The US has carried out attacks on three nuclear sites in Iran, in what Donald Trump called a "spectacular military success". Officials at the UN are "gravely alarmed" - with Iran calling for an emergency meeting. Watch live below as Iran's foreign minister gives a news briefing.
Sunday 22 June 2025 12:14, UK
We've just had some reaction from China to the US strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities overnight.
The foreign ministry "strongly condemns" the attack.
Donald Trump's military action "seriously violates" the UN charter, it added.
Sir Keir Starmer has just spoken to broadcasters about the US strikes on Iran overnight.
Asked if the UK government supports the action of its ally, the prime minister did not answer the question directly.
He said: "We've long had concerns about the Iranian nuclear programme, and been very clear that Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon.
"The US has now taken action to alleviate that threat. It is important that we now de-escalate the situation, stabilise the region, and get the parties back around the table to negotiate, and I've been speaking with international leaders this morning to that end."
In a message to the British public, he said the government is doing "everything we can to stabilise the situation, to de-escalate the situation, and to get to a negotiated outcome".
He added that "Iran cannot be allowed to have a nuclear weapon", which he labelled "the greatest threat to stability in the region".
Despite his calls for de-escalation, the opposite seems to be occurring, and Starmer acknowledged that.
"That is a risk to the region, it's a risk beyond the region, and that's why all our focus has been on de-escalating, getting people back around to negotiate what is a very real threat in relation to the nuclear programme," he said.
The PM refused to "speculate about what may happen" and whether the UK could become involved, but said "all necessary measures" have been taken to protect UK interests and personnel.
He also wouldn't say if he felt "foolish", having told Sky News earlier this week that he did not think a US attack on Iran was imminent.
Our correspondent Cordelia Lynch is on the ground in a Tel Aviv neighbourhood that was hit by Iranian strikes overnight and into this morning.
She says there is "huge damage" to homes in the area, and rescue teams were trying to clear away the debris.
In the last hour, a soldier has just removed a cat from a destroyed building that survived the strike.
"You can see, up close, the level of destruction in this neighbourhood on the outskirts of Tel Aviv," Lynch says.
"People's belongings are hanging over the edges of their homes.
"There's a lot of concrete and debris to clear, but despite this intense level of destruction, what strikes you is how many people support Israel's actions against Iran, and this morning also welcome America's intervention.
"They hope it will bring a quicker resolution to this conflict."
Here is a selection of pictures from Lynch and her team:
Sir Keir Starmer will chair an emergency COBRA meeting this afternoon, Sky News understands.
COBRA, which stands for Cabinet Office Briefing Room A, is often called in times of emergency, such as civil unrest, flooding, or an international issue.
The government has held a number of such meetings since Israel's first strikes on Iran last Friday, and another will take place today.
By Tom Clarke, science and technology editor
It would be sensible to wait until the dust has settled before judging whether the US raid on Iran was, in Donald Trump鈥檚 words, "a spectacular military success".
And when dropping bombs that weigh more than 13 tonnes each, there's going to be a lot of dust.
What use of six bombs on mountain complex tells us
The US claims to have struck Iran's three largest nuclear facilities.
Perhaps the most important is the Fordow complex buried deep in a mountain 鈥� it was the only one not previously damaged by Israeli strikes over the last few days.
The claim by the US that it dropped at least six of its largest GBU-57 bunker buster bombs on Fordow is telling.
Despite their size, it was known that one of them would be insufficient to penetrate 80+ metres of solid rock believed to shelter Iran's most sophisticated uranium enrichment technology.
It seems the US used their bombs to target the mountain stronghold's entrances 鈥� at least that is what Iranian state media appears to be claiming.
The idea there being to rely on the significant shockwaves generated by the blasts to destroy the infrastructure within and, at the very least, entomb the facility - rendering it useless, for now at least.
Why Iran could still make a nuclear bomb
If nuclear facilities at Isfahan, Natanz and Fordow were "obliterated" as Donald Trump has claimed, or even crippled, it would certainly halt Iran's ability to enrich the Uranium needed to make a viable nuclear weapon.
But that's not the same as preventing Iran's ability to make a nuclear bomb.
To do that, they need "weapons-grade" uranium; the necessary metal-shaping, explosives and timing technology needed to trigger nuclear fission in the bomb; and a mechanism for delivering it.
The facilities targeted in the US raid are dedicated to achieving the first objective. Taking naturally occurring uranium ore, which contains around 0.7% uranium 235 鈥� the isotope needed for nuclear fission 鈥� and concentrating it.
The centrifuges you hear about are the tools needed to enrich U-235 to the 90% purity needed for a compact "implosion"-type warhead that can be deliverable by a missile.
And the reality is Iran's centrifuges have been spinning for a long time.
Iran could still hide key ingredients from prying eyes
United Nations nuclear inspectors warned in May that Iran had at least 408kg of uranium "enriched" to 60%. Getting to that level represents 90% of the time and effort to get to 90% U-235.
And those 400kg would yield enough of that weapons-grade uranium to make nine nuclear weapons, the inspectors concluded.
The second element is something Iran has also been working on for two decades. Precisely shaping uranium metal and making shaped explosive charges to crush it in the right way to achieve "criticality" - the spark for the sub-atomic chain reaction that releases the terrifying energy in a nuclear explosion.
In its recent bombing campaign, Israel is thought to have targeted facilities where Iranian nuclear scientists were doing some of that work.
But unlike the industrial processes needed to enrich uranium, these later steps can be carried out in laboratory-sized facilities. Meaning it's easier to pack up and move, and easier to hide from prying eyes.
Given that it's understood Iran already moved enriched uranium out of Fordow ahead of the US strike, it's far from certain that Iran has, in fact, lost its ability to make a bomb.
And while the strikes may have delayed the logistics, it's possible they've emboldened a threatened Iran to intensify its warhead-making capability if it does still have one.
Crude options could still make Iran a nuclear-armed power
Making a more compact implosion-based warhead is not easy. There is debate among experts about how advanced Iran is along that road.
But if it felt sufficiently motivated, it does have other, less sophisticated nuclear options.
Even 60% enriched uranium, of which, remember, it has a lot, can be coaxed to criticality in a much larger, cruder nuclear device.
This wouldn't pose as much threat to its enemies as it would be too heavy to fit on even the best of Iran's long-range missiles.
But it would, nonetheless, elevate Iran to the status of a nuclear power.
In the wake of the US strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities, the Israeli government expressed its thanks to President Donald Trump for taking action.
And it seems that sentiment is reflected among regular Israelis, too.
Signs have appeared in Tel Aviv this morning that read "Thank you, Mr President", with a photo of him and US flags.
A little while ago, we caught up with Seyed Ali Mousavi, Iran's ambassador to the UK, in London.
He told Sky News "everything is under consideration" when it comes to the Iranian response to the US attacks last night.
"We're going to consider all of the matters," he added.
We've also been hearing from Iran's foreign minister in Istanbul since then - scoll back through for our updates from his news conference.
More from the Israeli Defence Forces now.
A spokesman has just given a TV statement about the US strikes on Iran overnight.
Brigadier General Effie Defrin said: "The Iranian regime is responsible for the war that has raged for over 600 days.
"From Gaza to Lebanon, from Yemen to Tehran - the Iranian regime spent years fuelling terror across the region.
"And now, the cost of their aggression is being felt on their own soil."
On the American strikes on Iranian nuclear sites, Defrin said: "These actions mark a crucial step in stopping the Iranian regime鈥檚 aggression and its ability to endanger the region - and the broader world.
"The regime's capacity to threaten the State of Israel is being dismantled piece by piece."
While all eyes have been on Iran, the war in Gaza continues, and the IDF continues operations there.
In a statement this morning, the Israeli military announced that, along with the intelligence service, it has recovered the bodies of three hostages being held by Hamas in Gaza.
The IDF has named them as Ofra Keidar, Yonatan Samerano, and Staff Sgt Shay Levinson.
Keidar was from Kibbutz Be'eri, which was attacked on 7 October. She and her husband were murdered in the initial attack, and her body was taken to Gaza. The mother of three was 71 at the time of her death.
Samerano, 21, fled the Nova music festival when the Hamas attack started, and was then murdered in Kibbutz Be'eri. His body was abducted to Gaza, and recovered yesterday on his 23rd birthday.
Levinson was a tank commander in the IDF, and was killed fighting Hamas during the 7 October attack, age 19. His body was also taken to Gaza.
In a statement, Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said: "Together with all the citizens of Israel, my wife and I extend our heartfelt condolences to the dear families, and share in their deep sorrow.
"I thank our commanders and fighters for a successful operation, for their determination and courage.
"The campaign to return the kidnapped continues continuously and is taking place in parallel with the campaign against Iran.
"We will not rest until we bring all our captives home - both the living and the dead."
Let's just catch you up on the last few bits from Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi.
Taking some more questions in Istanbul, Araghchi said he had "never trusted Western countries" during negotiations, and "there are now even more reasons why we shouldn't trust them at all."
He said that everyone should "wait for our response first" before they try to engage in more diplomacy.
Indirect US contact continuing
Asked a final question about communications with the US, Araghchi said he had held indirect talks with Steve Witkoff, Donald Trump's chief negotiator, prior to the attacks.
"When the talks were stopped because of the US aggression, we are still receiving messages from Americans through different channels, Oman in particular," he said.
Oman has acted as a mediator between Washington and Tehran.
The news conference in Istanbul has now ended.
