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 14:44, 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.
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.
Israel's strikes on western Iran today targeted missile launchers and radars, the Israeli Defence Forces says.
We reported earlier today on explosions heard in Tehran (see 12.12 post) and reports of an Israeli attack (at 11.12).
Now, the IDF has confirmed it conducted "a series of strikes in western Iran".
"As part of the strikes, a number of sites and dozens of surface-to-surface missile launchers were struck," the IDF says.
It adds: "In addition, since the morning, the Israeli Air Force conducted intelligence-based strikes on surface-to-air missile launch sites and radars embedded in western Iran."
Donald Trump has been busy on the global stage today - here's a reminder of what he's been saying about the Israel-Iran conflict.
'Evacuate Tehran!'
The US president seemingly issued a warning to residents in Tehran shortly before midnight in the UK last night, saying: "Everyone should immediately evacuate Tehran!"
Trump has pinned his warning to the residents of Iran's capital to the top of his Truth Social profile today.
Trump leaves G7 early - and dismisses Macron's explanation
Trump went on to leave the G7 summit of world leaders in Canada early.
After he left, French President Emmanuel Macron said he thought it was because Trump was going to work on peace negotiations in the Middle East - something Trump took issue with.
Trump, again writing on his own social media platform Truth Social, said: "Publicity seeking President Emmanuel Macron, of France, mistakenly said that I left the G7 Summit, in Canada, to go back to D.C. to work on a 'cease fire' between Israel and Iran.
"Wrong!
"He has no idea why I am now on my way to Washington, but it certainly has nothing to do with a Cease Fire.
"Much bigger than that."
'Gloves are off'
The US leader also spoke to reporters aboard Air Force One, as he flew back to Washington DC.
Trump said he wanted a "real end" to the conflict, "not a ceasefire", and warned that if US troops were harmed by Iran, then the "gloves are off".
'They know how to reach me'
Then, shortly before midday in the UK, Trump was quick to point out he hadn't reached out to Iran for peace talks, instead saying: "If they want to talk, they know how to reach me."
Israel's airstrikes may have hit and damaged one of Iran's key enrichment sites, according to the UN nuclear watchdog.
The International Atomic Energy Agency has said today it believes the Natanz facility's centrifuge halls may have had "direct impacts".
That's the first time the UN group has assessed damage in the underground parts of Natanz, which is the main enrichment facility of Iran's nuclear program.
"Based on continued analysis of high-resolution satellite imagery collected after Friday's attacks, the IAEA has identified additional elements that indicate direct impacts on the underground enrichment halls at Natanz," said the agency.
An above-ground enrichment hall had been destroyed already, as well as electrical equipment powering the facility.
Israel's stated goal is to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapon, and so-called "bunker-busters" could be one way of damaging hard-to-reach nuclear sites - see our 13.32 post for more on that.
The Iranian leadership is "on the run", an Israeli military official has claimed, according to the Reuters news agency.
The official, who was not named and speaking to Reuters on the condition of anonymity, said that Israel struck dozens of targets linked to Iran's nuclear and missile programmes last night.
The Reuters source added that while Israel had not targeted the underground Fordow nuclear facility in Iran yet, such a strike could still happen.
We reported in our previous post on how the facility would likely need so-called "bunker busting" bombs to damage it significantly - which only the US has.
Iran has so far fired 400 ballistic missiles and hundreds of drones towards Israel, the Israeli official also told Reuters.
Israel's number one goal in launching strikes on Iran appears to be destroying its potential to create a nuclear weapon.
One of Iran's key nuclear sites, the Fordow nuclear fuel enrichment plant, is deep underground in a mountain.
If the US decides to support Israel more directly in its attacks on Iran, one option could be to provide "bunker-buster" bombs.
Such a bomb, which Israel doesn't currently possess the means to use, could penetrate deep enough to damage such a facility and help destroy Tehran's nuclear capabilities.
What is a bunker-buster bomb?
"Bunker-buster" is a broad term to describe bombs designed to penetrate deep below the surface before detonating.
The latest in the US arsenal is the GBU-57 A/B Massive Ordnance Penetrator bomb.
It is a roughly 13,600kg precision-guided bomb, according to the US Air Force, and is believed to be able to penetrate 61m (200ft) deep before exploding.
Multiple bombs can be dropped one after the other, effectively drilling deeper and deeper into the ground.
Iran's nuclear mountain base
Fordow is Iran's second nuclear enrichment facility after Natanz, its main facility.
So far, Israeli strikes aren't believed to have seriously damaged Natanz's underground areas.
Fordow is smaller than Natanz and is built into the side of a mountain near the city of Qom, around 60 miles southwest of Tehran.
It is an estimated 80 metres under rock and soil and reportedly protected by Iranian and Russian surface-to-air missile systems.
These may have been struck during the Israeli campaign so far.
Watch our international affairs editor Dominic Waghorn explain strikes on Iran's nuclear sites below:
Israel's goal could be to 'eliminate' Fordow site
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said the goal of attacking Iran was to eliminate its nuclear and missile programme, and Israeli officials have said Fordow is part of that plan.
"This entire operation... really has to be completed with the elimination of Fordow," Yechiel Leiter, Israel's ambassador to the US, told Fox News on Friday.
So watch out for more discussions of "bunker-busters" if the attacks on Fordow escalate.
The EU's foreign policy chief has pushed for urgent de-escalation between Iran and Israel.
Kaja Kallas said the bloc was united on the "urgent need for de-escalation" before the situation "spirals out of control".
Repeating a line pushed by allies, she also stressed: "Iran cannot have a nuclear bomb."
Speaking this morning, she said: "Over the past five days, Israel and Iran have traded attacks and this has raised the risk of wider conflict in the region.
"Diplomacy is the solution to prevent this and the EU will play its part.
"We cannot be lenient when Iran accelerates its nuclear programme."
Here are some of the latest pictures from Iran.
Iranian Red Crescent Society rescuers have been searching through the rubble, looking for victims after recent Israeli strikes.
Although these pictures were released today, they are undated. Rescuers were also working in an unspecified location.
As we explained in an earlier post (see 11.37), access for journalists in Iran is restricted.
An Israeli ambassador has warned that his country has a number of surprises for Iran that will "become evident".
Yechiel Leiter, the Israeli ambassador to the US, posted online earlier about an interview he did with American media.
He said: "When I was asked about future operations against Iran, I said that we have already pulled off a number of surprises at the beginning of the operation, and when the dust settles on the start of the operation last Thursday and Friday, those surprises will become evident."
It isn't clear whether he is referring to operations and attacks already conducted or to come.
Thousands have been fleeing the Iranian capital since Israel began its attacks on Friday.
This footage shows long queues overnight on roads out of Tehran, which has been struck repeatedly by Israeli forces.
Early this morning, Donald Trump posted on social media to warn that residents should leave Iran's capital city immediately.
