Israel and Iran are exchanging attacks for a fifth day, with both Iranian and Israeli media reporting that Israel is targeting western Tehran. Meanwhile, Donald Trump has cut short his G7 visit over the crisis. Follow the latest.
Tuesday 17 June 2025 16:32, UK
Security and defence analyst Michael Clarke and international affairs editor Dominic Waghorn will be answering your questions on the Israel-Iran conflict in a live Q&A tomorrow afternoon.
Submit yours in the box at the top of the page.
Donald Trump may decide he needs to take further action to end Iran's nuclear enrichment efforts, JD Vance says.
The US president has said he wants to see a "real end" to the Israel-Iran conflict but also warned that if US troops were harmed by Tehran, then the "gloves are off".
Posting on X, Vance says the last 25 years of "idiotic foreign policy" will no doubt have Americans worried about Trump's plans.
"But I believe the president has earned some trust on this issue," he says.
"And having seen this up close and personal, I can assure you that he is only interested in using the American military to accomplish American people's goals.
"Whatever he does, that is his focus."
Vance also uses his post to argue that Iran had "enriched uranium far above the level necessary for any civilian purpose".
He insists that Trump "has shown remarkable restraint in keeping our military's focus on protecting our troops and protecting our citizens".
Vance also says: "The president has made clear that Iran cannot have uranium enrichment. And he said repeatedly that this would happen one of two ways--the easy way or the 'other' way."
The narrative about Iran as an "existential threat" is false and is used by Israel to "justify aggression and hide Israel's war crimes", Iran's ambassador to the UK has said.
Answering questions from UK MPs, Seyed Ali Mousavi said: "Let us not forget, Israel is the only regime in our region with nuclear weapons.
"It refused to join the NPT (nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty) and place its facilities under the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) safeguards. It has attacked almost all of its neighbours and continues to commit atrocities without consequences."
He was also asked why Iran has apparently been enriching uranium to 60%, well above the threshold needed for civilian use.
Mousavi insisted this was for peaceful purposes and had been declared to the IAEA.
"There is no intention from our side... to enrich to the level of the nuclear bomb," he said.
Mousavi also commented on Iran's response to the Israeli attacks: "Iran will continue to act within the framework of international law. We will defend ourselves lawfully and proportionately."
He said that Iran鈥檚 first priority is diplomacy.
For context: Israel is estimated to have a nuclear stockpile of approximately 90 warheads, according to a House of Commons library document, which says its nuclear armed status is "universally acknowledged". However, Israel has never confirmed or denied possessing such a capability.
China is "deeply worried" about Israeli attacks on Iran, its leader Xi Jinping has said.
It marks his first public comments about the conflict that erupted on Friday.
He was speaking on the sidelines of a summit with five other Central Asian nations in the Kazakh capital of Astana.
Xi said China opposed any action that infringed upon the sovereignty, security, and territorial integrity of other countries.
"All parties should work to de-escalate the conflict as soon as possible and prevent the situation from worsening further," Xi said, in comments quoted by Chinese state broadcaster CCTV.
Yesterday, Israel conducted a missile strike on Iranian state news channel IRIB, during a live broadcast.
A loud explosion was heard as the anchor was presenting, with some debris falling from the ceiling.
But within minutes, the same presenter was seemingly back broadcasting.
The camera pans around the crew as they pump their fists in the air and shout: "Death to Israel."
The Iranian regime has been "very weakened and will probably not return to its former strength", according to Germany's chancellor.
Earlier today, Friedrich Merz said Iran's future was "uncertain" amid its ongoing conflict with Israel.
In the same round of media interviews, Merz suggested the destruction of Iran's nuclear program is on the agenda if the Iranian regime does not back down to make a deal on not seeking nuclear weapons - saying that Israel doesn't have the weapons for this, but the US does (see our post on bunker buster bombs at 13.32 for more on this).
"We will have to wait and see," Merz said in an interview with German broadcaster Welt at the G7 summit in Canada.
He added that the European offer of diplomatic assistance, should talks resume, still stood, as it did before the attacks.
"If a new situation were to arise, Germany, France, and the United Kingdom would again be prepared to provide diplomatic assistance, as they were until last Thursday," Merz added.
More now on the latest Iranian attack targeting Israel in the last hour.
The Israeli Defence Forces has shared an update, saying that Iran launched "several missiles".
The IDF adds "most of them were intercepted".
It continued to instruct Israeli citizens and members of the public to "follow the instructions of the Home Front Command".
The Home Front Commander later added the public could leave their protected spaces.
Seyed Ali Mousavi, the Iranian ambassador to the UK, is taking questions from the cross-party Foreign Affairs select committee in Parliament.
Israel's ambassador to the UK is not appearing because she was "unavailable", committee chair Dame Emily Thornberry says as the session starts.
You can watch live at the top of the page.
Iran has launched missiles towards Israel, according to the Israeli Defence Forces.
Air raid sirens have sounded in Tel Aviv and several areas across the country.
The Israeli Air Force is working to intercept the threat, the IDF added.
Four people were injured on their way to shelters, Magen David Adom, the Israeli emergency services, said.
Earlier today, Iran claimed it had struck a major blow against Israel - by hitting a Mossad operations centre (see our 10.20 post).
The Israeli intelligence agency has been a key part of Israeli operations at home and abroad since the Jewish state declared independence in 1948.
Even for this latest conflict, which Israel began when it attacked Iran last Friday, the spy agency was reportedly at the heart of the mission.
That's because, it is said, Mossad commandos gathered intelligence over a number of years by infiltrating deep into Iran - information which informed the strikes.
But Mossad operatives also reportedly played a part in the attacks themselves to destroy weapons systems and other Israeli targets in Iran.
It's the latest in a series of daring Mossad operations throughout Israel's history.
The agency is particularly famous for the 1960 capture of former Nazi official Adolf Eichmann, one of the major organisers of the Holocaust.
And it was back in the headlines last year, following the deadly pager explosions which wiped out many of Hezbollah's leaders in Lebanon.
While Mossad's exploits are known in some limited detail, Israel maintains a policy of ambiguity around its operations.
Click on the link below for more on the notable events believed to have involved Mossad...
Here's what we do know for sure...
In Hebrew, Mossad simply means institute, and its full name is the Institute for Intelligence and Special Operations.
In its mission statement, Mossad says its aims include:
It is, in short, the Israeli equivalent of the UK's Secret Intelligence Service (better known as MI6) or the CIA in the US.
Unlike these Western intelligence agencies, however, the Mossad is veiled in more secrecy and often takes a much more proactive role against Israel's enemies.
The Mossad is overseen directly by the Israeli prime minister's office.
It doesn't list the address of its headquarters or any telephone numbers, which is partly why it is difficult to immediately identify the site Iran said it struck earlier.
It does not even say how many people it employs.
Only the identity of its director can be disclosed under Israeli law.
However, Mossad's website does have a "careers" section for job application forms in Hebrew and English.
Israel's strikes and assassinations have left Iran's supreme leader isolated with "nowhere to go", our military analyst Michael Clarke has said.
Speaking this afternoon on Sky News to presenter Leah Boleto, he said the Israeli bombing campaign had been "very methodical through all the targets that they want".
This, Clarke said, has "isolated Ali Khamenei, he's got almost nobody around him".
He added: "The Israelis know who he depends on, and they've eliminated almost all of them.
"He's got, apart from his son and his deputy intelligence director, very few people around him that he trusts."
'Nowhere to go'
Israel is trying to send a clear message to the Iranian leadership, Clarke adds, which is essentially: "You've got nowhere to go."
He adds: "You are losing and you'll lose badly, and the longer you leave it, the more badly your people will lose."
However, he said this may not force the Iranians to capitulate.
He also reflected on the apparent feeling among the Israelis that they had free rein to go where they liked and "bomb what they want".
"That's the message Israel is sending," Clarke said.
