Israel’s defence minister Israel Katz warned Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei that “Tehran will burn” if it keeps firing missiles at Israeli civilians.
“The Iranian dictator is taking the citizens of Iran hostage, bringing about a reality in which they, and especially Teheran’s residents, will pay a heavy price for the flagrant harm inflicted upon Israel’s citizens.
“If Khamenei continues to fire missiles at the Israeli home front, Tehran will burn,” Katz said in a statement.
It comes after Iran warned the UK, US and France against helping to stop its strikes on Israel. We reported in our post at 09.47 BST how they threatened Western bases in the region.
British prime minister Keir Starmer and the crown prince of Saudi Arabia Mohammed bin Salman have “agreed on the need to de-escalate” the conflict between Iran and Israel, Downing Street has said.
The two leaders spoke on Saturday afternoon, according to a read-out issued by Number 10.
A Downing Street spokesperson said: “They discussed the gravely concerning situation in the Middle East and agreed on the need to de-escalate.
“The prime minister updated on his conversations with partners so far, and reiterated that the UK is poised to work closely with its allies in the coming days to support a diplomatic resolution.”
Continuing Iran-US nuclear talks is unjustifiable while “barbarous” Israeli attacks persist on the country, Iranian state media cited Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araqchi as saying on Saturday.
On Friday, Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said the dialogue with the US over Tehran’s nuclear programme is “meaningless” after Israel’s biggest-ever military strike against on Iran, accusing Washington of supporting the attack.
A China-led 10-state regional group said it strongly condemns Israel’s military strikes on Iran and expressed serious concern over the escalation of the situation in the Middle East, according to a statement from the organisation.
The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, a Eurasian security and political group, said Israel’s act targeted civilian facilities and nuclear facilities, causing civilian casualties, Reuters reported.
“This seriously violated the principles of international law and the UN Charter, undermined Iran’s sovereignty, undermined regional and international security, and had a serious impact on global peace and stability,” SCO said.
Reuters has a breaking news line, citing Iranian news channel Islamic Republic of Iran News Network (IRINN), that Esmail Kosari, a member of the parliament’s security commission, has said closure of the strait of Hormuz is seriously being reviewed by Iran.
The strait of Hormuz is a key route for about 20% of global oil flows and an even higher proportion of liquified natural gas haulage, according to Derren Nathan, the head of equity research at Hargreaves Lansdown.
An Iranian missile strike wounded seven soldiers in central Israel overnight, a military spokesperson said on Saturday, one of several barrages launched in response to Israel’s attack on military and nuclear sites.
“Seven … soldiers were lightly injured last night, as a result of an Iranian missile hit to central Israel,” the spokesperson said, according to Agence France-Presse (AFP).
David Lammy, the UK foreign secretary, has said he is “alarmed” by the strikes in the Middle East overnight, reports our political correspondent Eleni Courea.
In a post on X, the foreign secretary said “we must urgently de-escalate and prevent any further harm to civilians”.
Lammy said he had spoken to Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi on Friday “to urge calm”, as well as his counterparts in the region, Europe and the US. He is expected to spend Saturday in further talks with counterparts across the Middle East and elsewhere.
The foreign secretary did not address Iran’s threat to target UK bases and ships in the region if the UK military helps intercept Iranian strikes on Israel.
Lebanon will aim to keep its airspace open, a minister said on Saturday, hours after officials said the airspace would be shut down in the evening amid the Iran-Israel
conflict.
“The airport will remain open unless something emerges beyond our control,” Lebanese minister of public works and transport Fayez Rasamny said while touring in the Beirut-Rafic Hariri international airport, reports Reuters.
The Middle East Airlines (MEA), Lebanon’s national carrier, will increase its flights to compensate the delayed flights, Rasamny said.
Earlier, state news agency NNA cited the Lebanese Civil Aviation Authority as saying the country would temporarily reopen its airspace on Saturday at 10am local time. (7am GMT/8am BST), and it would be shut down again from 10.30pm local time (7.30pm GMT/8.30pm BST) till 6am (3am GMT/4am BST) on Sunday.
Here are some images coming in via the newswires:
My colleague Joseph Gedeon has written a piece on how, from Gaza to Ukraine to Iran, US president Donald Trump’s “peacemaker” promise is collapsing.
You can read his analysis here:
It has now been confirmed that Israel killed three more Iranian nuclear scientists, state television reported Saturday.
“Three of the country’s nuclear scientists – Ali Bekaei Karimi, Mansour Asgari, and Saeed Borji – were martyred during the Zionist regime’s terrorist attacks,” the broadcaster said.
Iranian media had said earlier that six others were killed in the Israeli attack, as we reported in our post at 11.56BST.
Here is a video of Israel intercepting Iranian missiles. Israel Defense Forces said it had also intercepted Iranian drones, after sirens sounded in the Dead Sea and West Bank area.
