Iran accuses US of 'waging war' under 'absurd pretext' after strikes on nuclear sites
Update:
Date: 22:55 BST
Title: World should thank Trump, Israeli representative at UN says
Content: Following the comments from the Iranian representative at the UN Security Council, we heard from Israel's Danny Denon - who says the world should be thanking Donald Trump.
"The entire world should say on record here today thank you," Danny Danon says. "Thank you to Donald Trump for acting when so many hesitated."
He says that some at the UN have "denounced" the US and Israel, but queries "where were you when Iran enriched uranium far beyond the point of civilian usage, when it built a fortress beneath a mountain to prepare for our extermination?"
He says that it cannot be ignored that "diplomacy was tried" but says Iran "turned negotiation into theatre" and used it as "camouflage" to buy time to build missiles and enrich uranium.
Danon continues, saying that Iran negotiated agreements "it never intended to keep".
"The free world gave it every chance," he says, and that the cost of inaction would have been "a death sentence".
Update:
Date: 22:54 BST
Title: US 'waged a war under absurd pretext' - Iranian representative at UN
Content: Iran's ambassador and permanent representative to the United Nations, Amir Saeid Iravani
Iran's representative to the UN Security Council has accused the US of having "waged a war" against Iran "under a fabricated and absurd pretext".
Amir Saeid Iravani says Iran reserves the right "to defend itself" against "blatant US aggression" before adding that the timing, nature and scale of "Iran's proportionate response" will be decided by its armed forces.
In a lengthy statement, Iravani also accuses Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of pulling America into "another costly, baseless war" and says the actions by the US and Israel are a "flagrant breach of international law".
The Iranian representative says Israel has promoted the "deceitful and false narrative" his country was "on the cusp of acquiring a nuclear weapon".
He continues: "The silence, double standards, and complicity of international organisations and some Western countries, including France and the UK, are equally reprehensible."
Amir Saeid Iravani ends his address by calling on the council to hold the US and Israel "fully accountable".
Update:
Date: 22:52 BST
Title: A day after strikes, Iran accuses US of 'waging war' under 'absurd pretext'
Content: A satellite image shows damage at the Isfahan nuclear site after US airstrikes
Welcome back to our continuing coverage of the conflict in the Middle East.
It's been almost 24 hours since the United States carried out strikes on three of Iran's nuclear sites - Fordo, Natanz and Isfahan.
On Sunday, in comments at the UN Security Council in New York, Iran accused the US of "waging war" "under an absurd pretext".
At the same time, US President Donald Trump hinted at regime change in Iran - despite the US, and Israel, saying the aim of their strikes was to stop Iran getting a nuclear weapon.
We'll bring you the latest developments over the course of the day, so stay with us. In the meantime, if you need a recap of the past 48 hours, you can get it in our previous page.
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On Saturday, stealth pilots pummelled Iran's nuclear programme with 14 GBU-57 bombs, each weighing 30,000lbs, while a US submarine launched a further two dozen Tomahawk missiles. In a televised address to the US a few hours later, Mr Trump said the strikes had 'completely and totally obliterated' three of Iran's nuclear sites – and warned of worse to come. 'This cannot continue. There will be either peace or there will be tragedy for Iran far greater than we have witnessed over the last eight days,' he added. The full extent of the damage inside Fordow remains unclear. At a news conference on Sunday, Gen Dan Caine, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said: 'Final battle damage will take some time, but initial battle damage assessments indicate that all three sites sustained extremely severe damage and destruction.' 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