Trump sensationally calls for Iranian regime change as he holds crisis talks with UK prime minister: Live updates

By MELISSA KOENIG FOR DAILYMAIL.COM

Published: 22:29 BST, 22 June 2025 | Updated: 23:01 BST, 22 June 2025

President Donald Trump sensationally called for a regime change in Iran as he held crisis talks with UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Sunday.

The US president took to his Truth Social page to share updates about the country’s military attacks on Iran, when he suggested that the current regime ‘is unable to MAKE IRAN GREAT AGAIN.’

‘Why wouldn’t there be a regime change,’ Trump asked, rhetorically – even as he and Starmer urged Ayatollah Khameini to ‘return to the negotiating table as soon as possible.’

They made the urgent request after the US sent a fleet of B-2 bombers to ‘obliterate’ three Iranian enrichment sites on Saturday night.

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 the nation ‘have to respond’ to Trump’s aggression, and the US terror threat was ominously raised in anticipation of a tit-for-tat strike.

Earlier Sunday, Trump taunted Iran as he said his actions took ‘the bomb right out of their hands’, and praised the overnight strikes as a ‘spectacular military success.’

The president spoke out as reports emerged that he attempted to arrange peace talks with Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in Turkey a week before his strikes, but he was snubbed.

Trump even offered to fly to Turkey personally for face-to-face talks, but expressed frustration with Iran before he ultimately decided to launch on Saturday night.

As US officials caution Iran that any attack on US targets would draw an unprecedented response, Tehran has begun preparing to close the Strait of Hormuz in a move that would throw global oil and gas markets into chaos.

Breaking:Trump calls for regime change in Iran

President Donald Trump has called for a regime change in Iran.

‘It’s not politically correct to use the term, “Regime Change,” but if the current Iranian Regime is unable to MAKE IRAN GREAT AGAIN, why wouldn’t there be a Regime change???’ he asked rhetorically on his Truth Social page.

But the message came after he and UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer discussed the need for Iran to return to the negotiating table as soon as possible’, according to Downing Street.

B-2 bombers designed for pilot comfort

The B-2 bomber planes that struck the Fordow nuclear site in Iran on Saturday are typically equipped with toilets, microwaves and a cooler for snacks to make long-haul trips to the Middle East more comfortable for the pilots.

Each jet costs more than $2 billion and the United States Air Force currently has a fleet of 19 — after losing one in a crash in 2008.

Iran’s UN ambassador slams US involvement

Iran’s ambassador to the United Nations, Amir Saeid Iravani, said US intervention and the Israeli strikes on his country are ‘a clear and flagrant breach of international law.’

He declared that the United States ‘has once more recklessly chosen to sacrifice its own security merely to safeguard Netanyahu,’ referring to the Israeli prime minister.

‘What conclusion can be drawn from this situation?’ Iravani asked his fellow diplomats.

‘From the perspective of Western countries, Iran must “return to the negotiating table,”‘ he said, apparently referencing US President Donald Trump and UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s meeting earlier in the day.

But, he argued, ‘How can Iran return to something it never left

Iran's Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the United Nations Amir Saeid Iravani addresses delegates during a meeting of the United Nations Security Council, following U.S attack on Iran's nuclear sites, at UN headquarters in New York City, U.S., June 22, 2025. REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz

Tehran governor updates death toll

The governor of the province of Iran announced on Sunday that 200 residents have been killed in Israeli strikes since June 13, including at least 39 women and 12 children.

More than 800 others had been hospitalized for injuries, Mohammad Sadegh Motamedian said, according to the Mehr news agency, which is affiliated with the Iranian government.

Infrastructure for the delivery of electricity, gas and water has also been hit, he claimed.

Iranian ambassador says US destroyed diplomacy

Iran’s UN ambassador, Amir Saeid Iravani, declared that the United States ‘decided to destroy diplomacy’ with its strikes on the country’s nuclear program.

He added that the Iranian military will decide the ‘timing, nature and scale of Iran’s proportionate response,’ at an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council, according to the Associated Press.

‘We will take all measures necessary,’ Iravani warned.

United Nations nuclear watchdog gives assessment on effectiveness of US strikes

Rafael Grossi, the chief of the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), said at an emergency security meeting on Sunday that the US strikes on Iran caused significant damage.

He said at the critical underground enrichment site in Fordow, ‘craters are visible’ at the facility, which ‘indicates the use of ground-penetrating munitions.’

‘This is consistent with statements from the United States,’ Grossi said.

In Isfahan, he said that ‘additional buildings were hit overnight, with the US confirming their use of cruise missiles. Affected buildings include some related to uranium conversion process.’

‘Entrances to tunnels used for the storage of enriched material appear to have been hit,’ he added.

In Natanz, the ‘fuel enrichment plant has been hit again with the US confirming that it used ground-penetrating munitions.’

He said while there was signfiicant damage, it is too early for the IAEA to fully assess the extent of the destruction.

Grossi concluded that the UN has not yet been able to verify Iran’s claims that there has been no increase in off-site radiation levels at the sites where the US struck.

Demonstrators rally outside the White House

epa12191689 Protestors voice their opposition to US President Donald Trump's decision to bomb three nuclear sites in Iran, outside the White House in Washington, DC, USA, 22 June 2025. Chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Dan Caine said the bombing has inflicted 'extremely severe damage' to the sites. EPA/JIM LO SCALZO

epa12191687 Protestors voice their opposition to US President Donald Trump's decision to bomb three nuclear sites in Iran, outside the White House in Washington, DC, USA, 22 June 2025. Chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Dan Caine said the bombing has inflicted 'extremely severe damage' to the sites. EPA/JIM LO SCALZO

Israel lights Parliament in US flag colors in tribute to Trump

Israel paid tribute to President Trump on Sunday by lighting its parliament building in the colors of the US flag.

The move came as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu thanked President Trump for his help taking out key Iranian nuclear sites.

Netanyahu said in a news briefing on Sunday that Trump’s strikes overnight ‘inflicted major damage on Fordo’ – a crucial underground enrichment facility in Iran.

NYC mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani slams Trump for bringing a ‘dark new chapter’

New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani slammed President Trump’s strikes on Iran as he said the military action brings a ‘dark new chapter’ for America.

Mamdani, a fervent critic of Israel, branded Trump’s strikes ‘unconstitutional’ and said the president contradicted his campaign promises.

‘Donald Trump ran for president promising to end wars, not start new ones,’ he said on X.

‘Today’s unconstitutional military action represents a dark, new chapter in his endless betrayals that now threaten to plunge the world deeper into chaos.

‘In a city as global as ours, the impacts of war are felt deeply here at home.’

NEW YORK, NEW YORK - JUNE 21: New York City mayoral election, candidate Zohran Mamdani attends a campaign rally, calling for the full enforcement of the city's Sanctuary City laws, June 21, 2025, in Diversity Square in the Jackson Heights neighborhood of the borough of Queens, New York City. (Photo by Andrew Lichtenstein/Corbis via Getty Images)

Trump holds crisis talks with UK Prime Minister Kier Starmer

President Trump held crisis talks with his British counterpart Kier Starmer on Sunday afternoon.

Downing Street said the two leaders ‘discussed the need for Iran to return to the negotiating table as soon as possible’, after Trump stunned the world by striking three Iranian nuclear sites overnight.

Damage to Iranian nuclear sites is ‘monumental:’ Trump

President Donald Trump declared on Sunday that the damage to Iranian nuclear sites ‘is said to be monumnetal.’

‘The hits were hard and accurate,’ Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.

‘Great skill was shown by our military,’ he added.

B-2 pilots return to US

President Donald Trump announced on Sunday that the B-2 pilots who bombed Iran’s nuclear facilities have officially returned to the United States.

They landed safely in Missouri, the president wrote in a Truth Social post in which he apparently misspelled his name before quickly editing it.

‘Thank you for a job well done!!!’ the president wrote to the pilots.

US doubles number of evacuation flights as it orders

The US State Department doubled the number of emergency evacuation flights it is providing for American citizens wishing to leave Israel. It also ordered the departure of nonessential staff from the U.S. Embassy in Lebanon and is stepping up travel warnings around the Middle East amid concerns Iran will retaliate against U.S. interests in the region.

In a notice on Sunday, the department said it had ordered nonessential personnel and the families of staff at the U.S. Embassy in Beirut to leave Lebanon ‘due to the volatile and unpredictable security situation in the region.’