Asal* had been expecting the US to bomb Iran, just not so soon. The 22-year-old Tehran University student had believed Donald Trump when his administration said on Thursday that it would wait up to two weeks before deciding whether to attack Iran, apparently to give diplomacy a chance.

And so at 4am when the newscaster announced the bombing on TV, Asal was in disbelief. She rushed to wake her father and the rest of the family, who huddled together in front of the set as the sounds of the news blended with those of bombings elsewhere in the city.

“We weren’t expecting it yet. But we knew one way or another the US would take part in it,” Asal told the Guardian from Tehran. “We are dead worried. You know, sleep doesn’t come so easy these past few days.”

Iranians woke to the news on Sunday morning that the unthinkable had finally happened: the US had attacked Iran. In the early hours of the morning, American warplanes dropped so-called bunker busters weighing 13,500kg (30,000lb) on the nuclear facilities in Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan.

The news was met with panic in Iran. It prompted a renewed wave of displacement in Tehran as people feared a more intensified assault on the city now that the US was involved.

The question of whether the US would join Israel in its military campaign in Iran had hung over the heads of Iranians since the first Israeli bomb fell nearly 10 days earlier. Iranians watched with worry as Trump played coy with reporters, telling them “nobody knows what I’m going to do” about Iran.

On 13 June, Israel had launched hundreds of airstrikes on Iran, an operation it said was aimed at preventing the country from obtaining a nuclear weapon. Iran quickly responded with a barrage of missiles and drones, kicking off an escalating tit-for-tat war.

Israel asked the US to join its military campaign as it was the only country with the firepower necessary to penetrate the Fordow nuclear facility, buried up to 100 metres underground. On Sunday, the US granted its request.

The Iranian government, incensed by the attacks, said it would do whatever was necessary to retaliate. The president, Masoud Pezeshkian, appeared in front of hundreds of protesters in a square in central Tehran, who raised their fists and chanted “Revenge, revenge!”.

Asal has little appetite for revenge, she just wants the war to be over. To her and her friends, the US attack felt like a betrayal. “No one is rooting for either side to win. We just want peace. Not even those Iranians who wanted a regime change are happy. They expected Trump to take a different route or at least give us two weeks,” Asal said.

Trump’s administration has said the strikes were in line with his “peace through strength” doctrine and has urged Iran not to retaliate but instead to return to the negotiating table. Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, flatly rejected the request for talks, telling reporters in Istanbul on Sunday that now was not the time for diplomacy.

To Navid*, Trump’s claims that the US bombing of Iran was a peace initiative rang hollow. The 28-year-old business owner in Tehran had been following international developments closely over the last 10 days, appointed the unofficial source of news for his family.

“Who, exactly, cares about civilians?” he said. “The Israelis? Have they ever shown concern for civilian lives in Beirut or Gaza? The Americans? Did they show any in Libya, Afghanistan or Iraq?”

Instead, he suggested the attack was less about strategy, and more about Trump’s ego. “He always wants to swoop in like Superman and do the things he claims no one else can.”

US officials insisted that the strikes were a one-off and that they had achieved their goals in crippling Iran’s nuclear capabilities. Nonetheless, some Iranians feared that the apparent success of the US operation would inspire either Israel or the US to extend its aims and seek to change the regime in Iran – a fight they did not want to be caught up in, whether they support the government or not.

Ava*, a 25-year-old accountant in Tehran, said: “We are angry, scared and frankly disgusted by not only the regime but also each one of you outside Iran who is sitting in the comfort of your homes and calling for US war on us. Who are you to decide for us?”

*Names have been changed.

From 8h ago 19.15 BST Rob Davies Iran’s parliament has voted to shut down the vital Hormuz shipping channel in retaliation against Donald Trump’s attack on the country, prompting fears of a sharp spike in oil prices that could cause a global recession. A barrel of Brent crude was selling for about $77 on Friday, having risen by more than 10% since mid-June when Israel’s attack on Iranian nuclear sites prompted missile strikes from Tehran against Tel Aviv. But Trump’s decision to follow Israel by launching a US attack on Iran has set off a chain of events that analysts warned could drive prices up much further when markets open at 11pm UK time on Sunday. A fifth of the world’s oil consumption flows through the strait of Hormuz, which is a gateway out of the Persian Gulf. The vote, reported by Reuters, is not binding because the final decision rests with Iran’s supreme national security council. But analysts were already predicting an spike of up to $5 before the result of the vote was known. For the full story, click here: Price of oil could spike after Iran’s parliament votes to close key shipping route Read more Share

1h ago 01.30 BST The Israeli military has now said Israeli can leave their shelters after sirens sounded not long ago to warn of an impending Iranian missile attack. So far there have been no reports of direct impact or injuries. Share

2h ago 01.17 BST Israeli aid massacres in Gaza continue as world’s attention turns to Iran Malak A Tantesh Just after midnight on Thursday morning, Abdullah Ahmed left his sleeping wife and children in their small and crowded home in the battered al-Bureij camp in central Gaza and headed north. The 31-year-old vegetable seller had heard that the nearby food distribution site recently opened by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), a secretive Israeli- and US-backed private organisation that began operations in the territory last month, would be handing out food at 2am. To get there early and maximise his chance of grabbing a box of flour, oil, beans and other basics, Ahmed and some friends set out across the dangerous rubble-strewn roads. Just reaching the vicinity of the centre, one of four run by the GHF, was dangerous. “All the time we could hear the sound of shells and stray bullets flying over us. We kept taking cover behind the ruins of houses. Whoever doesn’t take cover is exposed to death,” he said. All last week, every night and most mornings, there were similar scenes across Gaza, as tens of thousands of hungry, desperate people converged on the GHF sites or waited at points where trucks loaded with UN flour were expected. Every day, somewhere in the devastated territory, these gatherings had a similarly lethal conclusion when Israeli forces open fire. The exact toll over the last 12 days is unclear. Medical authorities in Gaza say about 450 have died and thousands more have been injured. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) admit that some have been hurt by their fire but have not admitted any deaths in shootings, which they say are directed at “suspects” who have posed a threat to their forces and only ever follow warning shots. Gaza slides into lethal chaos as desperate Palestinians fight to survive Read more Share

2h ago 01.07 BST The Israeli military says it has detected missiles launched from Iran and warned Israelis to seek shelter. Share

2h ago 00.56 BST Oil prices surged in early trade on Monday, AFP reports, after the US joined Israel’s campaign against Tehran’s atomic programme by bombing Iranian nuclear sites. Brent and the main US crude contract WTI both jumped more than 4% to hit their highest price since January. They then pared gains and at 2335 GMT Sunday Brent was up 2.4Z% up at $78.83 per barrel and WTI was up 2.5% at $75.66. Share

2h ago 00.27 BST Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araqchi arrived in Moscow a few hours ago, Iranian news agencies have reported, where he will discuss “common threats” with President Vladimir Putin. Iran’s Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araqchi arrives in Moscow to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin pic.twitter.com/YQJpSPUjEG — Fars News Agency (@EnglishFars) June 22, 2025 Russia has condemned the US strikes on Iran. Speaking at the UN security council meeting Russia’s UN ambassador Vassily Nebenzia recalled former US secretary of state Colin Powell making the case at the UN security council in 2003 that Iraqi President Saddam Hussein constituted an imminent danger to the world because of the country’s stockpiles of chemical and biological weapons. “Again we’re being asked to believe the US’s fairy tales, to once again inflict suffering on millions of people living in the Middle East. This cements our conviction that history has taught our US colleagues nothing,” he said. Share

3h ago 00.17 BST Air defences have reportedly been activated in Tehran, Iranian news agencies have reported, as the Israeli military claimed it had carried out attacks on “military targets”. Share

3h ago 00.07 BST The US Department of State has issued a worldwide warning regarding “demonstrations against US citizens and interests abroad” after the US strikes on Iran. The body said in a post on X: The conflict between Israel and Iran has resulted in disruptions to travel and periodic closure of airspace across the Middle East. There is the potential for demonstrations against U.S. citizens and interests abroad. The Department of State advises U.S. citizens worldwide to exercise increased caution. Share

3h ago 23.51 BST Eva Corlett New Zealand is sending a C-130J Hercules aircraft to the Middle East as part of efforts to evacuate New Zealand citizens, once airspace reopens. Foreign affairs minister Winston Peters said on Sunday he was “seriously concerned” about the risks to New Zealanders in Iran and Israel. He said: Airspace has been closed since the beginning of the current conflict, and it is highly uncertain when it will reopen. That is why we continue to recommend that New Zealanders do everything they can to leave now if they can find a safe route. Peters said it will not be safe for everyone to leave Iran and Israel and many people will not have access to transport or fuel. He added: If you are in this situation you should shelter in place, follow appropriate advice from local authorities and stay in touch with family and friends where possible. Defence minister Judith Collins said the Hercules aircraft will be on stand-by to assist, and the government is also in discussion with commercial airlines to assess how they can help. She said: Airspace in Israel and Iran remains heavily restricted, which means getting people out by aircraft is not yet possible. But by positioning an aircraft and defence and foreign affairs personnel in the region, we may be able to do more when airspace reopens. The ministers called for diplomacy and dialogue in the region and said it was critical further escalation was avoided. Share

3h ago 23.37 BST UN chief António Guterres warned on Sunday against yet “another cycle of destruction” and retaliation after the US strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities, which he said marked a “perilous turn” in the region, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reports. The secretary-general told an emergency meeting of the UN security council: I have repeatedly condemned any military escalation in the Middle East. The people of the region cannot endure another cycle of destruction. And yet, we now risk descending into a rathole of retaliation after retaliation. Rafael Grossi, director of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), also called for restraint as he voiced fears over “potential widening” of the conflict. He said: We have a window of opportunity to return to dialogue and diplomacy. If that window closes, violence and destruction could reach unthinkable levels and the global non-proliferation regime as we know it could crumble and fall. Share

4h ago 23.26 BST France is to send military A400M aircraft to Israel to fly any of its citizens who wish to leave out to Cyprus, the foreign and defence ministries announced on Sunday, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reports. The flights will be carried out subject to Israel’s clearance and will supplement the chartered civilian flights already operating, the ministries added. France has approximately 250,000 of its citizens in Israel, of whom 100,00 are registered on consular lists. A crisis team at the foreign ministry has received more than 4,500 phone calls over the last week. Earlier on Sunday, 160 French nationals, most of them vulnerable or in urgent situations, were flown back to Paris from Jordan accompanied by a ministry doctor. The ministry said more flights will follow. Share

4h ago 23.11 BST Israeli airline El Al on Sunday said it had received applications to leave the country from approximately 25,000 people in about a day, Reuters reports. Israel’s Airports Authority said rescue flights to the country would expand starting on Monday, with 24 a day from various destinations, although each flight would be limited to 50 passengers. El Al said it would start servicing eight international destinations on Monday after getting the big wave of requests to leave the country. Air France KLM said it has cancelled flights to and from Dubai and Riyadh on Sunday and Monday. Singapore Airlines said it cancelled flights from Singapore to Dubai after a security assessment and British Airways cancelled flights to and from Dubai and Doha. Those cancellations were only for Sunday, but Singapore Airlines said other flights between Singapore and Dubai may be affected as the situation remains “fluid”. Share

4h ago 22.59 BST The Israeli army said on Sunday that it attacked a surface-to-air missile launcher in Tehran in its latest wave of attacks in west Iran and the country’s capital. The army said in a post on X: About 20 IAF fighters recently attacked military targets in Iran under the precise guidance of the Intelligence Directorate, using more than 30 weapons. In addition, a surface-to-air missile launcher was attacked in the heart of Tehran. Share

4h ago 22.49 BST Iran’s ambassador to the UN on Sunday criticised the United States for its strikes on Iranian nuclear sites, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reports. Amir Saeid Iravani told the UN security council: The United States, a permanent member of this Council … has now once again resorted to illegal force, waged a war against my country, under a fabricated and absurd pretext: preventing Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons. View image in fullscreen Iran’s ambassador and permanent representative to the United Nations, Amir Saeid Iravani, attends a meeting of the UN security council at the UN headquarters in New York City, US, on 22 June 2025. Photograph: Eduardo Muñoz/Reuters Share Updated at 22.53 BST

4h ago 22.40 BST Israeli strikes attacked several parts of north-west Iran on Sunday, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reports. The strikes targeted “two locations in the south-western part of Tabriz” city, capital of the East Azerbaijan province, ISNA news agency reported, quoting Majid Farshi, the province’s crisis management authority chief. It was not immediately clear what locations were targeted but Farshi said the air-defence systems had been activated to counter the attack. Share

Iran’s proxy militias across the Middle East have yet to retaliate for the overnight strikes against the Islamic Republic and are sending mixed signals about their willingness to strike US targets – or even Israel – in the coming days.

The apparent reluctance or inability of such groups to come to Iran’s aid will limit Tehran’s options if decision-makers there opt to escalate the conflict with the US.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards warned the US on Sunday in a statement carried by state TV to “expect regrettable responses” to its strikes on the country’s nuclear sites.

Iran, it said, would “use options beyond the understanding … of the aggressor front” and would continue to target Israel, which has been hit by multiple waves of missile and drone attacks since it struck Iran on 13 June.

On Friday, a new wave of Iranian missiles launched in a first response to the US strikes hit sites in central Israel, injuring at least 10 people, according to Israeli rescue services.

The strongest statement in support of Tehran from the militant groups that make up its coalition of proxies across the Middle East – the so-called “axis of resistance” – has come from the political bureau of the Houthi movement in Yemen.

The Iran-backed group called on Muslim countries to join “the jihad and resistance option as one front against the Zionist-American arrogance”, saying it was ready to target US ships and warships in the Red Sea.

The Houthis have already fought American forces in recent months, after the US president, Donald Trump, launched an air offensive against the group following months of attacks on shipping in the Red Sea and against Israel. A ceasefire was agreed in May.

“The Houthis still retain enough capability to do what they like doing. If they want to hit US vessels in the Red Sea, they still have that capability. They are a wild card and the Iranians don’t spend a lot of time trying to restrain them,” said Michael Knights, an expert in Iranian proxies at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.

There is, however, little evidence that Iran-aligned and supported groups in Iraq, which have struck US targets in the past, were planning imminent action.

Such groups could do considerable damage to US bases in Iraq, Syria, Kuwait and Jordan if mobilised, and have been attacked by the US in the past but are likely to be deterred by the potentially high cost of launching new strikes against US targets.

“They could do some damage but the US understand these targets and would find them pretty fast,” said Knights.

One Tehran-backed Shia militia in Iraq, Kata’ib Hezbollah, threatened to attack “US interests” in the Middle East in response to a military intervention by Washington. One of its commanders, Abu Ali al-Askari, was quoted on CNN as saying that US bases in the region would “become akin to duck-hunting grounds”.

However, the group suffered heavy losses in US airstrikes after killing three US soldiers at a base in Jordan last year and may not follow through on its rhetoric.

Hezbollah, the powerful Islamist militant militia based in Lebanon that has long been supported by Tehran, has made no official statement, with its officials briefing journalists in the region that it would stay out of any new clash between Iran and the US.

Hezbollah, the keystone of Iran’s axis of resistance, was very significantly weakened by Israel’s air offensive and ground invasion of Lebanon last year. Its entire leadership was killed and large stocks of missiles, intended to deter Israel from attacking Iran’s nuclear programme, were destroyed.

Hamas, another member of the coalition of militant groups built up by Tehran over recent decades, is in no position at present to threaten the US or Israel, analysts said.

Links between the proxies and Tehran have been further weakened in the last week after assassinations conducted by Israel.

Several senior officials in the Revolutionary Guards killed in airstrikes were involved in running the coalition of militant groups, including Behnam Shahriyari, who Israeli military officials said was in charge of equipping proxy forces with weapons including ballistic missiles.

Shahriyari was killed while driving in western Iran on Friday, Israel’s military said.

The US has about 20 bases in the Middle East and tens of thousands of troops. It also has an extensive diplomatic presence, which could be targeted.

The US defence secretary, Pete Hegseth, said military generals had elevated protection measures across the region, especially in Iraq, Syria, and the Gulf.

“Our forces remain on high alert and are fully postured to respond to any Iranian retaliation or proxy attacks, which would be an incredibly poor choice,” Hegseth told reporters at a press conference on Sunday.

Underlining the threat, a Middle East-based maritime centre overseen by the US. military warned on Sunday that there was a “high” risk to US-associated ships after the American strikes.

“The threat to US-associated commercial shipping in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden is currently assessed as HIGH,” the Joint Maritime Information Center wrote in an advisory to shippers.

Other means of retaliation available to Tehran may take longer to mobilise. In previous decades, Iran has used massive bomb attacks against US troops in Lebanon or against Jewish and Israeli targets as far away as Argentina.

Last week, the FBI intensified investigation and monitoring of “sleeper cells” linked to Hezbollah in the US.

One of the leaders of Belarus’s opposition movement, Syarhei Tsikhanouski, has been released from jail after being pardoned after almost five years behind bars.

His wife, the exiled politician Svetlana Tsikhanouskaya, who took over the opposition cause after his jailing, on Saturday shared a video of him smiling and embracing her after his release.

My husband Siarhei is free! It’s hard to describe the joy in my heart.

Thank you, 🇺🇸 @POTUS, @SPE_Kellogg, @JohnPCoale, DAS Christopher W. Smith, @StateDept & our 🇪🇺 allies, for all your efforts.

We’re not done. 1150 political prisoners remain behind bars. All must be released. pic.twitter.com/MhngqBHFq3 — Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya (@Tsihanouskaya) June 21, 2025

The surprise move came hours after Donald Trump’s special envoy Keith Kellogg visited Minsk and met the authoritarian Belarusian leader, Alexander Lukashenko, in the highest-level contact between Washington and the Belarusian government since the brutal post-election crackdown in 2020.

In total, 14 Belarusian political prisoners were released on Saturday, the Nasha Niva newspaper said.

Tsikhanouski, a former blogger who galvanised anti-Lukashenko sentiment before the rigged 2020 presidential election, was arrested shortly after announcing his candidacy.

He was later sentenced to 18 years in what was widely seen as a politically motivated case of “inciting hatred and social unrest”.

His wife ran in his place and emerged as the leading opposition challenger before fleeing amid a sweeping crackdown to Lithuania, where she has since led efforts to resist the Lukashenko regime.

View image in fullscreen Svetlana Tsikhanouskaya took over the opposition cause after her husband’s jailing. Photograph: Olivier Hoslet/EPA

“My husband … is free! It’s hard to describe the joy in my heart,” Tsikhanouskaya wrote on X.

Tsikhanouskaya published a video clip showing her embracing her husband.

She thanked Trump and Keith Kellogg and “all European allies” for their efforts to get her husband released. “We’re not done. 1150 political prisoners remain behind bars. All must be released,” she added.

In the summer of 2020, Belarus had its largest protest to date, with more than 200,000 citizens flooding on to the streets to demonstrate the widely disputed president elections in which Lukashenko claimed to have secured 80% of the vote.

The violent crackdown by Lukashenko’s security forces turned him into even more of a pariah in the west, pushing him closer to Moscow and in effect transforming Belarus into a vassal state of Russia – an alliance that proved crucial for Vladimir Putin when the country became a launch point for his full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

But in the last year, Lukashenko’s regime has granted pardons to more than 250 political prisoners, a move some view as an attempt by him to ease Belarus’s international isolation.

Several high-profile political prisoners remain behind bars, including Maria Kolesnikova and Viktor Babariko.

In January, Lukashenko secured a seventh five-year term as Belarusian president in a resounding election victory that western governments have rejected as a sham.