World

Donald Trump taunted Iran on Wednesday over the extraordinary prospect of US airstrikes on Tehran, after Ayatollah Ali Khamenei rejected demands for unconditional surrender.“I may do it. I may not do it,” the president said amid a growing divide among his inner circle over whether to join Israel’s attacks.“The next week is going to be very big,” he teased as thousands fled the Iranian capital following the latest aerial bombardment, leaving many shops closed and streets empty.Sir Keir Starmer chaired an emergency Cobra meeting on the Middle East crisis late on Wednesday, two days after he expressed confidence that Mr Trump would not join the unfolding war between Iran and Israel.The Foreign Office has evacuated family members of embassy staff from Israel, but has not advised British nationals to leave the country.Mr Trump on Tuesday demanded Iran’s conditional surrender and issued a chilling warning that US forces knew the whereabouts of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the country’s 86-year-old religious ruler.In a speech aired on Iranian television – his first appearance since bombing began last Friday – the supreme leader said any US intervention would lead to “irreparable damage”.Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei addresses the nation More

For Britain, Israel is mostly a strategic liability – but it’s also a very close ally in stopping Iran from developing a nuclear weapon.Now that Israel is locked in a war with Iran and Britain is rushing to send a handful of RAF jets to the region, that relationship needs careful management.The UK cannot afford to be seen as guilty by association in respect of Israel’s campaign in Gaza, or to suffer reputational damage by offering Israel unnecessary help – there is plenty for the RAF to do aside from that. Rachel Reeves, the chancellor, has said that the aircraft may be used to defend the UK’s allies – in other words, shoot down Iranian missiles heading towards Tel Aviv.Helping Israel to stop the erratic and malevolent Iranian regime from making an atomic bomb is smart. Being seen to do so, and protecting Israel against the consequences of its endeavours, is not.Iran has threatened to attack any US ally that defends Israel. The US has already helped to shoot down ballistic missiles fired by Tehran in retaliation for the ongoing, and widespread, Israeli attacks on Iran’s air defences, missile systems, military leadership and nuclear programme. The US has a vast array of military assets very close to Iran, with air force and navy bases positioned across the Persian Gulf, in Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, the UAE, and Oman. These are all vulnerable to attack.Rescue teams clear rubble in a neighbourhood in the northern Israeli town of Tamra following an overnight missile attack by Iran More

The UK is sending more RAF jets to the Middle East, Sir Keir Starmer said, after Iran threatened to target British, French and US bases if the countries help stop strikes on Israel.The prime minister said further military assets are being deployed to provide “contingency support” across the region amid escalating hostilities between the two long-time foes.Sir Keir’s announcement comes as Iran and Israel continue to bombard one another with airstrikes in the wake of Israeli attacks on Iran’s nuclear bases. Civilians took cover in bomb shelters as air raid sirens sounded across Israel, while plumes of smoke were seen rising from the streets of Tel Aviv after deadly attacks in both countries. Rejecting international calls to de-escalate the violence, Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the attacks would intensify as he claimed to have set back Iran’s nuclear capabilities, possibly by years. “We will hit every site and every target of the ayatollah’s regime and what they have felt so far is nothing compared with what they will be handed in the coming days,” he vowed in a video message on Saturday. Ahead of a gathering of world leaders at a crunch G7 summit in Canada, Sir Keir Starmer confirmed Britain was moving military assets to the region.Buildings in Israel were destroyed by strikes More