikes.
In one video, taken from inside a moving vehicle, we can see smoke billowing out from the Karun plant in the port city of Bandar-e Mahshahr. In another clip filmed nearby, smoke can be seen rising rising over four of the site’s spherical storage tanks.
As we just reported, the Israel Defence Forces confirmed that it targeted the plant in a post on X, claiming that it is “producing raw materials for the Iranian terror regime's missile program”.
The governor of Khuzestan province told Iranian media that the plant had sustained damage after the strike, but no casualties had been reported.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) says its strikes on an Iranian petrochemical facility in Mahshahr were aimed at destroying infrastructure involved in the production of missiles.
It claims the site was used by Iranian armed forces "to produce and export raw materials for weapons production" and these materials "serve as critical components for the development of ballistic missiles".
The strikes on Mahshahr, in the south-west of Iran, were confirmed by the IDF and Iranian state media, although neither have commented on whether there were any casualties.
Smoke rises near Mahshahr petrochemical complex after reported Israeli attack
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Lyse Doucet
Chief international correspondent
It used to be said that Iran prided itself on “strategic patience”, responding to actions against it at a time of its own choosing.
A new approach is playing out now in its attacks on Israel and its response to Israeli actions in Lebanon. The new leadership which emerged in Tehran this year took a lesson from last year’s 12-day war with Israel: restraint will be seen as weakness.
“They’re accusing us of being naïve,” an Iranian official told me of the hardliners’ criticism shortly after that confrontation ended.
Now those critics are calling the shots. Iran’s cautious supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, assassinated on the first day of this war, no longer sets the rules.
Iran, which had long tried to avoid a direct war with Washington, has now seen that war close-up.
Even more, despite its major military and economic cost, Tehran survived.
And, after decades of a “forward defence” strategy which relied on proxies and partners like Lebanon’s Hezbollah to prevent conflicts from reaching Iran, now Tehran is attacking in defence of its ally.
War is creating a new kind of conflict.
US President Donald Trump has said final negotiations on "peace" are proceeding but are "subject to ignorance or stupidity getting in its way".
He says in a post on Truth Social: "Both sides, Israel and Iran, are looking to do an immediate CEASEFIRE!"
"The Blockade will remain in place, and in full force and effect, until a 'Final Deal' is reached. Things should move quickly," he adds.
Starmer's comments came shortly after he delivered a speech at the London Tech Week exhibition
Prime Minister Keir Starmer has called for Iran and Israel to "get back to a ceasefire" after strikes resumed between the two countries.
Starmer says he is "deeply concerned about the resumption of violence" in the Middle East, adding that "serious negotiations" are going on towards "a lasting peace".
The conflict is having "a huge impact across the world", including in the UK, Starmer says.
"So I say to all parties, we all have a responsibility to get back to that ceasefire and it’s really important we’re very clear about that.”
Smoke billows from southern Lebanon, following Israeli strikes, as seen from Nabatieh, Lebanon
Hezbollah says it fired a rocket barrage at a group of Israeli army vehicles and soldiers in southern Lebanon earlier this morning.
In an update on Telegram, Hezbollah claims it targeted a "gathering" of military personnel on the outskirts of Beit Yahoun in response to Israel's "violation of the ceasefire and its attacks on villages in southern Lebanon".
Israel has not yet commented and the extent of any damage or injuries is currently unclear.
The Israeli military is carrying out ground operations in southern Lebanon in what it says is an attempt to stop Hezbollah firing rockets at northern Israel.
The BBC's international editor Jeremy Bowen says "the Middle East is in turmoil on every level right now and there is no sign that that turmoil is easing".
You can listen to his report on the US-Israel war with Iran and the consequences it could have for years to come in the video below.
This video can not be played
US President Donald Trump says Israel and Iran must immediately stop “shooting", in a new post on Truth Social.
Prior to Israel's retaliatory strikes, US President Donald Trump told several US and international media outlets that he was urging Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu not to retaliate against Iran's attack.
By Shayan Sardarizadeh and Paul Brown
BBC Verify has been looking at two videos showing what appears to be the launch of Iranian missiles heading towards Israel last night.
One clip, filmed from a pro-government rally in the city of Kermanshah in western Iran, shows two projectiles in the sky as a crowd waving Iranian and Hezbollah flags chant “Allahu Akbar” in approval.
Another video, also filmed from the same pro-government rally, shows a projectile flying over the city.
We’ve checked that both of these videos are new and they have not been created or manipulated with AI.
Iranian air defences have reportedly downed a drone that was flying over Tehran, according to Iranian news agency Mehr.
It follows reports of multiple explosions being heard in the Iranian capital.
We can now bring you more from Iran's foreign ministry spokesman.
Esmail Baghaei told a press conference that the US bears responsibility for aggression from Israel, according to a translation from Iranian state media.
Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting quotes Baghaei as saying the actions of Israel and conflicting stances from US officials "have cast a shadow over the negotiation atmosphere".
The state-run Islamic Republic news agency also reports that the spokesman said the consequences of escalating tensions will "also be on the US".
Before Israel's strikes, US President Donald Trump told several US and international media outlets that he was urging Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu not to retaliate against Iran's attack on Sunday night.Ghoncheh Habibiazad
Senior reporter, BBC Persian
Esmail Baghaei, Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman, said during a press conference today that the exchange of messages between Iran and the US “had not stopped”.
Baghaei did not clarify whether the exchange of messages has been happening since yesterday or not.
He added that one of the reasons that Pakistan’s Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi arrived in Tehran two days ago was to “help continue the talks and carry out mediation-related matters".
Pakistan has been a key mediator between Iran and the US, and Naqvi reportedly delivered a written message from Pakistani leaders to Iran's Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei.
There had been some reports since 1 June on Iranian outlets close to the IRGC (Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps) that Iran will halt exchanging messages with the US in protest at Israeli strikes in Lebanon.
Tehran and Washington have been reportedly exchanging messages since the ceasefire on 8 April in order to reach a memorandum of understanding (MoU) in the initial stage.
One round of negotiations in person between Iran and US delegations mediated through Pakistan happened in person on 11-12 April in Islamabad.
We're receiving reports that several explosions have been heard in the Iranian capital, Tehran.
It is unclear if these are related to the latest attacks from Israel, which has been launching strikes against the country in recent hours.
Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) has claimed it has launched a missile attack on a petrochemical plant in Haifa, northern Israel, according to a statement reported by Iranian Tasnim news agency.
Tasnim quotes the IRGC as saying the attacks were in response to an earlier attack by Israel on an Iranian petrochemical facility in Mahshahr, in the south-west of the country.
It warned Israel has started a "dangerous game" and further attacks on non-military and energy targets in the region would have consequences for the global economy.
Alex Gandler, spokesperson for Israeli embassy in the UK, has just been speaking to our colleagues on Radio 4's Today programme.
Gandler says the country wants a ceasefire with Lebanon and would "welcome" an agreement between the US and Iran "if it's a good deal".
He states Hezbollah "attacked us" while a ceasefire agreement between Lebanon and Israel was in place.
The conditions of the ceasefire agreement were made between the state of Israel and the state of Lebanon, "not the state of Iran of the pseudo-state of Hezbollah", he adds.
Gandler says "the job isn't done in Iran" and claims the country is "a patron of a terrorist organisation that is attacking Israel and using Lebanese civilians as cover".
An soldier stands at the site of an Israeli air strike on an apartment in the southern suburbs of Beirut on Sunday
The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) says it has "completed a large-scale strike" on "strategic defence systems" in Iran.
In a new statement, it says that "dozens of Israeli Air Force fighter jets" were involved in the attacks in central and western Iran, adding that the systems had been dismantled.
"These strikes further enhance the Israeli Air Force's freedom of action in Iranian air space," the IDF says.
Earlier, we reported the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) as saying Iran had launched another wave of missiles towards Israel and that defence systems were operating to "intercept the threat".
Israel's emergency service organisation has since said "no casualties are known" at this stage.
Part of a missile protrudes from the ground in the Israel-occupied West Bank, following earlier strikes from Iran
Hugo Bachega
Middle East correspondent
This war has weakened the Iranian regime – described by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as an existential threat to Israel – but has not led to its collapse.
In fact, the leadership appears to have become more confident and perhaps more confrontational.
The indications are that Netanyahu is concerned about the potential deal between the US and Iran, considering it to be disadvantageous for Israel, and many suspect he is trying to create a situation for the war to resume.
Netanyahu is under growing pressure at home.
Amid discontent with Hezbollah’s continued attacks, there is support for the war in Lebanon to continue, although it is not clear what else Israel’s attacks can achieve in degrading the group as President Trump has limited Israeli actions in an attempt to de-escalate the conflict.
Finally, elections in Israel are due to be held before October, and the prime minister may lose his job.
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