Verification work carries on

Anthony Reuben

BBC Verify senior journalist

We’re closing this live page now, but there’s still plenty of work that our late teams are digging into for the evening.

Our open-source investigators will be contributing to our separate live page about Israel and Iran’s continuing attacks on each other.

Other members of the team will be feeding into live coverage of the announcement of the inquiry into grooming gangs in the UK.

And you can stay across the BBC News website to see what comes out of the meeting of G7 leaders in Canada later tonight.

Verify Live will be back here again on Tuesday morning.

Verifying the latest footage from Iran

We’re about to end our live updates from BBC Verify with the news agenda again dominated by the continued Israeli strikes on Iran. For continuing coverage go to the live page here.

Our open-source investigations team will continue to scour social media for further footage emerging from the country in the coming hours, while working to verify new videos that are said to show a strike near the Red Crescent building in the capital Tehran.

We also have an in-depth story to come examining Fordo – the uranium enrichment plant buried deep inside an Iranian mountainside – as experts speculate that it could be targeted by the US if the White House chooses to join Israel’s campaign.

And our analysis editor Ros Atkins is examining the Iranian nuclear programme and whether it’s as advanced as Israeli officials claim.

If you want more of BBC Verify’s analysis, investigations and videos go to our pages on the BBC website.

Israel bombs Iran state TV during live broadcast

2 days ago Share Save David Gritten BBC News Share Save

Moment debris falls in Iran state TV studio after Israeli strikes

Israeli aircraft have struck the headquarters of Iran’s state broadcaster in Tehran, after the Israeli military told residents of the area of the capital where it is located to evacuate. A live broadcast on Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting’s TV channel was briefly interrupted after blasts were heard and the studio lights went out. Iranian media reported that at least one staff member was killed. The Israeli military said it targeted a “communications centre of the Iranian regime”. Iran’s foreign ministry said the strike was a “war crime”. Residents of Tehran meanwhile appeared to be fleeing in large numbers, with pictures showing traffic jams on one highway heading north.

Earlier, the Israeli military declared that it had achieved “full air superiority” over the city and had destroyed a third of Iran’s missile launchers. It came after Iranian missiles struck four different areas in the northern and central Israel overnight, killing at least eight civilians, according to the military. Iran’s health ministry said at least 224 people had been killed and more than 1,200 injured in Israeli air strikes since Friday, when Israel launched a large-scale air campaign targeting Iran’s nuclear programme and ballistic missiles. Iranian missile strikes have killed at least 24 people and injured 592 others in Israel over the same period, according to the Israeli prime minister’s office. Latest updates: Israel ‘working to intercept threat’ after Iran launches wave of missiles

Lyse Doucet: Where is Israel’s operation heading?

‘Don’t let beautiful Tehran become Gaza’: Iranians tell of shock and confusion

‘They’re weak’: Israelis back conflict with Iran in neighbourhood struck by missile On Monday afternoon, the Israeli military’s Persian-language spokesperson called on residents of western Tehran’s District 3 to evacuate immediately, saying it planned to target military infrastructure and that their lives were at risk. Hours later, the Israeli strike on the building housing Iran’s state broadcaster was broadcast live on its TV network, IRINN. Following the sound of several explosions, newsreader Sahar Emami said: “What you noticed is the sound of a clear aggression by the Zionist regime on IRIB.” Another, much louder explosion then shook the studio, forcing Emami to leave. The broadcast was cut off and replaced with news bulletins, before resuming minutes later. Later, the head of IRIB, Peyman Jebelli, appeared on TV showing a blood-stained paper. He said the channel and its employees were “standing until the end”. The semi-official Fars news agency reported that Masoumeh Azimi, an employee of the IRIB Secretariat, was killed in the attack. Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman, Esmail Baqai, condemned the strike, saying it was a “wicked act” and a “war crime”.

AFP Smoke billowed from the headquarters of Iran’s state broadcaster following the Israeli air strike

The Israeli military’s spokesman, Brig Gen Effie Defrin, said it targeted “a communications centre of the Iranian regime, which served Iran’s armed forces”. “According to our intelligence, the centre was used by military forces to advance operational activity under the cover of civilian assets and infrastructure,” he alleged. Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz called IRIB the “propaganda and incitement broadcasting authority of the Iranian regime”. The Iranian Red Crescent also said three of its first responders were killed when an ambulance was hit by an Israeli strike in Tehran’s Shahid Bagheri district on Monday. “This incident is not only a crime against international humanitarian law but also a blatant attack on humanity and morality,” a statement added. There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military, but Deffrin said aircraft had struck trucks carrying weapons, surface-to-air missile launchers, other military infrastructure, and also eliminated “operatives” attempting to flee Tehran.

WANA via Reuters Many shops in Tehran’s Grand Bazaar were closed on Monday

A resident of western Tehran told the BBC in a message that the sound of explosions from Israeli air strikes and Iranian air defence batteries was “constant”. “Many have left Tehran. And I noticed that some local shops are also closed,” they wrote. “The bakeries are packed, though, and those out and about you see them panic buying.” They added: “Panic and fear are the words to describe the mood in Tehran right now. [But] I don’t want to leave.” A second Tehran resident told BBC Persian that their family had gathered their documents and jewellery and fled northwards early on Saturday. “I cleaned and tidied the house completely, said goodbye to it, and cried for 15 minutes. Then we left Tehran,” they said. A third person with two young children said she had decided to stay. “I’m too exhausted to even think of leaving and coming back to find my life destroyed,” they explained. “I’ve struggled to get here. If everything is going to be ruined, then I’d rather my kids and I go with our home.” Iran’s foreign ministry also accused the Israeli military of targeting a hospital during a series of air strikes in the western city of Kermanshah on Monday. State media reported that parts of the Farabi hospital were damaged by Israeli projectiles and that several patients were injured as a result. Kurdish human rights group Hengaw said it had received credible information that the Islamic Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC) had converted buildings near the hospital into “storage sites for military projectiles” and accused the force of using civilians as “human shields”.

Watch: Hugo Bachega reports from Petah Tikva following an Iranian attack

‘Don’t let beautiful Tehran become Gaza’: Iranians tell of shock and confusion

2 days ago Share Save Caroline Hawley • @carolinehawley Diplomatic correspondent Share Save

Getty Images Israel continued to strike Iran’s capital Tehran on Sunday night

Long queues at petrol stations and bakeries. Long lines of cars trying to escape the capital. And long, frightening nights. Residents of Tehran – still shocked by Israel’s sudden attack on Iran in the early hours of Friday morning – speak of fear and confusion, a feeling of helplessness and conflicting emotions. “We haven’t slept for nights,” a 21-year-old music student told me over an encrypted social media app. “Everyone is leaving but I’m not. My dad says it’s more honourable to die in your own house than to run away.” ‘Donya’ – she doesn’t want to reveal her real name – is one of many Iranians now caught in a war between a regime she loathes and Israel, whose destructive power in Gaza she has witnessed on screen from afar. “I really don’t want my beautiful Tehran to turn into Gaza,” she said.

As for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s call on Iranians to rise up against their clerical leadership, she has a firm response. “We don’t want Israel to save us. No foreign country ever cared for Iran,” she said. “We also don’t want the Islamic Republic.” Another woman said that at first she had felt a “strange excitement” to see Israel kill Iranian military officials so powerful that she thought they would live for ever. “Suddenly that image of power was shattered,” she told BBC Persian. “But from the second day, when I heard that regular people – people I didn’t know, people like me – had also been killed, I started to feel sorrow, fear and sadness.” And she said her sadness turned to anger when she heard that the South Pars gas field had been hit, fearing that Israel was trying to turn Iran “into ruins”. For the first time in her life, she said, she has started to prepare for the idea of dying. More than 220 people – many of them women and children – have been killed since Friday, according to the Iranian authorities. Israeli authorities say Iranian missiles have killed at least 24 people in Israel over the same period.

Getty Images Long queues of traffic stretched along Tehran’s roads as people tried to leave the city

Unlike in Israel, there are no warnings of imminent attacks in Iran, and no shelters to run to. Missiles fall from the sky but a campaign of car bombs in Tehran – as reported by both Israeli and Iranian media – has sewn further panic and confusion. Even some supporters of the regime are reported to be upset that its much-vaunted defences have been so thoroughly exposed. And, among many Iranians, distrust in the authorities runs deep. Donya used to defy the regime and its strict dress code by going out with her hair uncovered. Now, with her university exams postponed until next week, she’s staying at home. “I get so terrified at night,” she said. “I take some pills to help me relax and try to sleep.” The Iranian government has suggested that people shelter in mosques and metro stations. But that is hard, when the explosions seem to come out of nowhere. “Tehran is a big city and yet every neighbourhood has been somehow affected by the damage,” another young woman told BBC Persian. “For now, all we do is check the news every hour and call the friends and relatives whose neighbourhood has been hit to make sure they are still alive.” She and her family have now left their home to stay in an area where there are no known government buildings. But you never know, in a country like Iran, who may be living next to you.

The Israeli assault has divided Iranians, she said, with some celebrating the regime’s losses, while others are angry at those cheering Israel on. Many Iranians keep changing their minds about what they think. Divisions are bitter, even among some families. “The situation feels like the first hours after the Titanic hit the iceberg,” the woman said. “Some people were trying to escape, some were saying it wasn’t a big deal, and others kept dancing.” She has always protested against Iran’s clerical rulers, she told the BBC, but sees what Netanyahu is doing to her country as “inexcusable”. “Everyone’s life, whether they supported the attacks or not, has been changed forever. “Most Iranians, even those who oppose the government, have now realised that freedom and human rights don’t come from Israeli bombs falling on cities where defenceless civilians live.” She added: “Most of us are scared and worried about what’s coming next. We’ve packed bags with first aid supplies, food, and water, just in case things get worse.” Israel says the Iranian armed forces have deliberately placed their command centres and weapons inside civilian buildings and areas. Members of Iran’s large diaspora are also worried. “It’s hard to convey what it’s like to be an Iranian right now,” says Dorreh Khatibi-Hill, a Leeds-based women’s rights activist and researcher who is in touch with family, friends and other anti-regime activists. “You’re happy that members of the regime – who have been torturing and murdering people – are being taken out. “But we know that civilians are dying. This is a devastating humanitarian disaster.” And Iranians are not being given accurate information on what is happening, she says. “The main person in Iran – the supreme leader – is still alive while Iranians are fleeing for their lives,” she adds. “No one wants Iran to turn into another Iraq, Syria or Afghanistan. None of us wants this war. We don’t want the regime either.”

US moves 30 jets as Iran attack speculation grows

5 hours ago Share Save Matt Murphy, Thomas Spencer & Alex Murray BBC Verify Share Save

Getty Images

At least 30 US military planes have been moved from bases in America to Europe over the past three days, flight tracking data reviewed by BBC Verify has shown. The planes in question are all US military tanker aircraft used to re-fuel fighter jets and bombers. According to Flightradar24, at least seven of these – all KC-135s – stopped off in US airbases in Spain, Scotland and England. The flights come as Israel and Iran continue to exchange strikes, after Israel launched an operation on Friday that it said was to destroy Tehran’s nuclear programme. It is unclear whether the US movements are directly connected to the conflict, but one expert told BBC Verify that the tanker aircraft flights were “highly unusual”.

Justin Bronk, a senior analyst with the Royal United Services Institute (Rusi) think tank, said that the deployments were “highly suggestive” that the US was putting in place contingency plans to “support intensive combat operations” in the region in the coming weeks. The seven jets tracked by BBC Verify have since travelled on and according to flight tracking data could be seen flying east of Sicily as of Tuesday afternoon. Six had no stated destination – one landed on the Greek island of Crete. But the former head of Irish Defence Forces, Vice-Admiral Mark Mellett, said that the movements could be part of a broader policy of “strategic ambiguity” that could be attempting to influence Iran to make concessions in talks over its nuclear programme. Israel initially launched an attack on Iranian nuclear infrastructure on Friday, just a day after President Donald Trump’s deadline to Iran to strike a deal on suspending its nuclear programme expired. The jet movements come amid reports that the US has also moved an aircraft carrier – the USS Nimitz, from the South China Sea towards the Middle East. The Reuters news agency reported that a planned event involving the ship in Vietnam was cancelled after what the US embassy in Hanoi called an “emergent operational requirement”. MarineTraffic, a ship-tracking website, showed that the USS Nimitz’s last location was in the Malacca Strait heading towards Singapore early on Tuesday. The Nimitz carries a contingent of fighter jets and is escorted by several guided missile destroyers.

The US has also moved F-16, F-22 and F-35 fighter jets to bases in the Middle East, three defence officials told Reuters on Tuesday. The tanker planes moved to Europe over the past several days can be used to re-fuel these jets. Earlier on Tuesday, Vice-President JD Vance suggested that the US could intervene to support Israel’s campaign, writing on social media that Trump “may decide he needs to take further action” to end Iran’s nuclear programme. Tehran is believed to run two principal underground enrichment sites. Natanz has already been hit by Israel, and Fordo is buried deep within a mountain complex near the city of Qom. To penetrate the facility, the US would likely have to use GBU-57A/B Massive Ordnance Penetrator (MOP) munitions, two senior Western military officers told BBC Verify. MOPs are huge, 30,000lb (13,600kg) bombs also known as “bunker busters”.

The bomb is the only conventional weapon of its kind that is thought to be capable of breaching up to 200ft (60m) of concrete. Only the B-2 stealth bomber can carry the munitions. Recently, the US has had a squadron of B-2 bombers at its base on the island of Diego Garcia. While the island is some 2,400 miles from Iran’s southern coastline, their location on Diego Garcia would put them well within striking range of Iran. “You would be able to maintain a sustained operation from [Diego Garcia] far more efficiently,” Air Marshall Greg Bagwell – a former RAF deputy operations chief – told BBC Verify. “You could literally have them round the clock operating.” Satellite images first showed B-2 bombers had been stationed on Diego Garcia at the end of March, but the most recent imagery from the island no longer shows the bombers present.

How one US weapon could change the course of the Israel-Iran conflict