Iran-Israel live: Tehran declares right to respond after Trump says US bombs ‘obliterated’ nuclear sites – UK Times

Iran’s foreign ministry has said “the US has itself launched a dangerous war against Iran” after president Donald Trump announced that US warplanes struck three nuclear facility sites in Iran.

Iran’s foreign ministry has said it has the “right to resist with all its might” against the US.

“Silence in the face of this blatant aggression exposes the world to an unprecedented and pervasive danger,” the ministry said.

It added that the world “must not forget US started war against Iran in the midst of diplomatic process,” referring to talks regarding Iran’s nuclear programme.

Last week, Iran’s foreign minister Abbas Araghchi met with his British counterpart David Lammy, along with European foreign ministers from France, Germany, and the EU in Geneva.

Eleven people in Israel have been injured following a series of missile attacks launched by Iran, according to emergency services.

One victim suffered shrapnel wounds, while the other 10 were “lightly hurt,” Al Jazeera reported, citing the Magen David Adom national emergency service.

The strikes caused severe damage in Tel Aviv, with several two-story residential buildings heavily damaged or collapsing, emergency responders said.

“This is a large-scale destruction site. Several two-story residential buildings were severely damaged, and some collapsed,” Magen David Adom is quoted as having said by CNN.

Emergency crews, police, and bomb disposal units are actively responding to multiple impact sites across the country, including in the northern city of Haifa.

The Israel Defense Forces confirmed that search and rescue operations are ongoing at various locations after at least 10 missile impacts were reported.

Airlines continued to reroute flights on Sunday to avoid large parts of Middle Eastern airspace following US strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities.

According to flight tracking service FlightRadar24, commercial traffic is operating under restrictions implemented last week, with no flights over Iran, Iraq, Syria, or Israel. Airlines are instead choosing longer routes via the Caspian Sea or through Egypt and Saudi Arabia, despite higher costs and extended travel times.

Israel’s airspace remains closed, and its two main carriers, El Al and Arkia, suspended rescue and scheduled flights on Sunday.

Israeli teams were on the site of at least one strike in Tel Aviv. It is not clear whether it was caused by debris from a downed missile or from a missile strike itself.

At least 39 missiles were fired at Israel, understood to have come in two waves.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said on Sunday that there was “no increase in off-site radiation levels” following US airstrikes on three Iranian nuclear facilities.

Israeli media are reporting several impacts across the country following the latest missile barrage launched from Iran.

According to Israel’s state broadcaster Kan, at least 10 missiles struck locations inside Israel.

Iran’s ambassador to the United Nations has requested an emergency Security Council meeting on Sunday in response to what he described as “heinous attacks and illegal use of force” by the US.

Amir Saeid Iravani said the Council must “take all necessary measures” to hold the US accountable under international law and the UN Charter, in a letter obtained by the Associated Press.

“The Islamic Republic of Iran condemns and denounces in the strongest possible terms these unprovoked and premeditated acts of aggression, which have followed the large-scale military attack conducted by the Israeli regime on 13 June against Iran’s peaceful nuclear sites and facilities,” he wrote.

There are sirens in Tel Aviv and at least five audible blasts as Iran retaliated for the US bombardment of its nuclear facilities over night.

The US attacks came as a relief for many Israelis who feared “we are in danger of getting stuck in a war without end,” as one senior officer in the IDF put it.

But a wider retaliation against US forces around the Middle East is also anticipated. Military experts in the IDF have assessed that Iran has the capacity to fire at least 29 ballistic missiles a day indefinitely, which could trap Israel and America in a “ forever war”.

President Donald Trump has claimed to have “completely, totally obliterated” Iran’s nuclear program in a series of missile strikes and bombings, marking explicit US intervention into Israel’s war that risks a wider international crisis.

The world braces for retaliatory strikes while the US risks the prospect of serious blowback, writes Alex Woodward.