Donald Trump says Iran's leader is an "easy target" and the US knows where he's hiding - but won't kill him - "at least not for now". It comes on the fifth day of fighting between Iran and Israel. Follow the latest.
Tuesday 17 June 2025 19:27, UK
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Donald Trump is meeting with national security advisers in the Situation Room, two White House officials tell our US partner network, NBC News.
As the world waits to see what Donald Trump will do next, senior Democrat Bernie Sanders has urged restraint.
"The Constitution of the United States is very clear. There is no ambiguity," the Vermont senator said.
"It is Congress that determines whether we go to war, not the president.
"Trump must not take illegal military action against Iran."
The big question today is - what will the US do next?
As we've been reporting, Donald Trump is expected to meet his national security team in the White House's situation room.
That discussion could lead to some clearer decisions.
But the US president's threats online about Iranian surrender, and saying he knows where the country's supreme leader is hiding, have ratcheted up the tension.
Tammy Bruce, the US State Department's spokeswoman, is giving a news conference shortly - it's due to start at 7pm UK time, but such briefings can often start late.
You can watch it below and we'll bring you any notable updates.
Continuous and intense explosions can be heard in western Tehran, state news agency IRNA reports.
Donald Trump is expected to hold a meeting with top national security advisers in the situation room, two US officials tell our partner network NBC News.
They will focus on the conflict between Iran and Israel.
The situation room is the White House's information and alert nerve centre.
It has been staffed 24 hours a day since it was established in 1961 to monitor national and world intelligence.
The US military is deploying more fighter aircraft to the Middle East and extending the deployment of other warplanes, three US officials have told Reuters.
The deployments include F-16, F-22 and F-35 fighter aircraft, one official said.
Two of the officials stressed the defensive nature of the deployment.
The US could deploy warships capable of shooting down ballistic missiles to the Eastern Mediterranean, a fourth official said.
The United States already has a sizeable force in the Middle East, with nearly 40,000 troops in the region, including air defense systems, fighter aircraft and warships that can detect and shoot down enemy missiles.
By Mark Stone, US correspondent, in Washington DC
This is the highest stakes diplomacy via social media.
The American president just posted on his Truth Social platform, as we covered in our previous post (see 17.28).
In real time, we are witnessing Donald Trump's extreme version of maximum pressure diplomacy.
He'd probably call it the art of the deal, but bunker busters are the tool, and it comes with such huge consequences, intended and unintended, known and unknown.
There is intentional ambiguity in the president鈥檚 messaging. His assumption is that he can apply his 'art of the deal' strategy to a deeply ideological geopolitical challenge.
It's all playing out publicly.
Overnight, the New York Times, via two of its best-sourced reporters, were told Trump is weighing whether to use B2 aircraft to drop bunker busting bombs on Iran's underground nuclear facilities.
Meanwhile, Axios was reporting that a meeting is possible between Trump's envoy Steve Witkoff and Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi.
The reporting came just as Trump warned "everyone in Tehran to evacuate".
The nuclear sites being threatened with bunker busters are not in Tehran, but Trump's words are designed to stoke tension, to confuse and to apply intense pressure.
His actions are too. He left the G7 in Canada early and asked his teams to gather in the White House Situation Room.
This is a game of smoke, mirrors, brinkmanship and, maybe, bluff.
In Tehran, what's left of the leadership is watching and reading closely as they consider what's next.
Maybe the supreme leader and his regime's days are numbered. Things remain very unpredictable.
From history, though, regime change (even when it comes with a plan - and there is certainly not one here) spells civil war and from that comes a refugee crisis.
These are truly tense and chaotic times.
Donald Trump says the US knows where Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei is "hiding".
The president called him an "easy target" but said the US would not kill him - "at least not for now".
"Our patience is wearing thin," he wrote in a series of posts on Truth Social.
"We know exactly where the so-called 'Supreme Leader' is hiding," the US president's latest post says.
"He is an easy target, but is safe there - We are not going to take him out (kill!), at least not for now.
"But we don't want missiles shot at civilians, or American soldiers.
"Our patience is wearing thin. Thank you for your attention to this matter!"
Trump earlier said online "we" have control of Iranian airspace, before publishing a post that simply read: "UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER!"
More than 450 people have been killed in Iran since the latest round of fighting between the Iranian regime and Israel began on Friday, a human rights organisation has said.
Human Rights Activists in Iran (HRANA) said it has been documenting deaths over the four days of Israeli attacks.
It says 452 people had been killed in total, with 646 injured.
Of its figures, 224 of the dead were said to be civilians and 109 military.
Iran itself has so far not released any figures about its losses since Friday.
Iran has launched a wave of missiles toward Israel, according to Iranian state media.
It is the 10th wave of attacks, the Iranian Revolutionary Guards posted on Telegram.
The Israeli military has confirmed it has detected missiles from Iran.
