Israel-Iran latest: Iran threatens further strikes and ‘will target US bases’

Pope Leo has appealed for authorities in Iran and Israel to act with “reason” after recent airstrikes and to pursue dialogue.

He told an audience in St. Peter’s Basilica on Saturday that he was following the situation with “great concern.”

“In such a delicate moment, I strongly wish to renew an appeal to responsibility and to reason,” said the pope.

“The commitment to building a safer world free from the nuclear threat must be pursued through respectful encounters and sincere dialogue to build a lasting peace, founded on justice, fraternity, and the common good,” he said.

“No one should ever threaten the existence of another,” said Leo. “It is the duty of all countries to support the cause of peace, initiating paths of reconciliation and promoting solutions that guarantee security and dignity for all.”

Iran has warned the US, UK and France that their bases and ships in the region will be targeted if they help stop Tehran’s strikes on Israel.

Iran state media reported the comments on Saturday, as tensions continue to rise between Israel and Iran.

On Friday, a US officials said the country’s military had helped shoot down Iranian missiles that were headed toward Israel.

Iran’s state TV has reported that around 60 people, including 20 children, have been killed in an Israeli attack on a housing complex in Tehran.

It’s just after 11am in Tel Aviv and 11:30am in Tehran. If you’re just joining us, here is the key information you should know:

• Netanyahu launched Israel’s largest-ever attack on Tehran’s nuclear and ballistic missile facilities early on Friday.
• Attacks also wiped out many of Iran’s most senior military commanders.
• Iran’s United Nations envoy said in total 78 people were killed and more than 320 injured – most of them civilians.
• Iran retaliated by launching waves of drones and ballistic missiles at Israel, where explosions lit the night skies over Jerusalem and Tel Aviv and shook the buildings below.
• Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said in a recorded message on Friday: “We will not allow them to escape safely from this great crime they committed.”
• Three people have been killed in Israel, one in Tel Aviv and two in Rishon Lezion. Dozens more have been injured.
• Iranian officials have since warned its retaliatory strikes will continue, and that the conflict will ‘spread to US bases’ in the region in coming days.

Sir Keir Starmer has spoken to Benjamin Netanyahu after Israel launched attacks on Iran.

A Downing Street spokesperson said: “The prime minister spoke to the Prime Minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, this afternoon following last night’s events.

“The prime minister was clear that Israel has a right to self-defence and set out the UK’s grave concerns about Iran’s nuclear programme.“

He reiterated the need for de-escalation and a diplomatic resolution, in the interests of stability in the region.”

Explosions were heard in Tel Aviv early on Saturday as Iran and Israel said a new wave of Iranian missile attacks had begun.

Iran has vowed to continue its retaliatory strikes against Israel as senior officials warn the conflict “will spread to US bases” in the region.

Iran has said its Fordow nuclear facility has sustained “limited damage” following Israeli attacks.

The semi-official ISNA news agency cited a spokesperson for the country’s atomic energy organisation, who said: “There has been limited damage to some areas at the Fordow enrichment site

“We had already moved a significant part of the equipment and materials out, and there was no extensive damage and there are no contamination concerns.”

The Independent’s Chief International Correspondent Bel Trew reports from Amman, Jordan:

The Israeli air force said on Saturday it had struck “dozens of targets” including surface-to-air missile infrastructure and defence systems over 1500km away in Tehran.

Air forces commander Tomer Bar warned that it was not over and the air force reported further strikes on Saturday morning.

Iran’s Fars News agency citing a senior military official said on its Telegram account that the conflict would spread to “American bases in the coming days” prompting concerns about attacks on locations in places like Iraq.

“The aggressors will be the target of Iran’s decisive and extensive response” the official reportedly the news outlet.

Meanwhile IRGC-linked telegram accounts shared images of what it claimed was the wreckage of an Israeli aircraft shot down over northern Iran – the Israeli military have denied that any fighter jets have been shot down.

In Jordan, air raid sirens wailed through the night as missiles and drones crossed its airspace.

Amman opened its international airport in the morning to chaotic scenes of passengers trying to leave. Lebanon also announced an intention to open its airspace at 10am local time.

Experts have called Israel’s offensive as one of the most significant attacks on Iran since its war with Iraq in the 1980s.

Matthew Savill, Director of Military Sciences at the Royal United Services Institute said the breadth and scale of these strikes “suggest this operation is intended to not just dissuade Iran from pursuing nuclear weapons, but also cripple any potential military response and even to destabilise the regime.”

Lebanon said it will reopen its airspace on Saturday at 10:00 am local time (7am GMT).

Flights were suspended in the region as Israel and Iran targeted each other with missiles.

Earlier Jordan reopened its airspace at 7:30 am local time.

The Independent’s Chief International Correspondent – who is in Jordan’s capital Amman – said the airport was in chaos as people scrambled to leave.

Iranian state media has just reported that two deputy commanders have been killed.

It reported that the officials in Iran’s armed forces general staff were killed in Israeli attacks.