US and Iran strikes: What has happened and why?
What has happened in the strikes between the US and Iran, and how is the UK involved?
Iran will not negotiate with Donald Trump to end the conflict, a Tehran official has said as strikes have continued into a third day in the Middle East.
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US President Trump ordered strikes from Saturday and later called for a wholescale regime change after the death of supreme leader Ayatollah Khamenei.
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The UK is now heavily involved as, on Monday, RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus was hit by a drone as Sir Keir Starmer gave the US permission to launch military strikes against Iran from British bases.
Meanwhile, at least 31 people have died in Israeli strikes in Lebanon, on Beirut’s Hezbollah-controlled southern suburbs.
Here is how the situation has developed so far.
What has happened in the strikes between the US and Iran, and how is the UK involved?
What is the background?
Iran has had an anti-US stance since its 1979 revolution and has also been hostile towards Israel, which it does not think has the right to exist.
Tehran has been researching nuclear development and, as a result, has stoked tensions with the US, and the Trump administration has reimposed sanctions that his predecessor Barack Obama had sought to reduce. These sanctions have severely hit the Iranian economy and also led US allies to stop their trade out of fear of Washington DC retaliation.
As well as the continued Hamas-Israel crisis, tensions were further stoked at the turn of the year with massive protests held in Iran and beyond against the supreme leader Ayatollah Khamenei, and Iranian governance. These attacks were suppressed and thousands were killed.
Towards the end of January, the US and western allies demanded the end of uranium enrichment, a precursor to making nuclear weapons, strict limits on its ballistic missile programme, and an end to its support for military groups Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis.
With neither side backing down, American troops mobilised in the Middle East, ahead of the first strikes on February 28.
What has happened so far?
Israel and the United States launched coordinated strikes on Iran on Saturday morning and, within hours, Iran retaliated with strikes on Israeli cities Tel Aviv and Haifa, as well as US airbases across the Middle East.
By the end of the first day, Iranian state media had confirmed its supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei had been killed, hours after Donald Trump boasted on Truth Social that “one of the most evil men in history” had died.
In his latest interview with Fox, Mr Trump said: “It’s moving along. It’s moving along rapidly. This has been this way for 47 years.
“Nobody can believe the success we’re having, 48 leaders are gone in one shot.”
While the US has stepped up its efforts, Iran has targeted strikes towards bases on Israel, UAE, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia as well as a UK airstrip in Cyprus.
How is the UK involved?
RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus was hit by a drone strike on Monday, hours after Sir Keir Starmer announced American forces would be allowed to use British bases to strike Iranian missile sites.
A Ministry of Defence spokesman said: “The safety of our personnel and their families is our absolute priority.
“As a precautionary measure we are moving family members who live at RAF Akrotiri to alternative accommodation nearby on the island of Cyprus.”
Meanwhile, officials are understood to be working on plans for the potential evacuation of more than 100,000 Britons from the Middle East.
Around 300,000 Britons are believed to be in countries targeted by Iran, with 102,000 registered with the Foreign Office for updates as officials examine all options, including a potential mass evacuation. A number of routine flights to the region have been cancelled.
Mr Trump said he was “very disappointed” in Sir Keir for initially refusing to allow the use of the UK-US Diego Garcia base to target Iran, saying it “took far too long” for the prime minister to change his mind on Sunday.
What are Iran’s nuclear capabilities - and what could happen next?
Iran does not have a nuclear weapon but has been engaged in research for decades and is considered by the US and its Middle Eastern allies to be a threat within the region.
While Iran has had a nuclear power programme, its officials have said it does not intend to store weapons to be an aggressor but has also considered them as a way of defence.
It signed a commitment in 2015 with the US which would see its weaponry capabilities restricted in return for a lifting of sanctions, although the Trump administration U-turned on this in 2018.