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Russia's foreign ministry has condemned the US strikes on Iran's nuclear sites.

It added: "The irresponsible decision to subject the territory of a sovereign state to missile and bomb strikes, no matter what arguments are presented, grossly violates international law, the UN Charter, and UN Security Council resolutions, which previously unequivocally qualified such actions as unacceptable."

Echoing many other countries, it called for a solution through diplomatic means.

It also said damage to Iran's nuclear infrastructure was of "particular concern".

The US-Russia relationship has thawed considerably under Donald Trump, but that hasn't stopped the Kremlin criticising him this time.

By Emma Birchley, Sky News correspondent

For over a week, Joe has been in "a constant state of anxiety".

"I keep thinking, oh my god, anything could be happening to my family right now.

"I have a sense of guilt."

The British-Iranian lawyer in his 20s was born and bred in Wembley, but many members of his family are in Tehran: his grandparents on his mother's side, his father's father, his aunts, uncles, cousins.

And while the public was told to evacuate before the first strikes by Israel on Friday 13 June, for many, that simply wasn't an option.

"It was not feasible for elderly people," he said. "Vulnerable people like my grandparents were forced to stay. A three-hour journey was taking 20 hours."

Watch: Israel begins a new wave of strikes in Iran

And with only a fraction of the country able to access intermittent internet, it has been hard to confirm that they are safe.

One of his cousins has been able to access social media and has posted updates to reassure relatives here in the UK.

Now, Joe is hugely worried about what lies ahead.

"The way people look at this conflict, it's like a Marvel film; looking for a good side and a bad side."

But it's not that simple, he says.

"If regime change is to come about, I wouldn't know how to feel.

"Part of me would feel relieved and happy, but part of me would feel is it Israel and the US's job to topple this regime?"

Air defences have been activated in eastern Tehran, Iranian state media has reported.

It said it had happened in the eastern Tehran province and the Yazd province.

Large explosions were also reported in Iran's southern city of Bushehr, Shargh newspaper said.

This is notable as Tehran's only operating nuclear plant is in Bushehr.

Israel previously said it struck it, before seemingly rowing back on the comments.

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 that survived the strike from a destroyed building.

"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.