Iran says it is 'coordinating with Russia' and warns US should expect 'heavy consequences' as Trump appears to call for Tehran regime change and fears grow UK and other allies face terror backlash
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By ELENA SALVONI
Published: | Updated:
Iran has warned that the United States should expect 'heavy consequences' for striking its nuclear sites, issuing a threat that its entry into the conflict with Israel will 'expand the scope of legitimate targets'.
'Mr. Trump, the gambler, you may start this war, but we will be the ones to end it,' Iran's military command spokesperson Ebrahim Zolfaqari said in a recorded statement today.
Trump declared last night that 'monumental damage' has been done 'to all nuclear sites in Iran' as he suggested a regime change could take place in the Islamic country.
The US president wrote on his Truth Social page that satellite images he obtained showed the Iranian nuclear facilities were 'obliterated,' and noted that the most damage 'took place far below ground level.'
'Why wouldn't there be a regime change,' Trump went on to question - even though he and UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer had earlier urged Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei to 'return to the negotiating table as soon as possible.'
The two world leaders made the urgent request just one day after the US sent a fleet of B-2 bombers to take out three Iranian enrichment sites.
The 'bunker buster' raid from Trump stunned the world and led the United Nations to hold an emergency meeting on Sunday afternoon, where officials said the US crippled Iran's crucial enrichment sites.
In response, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi warned that his country will 'have to respond' to Trump's aggression, and said it was co-ordinating with Russia ahead of a meeting with Vladimir Putin today.
Live updates below
Iran's Ayatollah 'will ask for more support from Putin'
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi is due to deliver a letter from Ayatollah Ali Khamenei to Vladimir Putin, seeking the latter's support, according to a senior source.
Iran has not been impressed with Russia's support so far, Iranian sources told Reuters, and the country wants Putin to do more to back it against Israel and the US. The sources did not elaborate on what assistance Tehran wanted.
The Kremlin said that Putin would receive Araqchi but did not say what would be discussed.
Araqchi was quoted by the state TASS news agency as saying that Iran and Russia were coordinating their positions on the current escalation in the Middle East.
Putin has repeatedly offered to mediate between the US and Iran, and said that he had conveyed Moscow's ideas on resolving the conflict to them while ensuring Iran's continued access to civil nuclear energy.
The Kremlin chief last week refused to discuss the possibility that Israel and the US would kill Khamenei.
Putin said that Israel had given Moscow assurances that Russian specialists helping to build two more reactors at the Bushehr nuclear power plant in Iran would not be hurt in air strikes.
Russia, a longstanding ally of Tehran, plays a role in Iran's nuclear negotiations with the West as a veto-wielding UN Security Council member and a signatory to an earlier nuclear deal Trump abandoned during his first term in 2018.
But Putin, whose grinding war in Ukraine is in its fourth year, has so far shown little appetite in public for diving into a confrontation with the US over Iran just as Trump seeks to repair ties with Moscow.
Trump snubs Starmer's calls for 'de-escalation' on Iran
Keir Starmer is engaged in frantic diplomacy over the Iran crisis today as Donald Trump sounds an increasingly strident message.
The PM and president spoke last night after the US strikes on Tehran's nuclear sites. But Downing Street's readout notably did not include any reference to the 'de-escalation' Sir Keir has been urging in other statements.
Instead No10 said the leaders agreed Iran must not be allowed to develop a nuclear weapon and should return to negotiations.
Soon after the call Mr Trump took to social media apparently endorsing regime change - swiping that it could be time to 'Make Iran Great Again'.
The stance raises fresh questions about Sir Keir's influence and the health of the Special Relationship. After meeting Mr Trump in person at the G7 in Canada last week, the premier had insisted he did not believe the US would go ahead with the attacks.
Read the full story by MailOnline's Political Editor James Tapsfield here:
PICTURED: Tel Aviv residents stay in bomb shelters amid Iranian missile threat
IDF says it has attacked six airfields in Iran destroying 15 jets and helicopters
The Israeli Defence Forces said they have attacked six airfields across Iran.
The attack on bases in western, eastern and central Iran took out 15 jets and helicopters, the IDF said.
Iran launches new ballistic missile attack on Israel after Ayatollah vowed to 'continue punishment'
Sirens are sounding across Israel amid Iran's latest ballistic missile attack on the country, according to Israeli Defence Forces.
Loud explosions were heard in Jerusalem after the Israeli military warned a fresh barrage of missiles had been launched from Iran.
Around 10 minutes after announcing the missiles had been identified, the military said 'additional missiles were launched' towards Israel and urged people to take cover.
Some 15 ballistic missiles were launched during the barrage, according to the IDF.
They were fired in multiple salvos over nearly 40 minutes, making it one of the longest Iranian missile attacks of the war, according to Israeli media.
Several impacts were reported but the Magen David Adom rescue service did not immediately share information of any casualties.
It comes after an X account associated with Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, published a post portraying missile strikes on a darkened city with a giant skull bearing the Star of David on it.
'The punishment continues,' the post read.
PICTURED: Residential buildings destroyed by Iranian missiles in Tel Aviv after US strikes
Netanyahu urged Trump for a week to take action against Iran: report
Trump and Netanyahu pictured in 2019
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu took a week to convince President Donald Trump to strike Iran's nuclear facilities, according to The Jerusalem Post.
'Four days ago, there was a phone call between Netanyahu and the US president, during which Trump said,"‘I’ve decided to launch a strike,"' an Israeli official with knowldge of the conversations told the outlet.
Initially, Trump only planned on striking the Fordow enrichment facility.
But Netanyahu continued to press the president to 'finish the job,' an official told the Post, with the U.S. ultimately finding itself able to strike targets that Israeli officials said they could not reach.
Oil supertankers forced to turn around in Strait of Hormuz
Strait of Hormuz, a strait between the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman
Two oil supertankers capable of hauling about two million barrels of crude oil each made U-turns in the Strait of Hormuz amid Iranian threats it would shut down the passage on Sunday, according to the Strait Times.
The ships' electronics and signals were jammed, but the two vessels' arrivals and turnarounds have the hallmarks of a normal tanker movement.
The situation came hours after Greece's shipping ministry advised its ships to reassess movements through Hormuz and to instead shelter in safe ports until the situation calms.
Iranian Crown Prince promises swift action if he retakes country
Iranian Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi, who is believed to take over Iran if the current regime falls, promised swift action if he were put in charge of the country.
'The minute this regime disappears, everything changes instantaneously,' he vowed on Fox News.
'And I know a lot of people are already excited about the prospect of being able to help us rebuild our country and Make Iran Great Again,' Pahlavi said, using the phrase President Donald Trump had coined just hours earlier.
'Make Iran Great Again': Trump raises possibility of regime change after US strikes
President Donald Trump announced that 'monumental damage' was done to all of Iran's nuclear sites on his Truth Social page.
'Obliteration is an accurate term! The whole structure shown is deeply imbedded into the rock, with even its roof well below ground level, and completely shielded from flame,' the president posted, though it was unclear which images he was referring to.
'The biggest damage took place far below ground level.
'Bullseye!!!' he wrote, hours after suggesting it was time for regime change in the Islamic country.
'It’s not politically correct to use the term, “Regime Change,” but if the current Iranian Regime is unable to MAKE IRAN GREAT AGAIN, why wouldn’t there be a Regime change???' Trump earlier asked on his Truth Social page.
Iran 'smuggled nearly all of its 400kg of enrichmed uranium to a secret location before US strikes'
Iran claims it smuggled nearly all of its highly enriched uranium to a secret location before the United States launched strikes on nuclear bases in the country.
US President Donald Trump declared the operation a success, saying it took the bomb 'right out of Iran's hands.'
But it has now been claimed that most of the material, an estimated 400kg of 60 per cent enriched uranium, was moved away from the sites before Saturday night's raid.
Satellite images reportedly show convoys leaving three key sites in recent days.
PICTURED: B-2 stealth bomber returns after US hit key nuclear sites in Iran
A US Air Force B-2 stealth bomber has been pictured landing at Whiteman Air Force Base, Missouri, hours after it carried out attacks on Iran's nuclear facilities.
Donald Trump dispatched seven of the bombers to drop massive bunker-busting bombs on three enrichment facilities, Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan,
Trump administration officials said the bombers 'completely obliterated' the Fordow nuclear site using 12 30,000-pound bunker buster bombs.
UK foreign secretary warns 'this is a moment of peril'
The UK's foreign secretary David Lammy this morning warned that it would be a catastrophic error for Iran to escalate its response following the US bombing of its nuclear sites.
'Let’s calm this thing down,' Lammy said on BBC Breakfast.
'Clearly this is a moment of peril,' he went ot.
'I’m an optimist – of course this is a stressful time – but I still believe diplomacy must and can prevail.'
Iranian foreign minister to meet Putin as Russia accuses US of 'opening Pandora's box'
Russian President Vladimir Putin will meet Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi in Moscow today, the Interfax news agency said, citing Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov.
Araqchi earlier said that Tehran is coordinating with Russia regarding the current escalation.
The two men are set to discuss ‘common threats’ during their meeting, Iran's IRNA news agency reports.
It comes after Russia's UN Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia argued at an emergency meeting on Sunday that the United States' airstrikes on Iranian nuclear facilities 'has opened Pandora's box.'
'No one knows what new catastrophes and suffering it will bring,' Nebenzia said.
Iranian media say up to 50,000 US soldiers could die after nuclear bombings
Iranian state media have ramped up calls for attacks on US bases in the Middle East, with one declaring 50,000 US soldiers could be brought back to Washington in 'coffins'.
According to Al Jazeera, state television's Channel 3 showed a map of all US bases across the region highlighting facilities in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain and Iraq. All are believed to be in range of Iranian missiles.
In quotes translated by Al Jazeera, the channel’s anchor Mehdi Khanalizadeh is purported to have said:
It is now clearer than ever, not just for the Iranian nation but for the whole peoples of the region, that all US citizens and military personnel are legitimate targets.
We were negotiating and progressing through a diplomatic path, but you chose to spill the blood of your soldiers. The US president in the Oval Office chose to take delivery of the coffins of up to 50,000 US soldiers in Washington.
While Hossein Shariatmadari, the editor of the hardline Keyhan daily newspaper, wrote: 'It is now our turn to immediately rain missiles down on the US naval force in Bahrain as a first measure.'
Welcome to MailOnline's live blog
Good morning. Iran and Israel have exchanged missiles this morning as Tehran vowed retaliation for US strikes that President Donald Trump said caused 'monumental damage' to the Islamic republic's nuclear sites.
As the war entered its 11th day despite international calls for de-escalation, here are the latest developments:
Iran's military has warned the US of 'heavy consequences' for entering its conflict with Israel, saying it has now expanded the scope of legitimate targets.
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said 'the punishment continues' against Israel, as Tehran launched new missile strikes on the country overnight.
US President Donald Trump raised the prospect of 'regime change' in Iran.
The leaders of Britain, France and Germany have called for de-escalation and warned Iran 'not to take any further action that could destabilise the region'.
At a UN Security Council emergency meeting Sunday, Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned against 'descending into a rathole of retaliation after retaliation'.
Iran's foreign minister said the country is 'co-ordinating with Russia' as he is set to visit Moscow today.
Trump said strikes caused 'monumental damage' to 'all nuclear sites in Iran'.
The UN's nuclear watchdog could not immediately verify the exact level of damage.
