The president of Iran has dismissed US threats to strike its energy sites as an act of "desperation", adding that "threats and terror only strengthen our unity."
On Saturday, Donald Trump threatened to "obliterate" Iranian power plants if the Strait of Hormuz - a vital waterway for oil shipping - was not opened within 48 hours.
Today, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian took to X, where he wrote: "The illusion of erasing Iran from the map shows desperation against the will of a history-making nation.
"Threats and terror only strengthen our unity. The Strait of Hormuz is open to all except those who violate our soil. We firmly confront delirious threats on the battlefield."
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi also wrote on X that the "Strait of Hormuz is not closed", adding: "Ships hesitate because insurers fear the war of choice you [the US and Israel] initiated - not Iran... no insurer - and no Iranian - will be swayed by more threats."
This afternoon, Iranian news outlets reported that US strikes were being activated upon its capital Tehran.
Elsewhere, Israel's health ministry stated that a total of 180 people were injured from Iranian missile strikes on two southern Israeli towns last night, both of which are situated near a nuclear facility.
The ministry reports 116 people were injured in Arad and a further 64 in Dimona, following ballistic missile strikes on Saturday night.
Meanwhile, Britain is ready to defend itself against a potential missile attack by Iran on London, a Cabinet minister has said.
Communities Secretary Steve Reed insisted the UK’s armed forces have the capabilities to protect the capital and other parts of the country from such a threat.
He was speaking on Sky News’ Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips after Tehran fired two ballistic missiles towards the UK-US military base on Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean, a distance of more than 2,300 miles, raising concerns about the potential reach of Iran’s arsenal.
Mr Phillips opened the programme by saying: “It’s not yet clear if Iran’s missiles can hit the Palace of Westminster, nobody here really wants to find out.”
He then asked Mr Reed, the MP for Streatham and Croydon North, whether Iran could strike UK cities and if that should alter Britain’s stance on the conflict.
The Cabinet minister replied: “You wouldn’t expect me to comment on Iran’s specific capabilities.”
But he added: “We have systems and defences in place that keep the United Kingdom safe and that will continue to happen.”
However, Israel seized on the Diego Garcia attack to argue that European cities some 2,500 miles from Iran were now at risk from the Tehran regime.
“The Iranian terrorist regime poses a global threat,” the Israeli Defence Forces said.
“Now, with missiles that can reach London, Paris or Berlin.”
British former military officers have also raised concerns over how prepared the UK is to defend against an Iranian missile strike, if the threat is genuine.
Defence scientists, though, say that if Tehran can fire missiles to reach European cities their explosive payload would have to be so small to keep down the weight of the projectiles that they would cause limited damage on impact.
With Donald Trump’s war now in its fourth week, Mr Reed insisted that Britain would not be dragged further into the conflict despite senior former military chiefs saying this was already happening.
The UK has now allowed RAF bases, including Diego Garcia and Fairford in Gloucestershire, to be used by US bombers for airstrikes to re-open the Strait of Hormuz.
The Cabinet minister compared the Government’s stance on the conflict, which has angered Trump, to that of then Prime Minister Harold Wilson in the 1960s over the Vietnam War.
Mr Reed stressed that the Government wanted to de-escalate the conflict to limit its economic impact on millions of people in the UK now facing higher bills and rising petrol prices.
The exchange comes amid growing scrutiny of Iran’s missile capabilities following the attempted strike on Diego Garcia, which lies around 2,300 miles from Iranian territory.
While US officials indicated one missile was intercepted and another failed in flight, the reported range has prompted questions among defence analysts about whether parts of Europe could eventually fall within reach.
Experts have previously warned that any long-range missile threat to the UK would likely be met through a combination of British and allied defence systems, with the UK closely integrated into NATO’s wider air and missile defence network.
Britain’s own air defence capabilities are more limited compared with some allies, relying on systems such as Sky Sabre, as well as RAF assets and intelligence-sharing arrangements with the United States and other partners.
The Government has not publicly detailed how it would respond to a direct long-range missile threat to the UK, but ministers have repeatedly stressed that national security is under constant review as global tensions evolve.
