Iran says it is 'co-ordinating with Russia', warns US should expect 'heavy consequences' and declares 'we will end this war' after Trump suggests Tehran regime change and fears grow UK and allies face terror backlash: Live updates

By ELENA SALVONI

Published: 07:54 BST, 23 June 2025 | Updated: 08:26 BST, 23 June 2025

Iran has warned that the United States should expect ‘heavy consequences’ for striking its nuclear sites, issuing a threat that its entry into the conflict with Israel will ‘expand the scope of legitimate targets’.

‘Mr. Trump, the gambler, you may start this war, but we will be the ones to end it,’ Iran’s military command spokesperson Ebrahim Zolfaqari said in a recorded statement today.

Trump declared last night that ‘monumental damage’ has been done ‘to all nuclear sites in Iran’ as he suggested a regime change could take place in the Islamic country.

The US president wrote on his Truth Social page that satellite images he obtained showed the Iranian nuclear facilities were ‘obliterated,’ and noted that the most damage ‘took place far below ground level.’

‘Why wouldn’t there be a regime change,’ Trump went on to question – even though he and UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer had earlier urged Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei to ‘return to the negotiating table as soon as possible.’

The two world leaders made the urgent request just one day after the US sent a fleet of B-2 bombers to take out three Iranian enrichment sites.

The ‘bunker buster’ raid from Trump stunned the world and led the United Nations to hold an emergency meeting on Sunday afternoon, where officials said the US crippled Iran’s crucial enrichment sites.

In response, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi warned that his country will ‘have to respond’ to Trump’s aggression, and said it was co-ordinating with Russia ahead of a meeting with Vladimir Putin today.

Live updates below

PICTURED: B-2 stealth bomber returns after US hit key nuclear sites in Iran

UK foreign secretary warns ‘this is a moment of peril’

The UK’s foreign secretary David Lammy this morning warned that it would be a catastrophic error for Iran to escalate its response following the US bombing of its nuclear sites.

‘Let’s calm this thing down,’ Lammy said on BBC Breakfast.

‘Clearly this is a moment of peril,’ he went ot.

‘I’m an optimist – of course this is a stressful time – but I still believe diplomacy must and can prevail.’

Iranian foreign minister to meet Putin as Russia accuses US of ‘opening Pandora’s box’

Russian President Vladimir Putin will meet Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi in Moscow today, the Interfax news agency said, citing Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov.

Araqchi earlier said that Tehran is coordinating with Russia regarding the current escalation.

The two men are set to discuss ‘common threats’ during their meeting, Iran’s IRNA news agency reports.

It comes after Russia’s UN Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia argued at an emergency meeting on Sunday that the United States’ airstrikes on Iranian nuclear facilities ‘has opened Pandora’s box.’

‘No one knows what new catastrophes and suffering it will bring,’ Nebenzia said.

Iranian media say up to 50,000 US soldiers could die after nuclear bombings

Iranian state media have ramped up calls for attacks on US bases in the Middle East, with one declaring 50,000 US soldiers could be brought back to Washington in ‘coffins’.

According to Al Jazeera, state television’s Channel 3 showed a map of all US bases across the region highlighting facilities in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain and Iraq. All are believed to be in range of Iranian missiles.

In quotes translated by Al Jazeera, the channel’s anchor Mehdi Khanalizadeh is purported to have said:

It is now clearer than ever, not just for the Iranian nation but for the whole peoples of the region, that all US citizens and military personnel are legitimate targets.

We were negotiating and progressing through a diplomatic path, but you chose to spill the blood of your soldiers. The US president in the Oval Office chose to take delivery of the coffins of up to 50,000 US soldiers in Washington.

While Hossein Shariatmadari, the editor of the hardline Keyhan daily newspaper, wrote: ‘It is now our turn to immediately rain missiles down on the US naval force in Bahrain as a first measure.’

Welcome to MailOnline’s live blog

Good morning. Follow along here for the key updates after US strikes on Iranian nuclear sites over the weekend.

Iran’s military has warned the US of ‘heavy consequences’ for entering its conflict with Israel, saying it has now expanded the scope of legitimate targets.
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said ‘the punishment continues’ against Israel, as Tehran launched new missile strikes on the country overnight.
US President Donald Trump raised the prospect of ‘regime change’ in Iran.
Iran’s foreign minister said the country is ]’co-ordinating with Russia’ as he is set to visit Moscow today.
Trump said strikes on caused ‘monumental damage’ to ‘all nuclear sites in Iran’.
The UN’s nuclear watchdog could not immediately verify the exact level of damage.