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By Beth Rigby, political editor

RAF jets and military assets are being sent to the Middle East after Tehran warned the UK and other allies their regional bases would be targeted if they helped defend Israel in the growing conflict between the two heavily armed countries.

Speaking to reporters on the way to the G7 in Canada, the prime minister refused to rule out provided military support to Israel as it did last October during a ballistic military attack by Tehran.

The UK has not intervened in any military action since Israel strikes began on Friday. 

But the prime minister refused to engage on whether the UK would get involved as it did last year when I asked him on the flight to Canada.

"I am not going to get into that," Sir Keir said. 

"These are obviously operational decisions and the situation is ongoing and developing and therefore I'm not going to get into the precise details, but we are moving assets, we've already been moving assets to the region, including jets, and that is for contingency support across the region. So that is happening."

Starmer also refused to comment on reports that the UK did not have any advance notice of the Israeli strikes that have trigged the most intense fighting between Tel Aviv and Tehran in decades. 

"I'm not going to go into what information we had at the time or since. But we discuss these things intensely with our allies. But I'm not going to get into precisely what we knew, because it鈥檚 a constant flow of information between our allies, and between us and the US," he added.

Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin have discussed hostilities between Iran and Israel in a new telephone call today, Russian news agencies have quoted top Kremlin foreign policy aide Yuri Ushakov as saying.

Ushakov said Putin condemned Israeli attacks on Iran and the two leaders did not rule out returning to discussions on Iran's nuclear programme.

Ushakov was also quoted as saying that Putin confirmed Russia's readiness to press on with negotiations with Ukraine.

The agencies quoted Ushakov as saying the two presidents spoke for about 50 minutes. 

He described the talk as meaningful and useful.

The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) has said they have "established aerial superiority from western Iran to Tehran".

We have been reporting today on Iran and Israel trading missiles and airstrikes, the day after Israel launched a sweeping air offensive against Iran. 

In Tehran, Iranian state TV reported that around 60 people, including 20 children, had been killed in an attack on a housing complex, with more strikes reported across the country. 

Israel said it had attacked more than 150 targets.

In Israel, air raid sirens sent residents into shelters as waves of missiles streaked across the AG百家乐在线官网 and interceptors rose to meet them.

Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has told Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman that the attack on Iran demonstrated that Israel under Benjamin Netanyahu's government was the greatest threat to regional stability, Erdogan's office said.

In a phone call, Erdogan told the Saudi crown prince that Israel must be stopped to reduce tensions and the nuclear dispute could only be resolved by negotiations, a statement from Erdogan's office reads.

A potentially devastating war could create waves of irregular migration to all countries in the region, Erdogan also said, according to the statement.

Earlier today, Israel's defence minister warned that "Tehran will burn" if Iran continues firing missiles at Israel after at least three people died and dozens were wounded following a series of Israeli attacks on Tehran's nuclear program and its armed forces.

Speaking after a meeting with the army's chief of staff, Israel Katz said Iran will pay a heavy price for harming Israeli citizens.

Iranian state television reported that air defence systems were firing in the cities of Khorramabad, Kermanshah and Tabriz, signalling the start of what could be a new Israeli attack.

By Mark Stone, US correspondent

Step back from the chaos of the past 24 hours. The broader picture here is regime change.

Benjamin Netanyahu said as much in his Friday speech, calling for an internal uprising. 

He ignored history which suggests people tend to rally round their flag but more than that - foreign air strikes alone don't work. Look at Libya in 1986 or Iraq in 1991.

Netanyahu wants to go further. Will he take out the supreme leader? What would that unleash? Look to the aforementioned countries again - Iraq 2003, Libya 2011.

Donald Trump does not want another full-scale conflict in the Middle East. But could he be persuaded that a toppling of the Iranian leadership wouldn't lead to all out war?

There are plenty of politicians on Capitol Hill - on both sides of the divide - who support regime change in Iran. I was at an event in Congress in December organised by Iranian exiled opposition leaders. I was struck by the cross-party support for regime change in one form or another.

Israel this weekend announced that its military had achieved total air superiority from western Iran to the capital Tehran. That's remarkable. Could Trump be moved to pursue regime change? Peace, eventually, through strength? His motto adapted.

We are at yet another unsettlingly tense moment for the region.

Germany's foreign ministry says the danger of further escalation in the Middle East is real.

In a statement on Saturday afternoon, it called for de-escalation.

However it said that Iran's nuclear program threatens not only Israel, but Saudi Arabia and the stability of the entire region.

It also said that the humanitarian situation in Gaza is catastrophic.

Relations between Israel and European countries have become increasingly strained in recent weeks, as the situation in Gaza continues to be severe.

By Michael Drummond, foreign news reporter

As Israel launched strikes on Iranian nuclear and military infrastructure on Friday, a claim emerged from Iran's army that its air defences had shot down two Israeli F-35 fighter jets.

It would be the first time ever that one of the advanced stealth jets - which are also used by the US and UK - had been shot down.

However Israel has branded the report 'fake news'. Here's what has been reported:

The claim by Iran

Iran's army said air defence forces "successfully hit and destroyed two F-35 fighter jets" in addition to a "large number of small drones".

The spokesperson added that the fate of the two pilots "remains unknown and is being investigated".

It does not appear that Iran has provided any evidence for the claim so far, though theoretically this could emerge at a later time. 

What is the F-35?

The F-35, built by defence company Lockheed Martin and flown by the US and a number of its allies, is one of the most advanced warplanes in the world.

It's one of just four fifth-generation fighter planes currently in service (the US and NATO allies have two, China has one and Russia has one) and features advanced stealth capabilities.

It is known for its ability to evade enemy radar - making it harder for air defences to track and target it - and can reportedly reach speeds of about Mach 1.6 (1,200 mph).

Why would the claim, if true, be significant?

Any verified incidents of an F-35 being shot down in combat would be significant purely because it has never happened before.

If Iranian air defences were able to bring down an F-35 it would raise questions about the F-35's status as a stealth fighter that can fool enemy radar.

Among the air defences believed to be operational in Iran is the Russian-made S-300.

Any loss of an F-35 to a Russian-manufactured system would also create additional concerns for the NATO alliance, many of whose members (including the UK) operate the stealth jet.  

Watch: A Jordanian fighter jet shoots down an Iranian drone on Saturday

What does Israel say?

Israel has denied the claims of two F-35 jets being shot down.

Speaking on Saturday afternoon, IDF spokesperson Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani called it 'fake news'.

He added on social media: "Iran didn鈥檛 shoot down any Israeli fighter jets. They are trying to create a fake victory narrative and it鈥檚 not going very well."

An IDF official said all aircraft and personnel had returned safely from missions.

鈥淒efinitely no F-35s taken down, definitely no pilots taken," they added.

These pictures show some of the damage in the Iranian capital, where state TV has claimed dozens have been killed (see our 9.19am post).

Israel has said it has "paved the way" to fly over Tehran, adding it had several jets flying over last night.

More than 20 Iranian commanders have been killed in Israeli strikes on Iran, the IDF has said in its latest update.

The military claimed that Israeli fighter jets killed both the head of the Intelligence Directorate in the Iranian Armed Forces General Staff and the commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps鈥檚 (IRGC) surface-to-surface missile array. 

It added: "Since the beginning of the operation, over 20 commanders in the Iranian regime鈥檚 security apparatus have been eliminated."  

According to the IDF, the head of the Intelligence Directorate in the Iranian Armed Forces General Staff, Gholam-Reza Marhabi, was responsible for intelligence situational assessments for the Iranian Armed Forces and was considered Iran's most senior intelligence officer. 

The statement added: "Marhabi played a key role in intelligence evaluations, operational planning, and combat preparations against Israel in the past year and before." 

The commander of the IRGC's surface-to-surface missile array, General Mohammad Hossein Bagheri, oversaw most of Iran鈥檚 long-range surface-to-surface and cruise missile capabilities, according to the IDF. 

"These capabilities serve as the regime's primary offensive tools against the State of Israel. 

"Bagheri managed Iran鈥檚 firepower systems and played an active role in the decision-making processes behind Iran鈥檚 attacks on Israel in April and October 2024."

Iran's foreign minister has described talks with the US as unjustifiable.

Tehran has been in talks with Washington over a deal to curb their nuclear programme, with the next meeting scheduled tomorrow.

But Abbas Araqchi has placed further doubt on those discussions, citing "barbarous" Israeli attacks.

Earlier, a spokesperson for the foreign ministry said dialogue with the US is "meaningless" in the face of Israeli strikes.

The US has said it still hopes discussions will continue.