Israel says strikes hit centrifuge, missile sites in Tehran

Tabriz missile base

Storage buildings at Tabriz missile base

Tunnel opening at Tabriz missile base

Vehicle tunnel openings at Tabriz missile base

Storage buildings at Tabriz missile base

Aircraft at Mashhad airport

US President Donald Trump is considering joining Israel's attacks on Iranian nuclear facilities, CBS News reported citing US officials

Among the potential targets is the underground Fordow nuclear site, CBS cited sources including a senior intelligence official and a Department of Defense official as saying.

Here's a brief summary of major developments as the conflict entered its fifth day.

Trump's remarks on a US role

• Trump said the US and Israel had total control of Iran's skies.
• Trump called for Iran's unconditional surrender.
• Trump said the US knows where Iran's Supreme Leader is hiding but would not kill him for now.
• Trump said the US does not want missiles shot at civilians or US troops.
• Trump said the US patience was wearing thin.

Israel steps up attacks

• Israel ordered a Tehran district home to hundreds of thousands of people to evacuate.
• A huge explosion sent a mushroom cloud rising over eastern Tehran after Israeli airstrikes targeted the IRGC-affiliated Imam Hossein University as well as Khojir missile production complex.
• Multiple missile sites were struck in Isfahan, Israel said.
• Explosions and air defense activity were reported in Tehran, Karaj and Shiraz.
• Israel's military said 60 Israeli Air Force jets launched a major wave of strikes targeting Iranian missile launchers in the heart of Iran.
• Israeli attacks have so far killed 585 people and injured 1,326 in Iran, the human rights group HRANA reported.

Military ramp-up

• US warplanes departed a military base in England on Tuesday, the BBC reported.
• The United States is deploying additional fighter aircraft to the Middle East, Reuters reported.
• The US buildup includes F-22, F-16, and F-35 jets, one official said.
• Abdolrahim Mousavi, Chief of Staff of Iran’s Armed Forces called for the evacuation of Haifa and Tel Aviv after Israeli evacuation warnings for Tehran.
• The Islamic Revolutionary Guards' Aerospace Force targeted Israeli air bases.

Leaders weigh in

• French President Emmanuel Macron said any push to overthrow Iran’s government would bring chaos to the region.
• British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said he hoped for a de-escalation.
• Germany’s Chancellor Friedrich Merz praised Israel and said the outcome of the crisis was up to Tehran.
• Iran’s exiled crown prince Reza Pahlavi, an opposition leader, urged a nationwide uprising.

US warplanes left a military base in Eastern England on Tuesday according to a series of photographs cited by the BBC, which said the group of aircraft included an aerial refueling tanker.

The United States has said it is deploying more military assets to the Middle East to boost its defensive stance as the Iran-Israel conflict intensifies.

US President Donald Trump had left the summit early to address the crisis but not before signing off to a relatively diplomatic joint statement that backed Israel's right to self-defense and criticized Iran but mooted a resolution.

"We urge that the resolution of the Iranian crisis leads to a broader de-escalation of hostilities in the Middle East," the wealthy democracies said.

But Trump ratcheted up his rhetoric on Tuesday, noting "we" - Israel and the United States - had gained control of Iran's air space, suggesting Iran's Supreme Leader could be easily killed and demanding "unconditional surrender" in social media posts.

French President Emmanuel Macron warned harshly against seeking to topple Tehran's ruling theocratic system by first, citing cautionary tales in recent Mideast history.

"The biggest error would be to use military strikes to change the regime because it would then be chaos,” Macron said.

“Does anyone think that what was done in Iraq in 2003 was a good idea? Does anyone think that what was done in Libya the next decade was a good idea? No!” he added.

“We don’t want Iran to get a nuclear weapon. But our responsibility is to return discussions as quickly as possible.”

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer pushed back against suggestions that US President Donald Trump is planning imminent military intervention in Iran, following Trump’s calls on Monday for the evacuation of Tehran’s 10 million residents and his late-night convening of the US National Security Council in the White House Situation Room.

“There is nothing the president said that suggests he’s about to get involved in this conflict,” Starmer told reporters, adding that there was “no doubt in my mind” based on his dinner discussion with Trump on Monday that he sought de-escalation.

"I'm no supporter of the regime in Iran," told the BBC. Asked if he would support a popular uprising, the prime minister demurred.

"Look, it's not for me as the UK prime minister to start, you know, encouraging people in relation to what they might do at home. My absolute focus is on the need to deescalate this."

Germany’s Chancellor Friedrich Merz offered a more hedged view, praising Israel for doing "the dirty work" by confronting Iran, also a Western foe.

Israel, he added, likely could not destroy Iran’s fortified nuclear facility at Fordow without US firepower. “The Israeli army is obviously unable to accomplish that. It lacks the necessary weapons. But the Americans have them,” Merz told broadcaster ZDF.

On the possibility of the United States joining the fight, Merz said, “we have talked about this.” That decision, he added, depends on whether the Iranian regime “is prepared to return” to the negotiating table.