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BBC News
18-06-2025
- Politics
- BBC News
Your questions answered on the Israel-Iran war
Israel is pressing its bombing campaign against Iranian cities and nuclear sites as US President Donald Trump demands "total surrender" from Tehran and considers entering the experts and correspondents answer your questions about what is happening - and what could happen if the conflict escalates. Why is Israel bombing Iran now? Israel's position on this is that it has no choice, that it believes in the last few months Iran was accelerating towards building a nuclear weapon, and that talks aimed at curbing Iran's nuclear programme were going nowhere, and that therefore this was the last have said they see an existential threat from Iran, and have argued that if Iran acquired a nuclear weapon it would use it because it has previously vowed to destroy the state of Iran was close to building a nuclear weapon is not necessarily a view shared by the rest of the region, and it is not necessarily shared by the International Atomic Energy Agency, nor is it shared by the last open source report we have seen from US intelligence which did not say that Iran was about to produce a nuclear weapon.- Frank Gardener, security correspondent Where can civilians in Iran go? The Israel Defense Forces has issued some evacuation notices for certain parts of the capital Tehran, but these areas are extremely dense and highly seen footage of huge traffic jams as enormous lines of cars try to escape Tehran towards the northern part of the country, which they consider there have been strikes on those areas as well. Because the targets have been so widespread by Israel, no area can be considered Tehran, the government announced they were opening the metro stations 24 hours a day so people can take has 10 million people, so you can imagine evacuating that number of people is not really possible.- Nafiseh Kohnavard, Middle East correspondent If US enters the war, would Iran strike US targets? There is certainly risk, and the consequences for the US are fairly are about 40,000 to 50,000 US troops at around 19 locations across the Middle East. There are US personnel based in Cyprus, and a US naval facility in Bahrain. It will all depend on how the US decides to get involved, and to what extent.- Mikey Kay, Security Brief host Could Iran's proxies support it in conflict with Israel? I don't think so - not any Hamas attacked Israel on 7 October, 2023, Israel has systematically taken down a lot of the first line of defence that Iran have depleted Hamas in Gaza, they have largely depleted Hezbollah's arsenal in Lebanon, and Syria is no longer an ally of Iran because Bashar al-Assad has been deposed, albeit not by Houthis meanwhile are relatively constrained in Yemen. So they are not very well coordinated.- Frank Gardener, security correspondent Who is Iran's leader and how much support does he have? Iran's supreme leader is Ali Khamenei. He is a religious figure, but he has much more power than Iran's is the commander-in-chief of the armed forces and is a decision-maker for the country, including negotiations with the he does not command the support of all of Iran - his people are divided, and that division is witnessed huge protests against the regime only two years ago. Women participated in those protests, demanding their rights and we cannot ignore that this regime still has its supporters - including in the armed forces which are connected to the regime.- Nafiseh Kohnavard, Middle East correspondent What happens if the regime is overthrown in Iran? There's no clear seen over the last few years that there is no united opposition who could work together to replace the now there are different options, including Reza Pahlavi, the exiled son of the former Shah of Iran, who is now living has supporters inside and outside Iran, but how many we can't really has opponents as well, including reformists inside. They may not want to go back to Iran's monarchy that was overthrown nearly 40 years it's not clear if there is one replacement.- Nafiseh Kohnavard, Middle East correspondent Where is Fordo and what is it? Fordo is about 200km (124 miles) south of Tehran and is one of two critical enrichment facilities Iran has been built into a mountain for its protection. And it is basically one of the key enrichment facilities that Iran has been using to boost its enriched uranium has been struck by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) already. However, it is believed the attacks were going after Iran's surface-to-air missiles and air defence capabilities around it, in order to make it more vulnerable.- Mikey Kay, Security Brief host How close is Iran to getting a nuclear bomb? The only people who know for certain whether or not Iran was working towards building a nuclear bomb are Iran's most trusted nuclear scientists, the inner core of security officials and the supreme leader himself. The rest is conjecture. But the alarm was raised earlier this month when the UN's nuclear watchdog, the IAEA, found Iran to be in breach of its non-proliferation obligations, for the first time in nearly 20 years. Iran has amassed around 400kg of uranium enriched to 60%, well beyond the level needed for civil nuclear purposes. The UN agency said Iran had failed to cooperate fully and that it was unable to verify there had been no diversion of nuclear material to nuclear weapons. That is not the same though, as stating Iran was racing towards building a Israeli military said last week that "over the past few months intelligence has shown that Iran is closer than ever to obtaining a nuclear weapon". But whose intelligence? Not apparently, its closest ally's. In March, the US director of national intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, told Congress that "while Iran had an unprecedented stockpile of weapons-grade uranium, it did not appear to be building a nuclear weapon". Iran, meanwhile, has always maintained that its nuclear programme is entirely peaceful.- Frank Gardener, security correspondent Does Israel have nuclear weapons? There are estimates that it has about 90 nuclear warheads. But the real answer is we do not know. It has neither confirmed nor denied a nuclear capability, Israel is not part of the nuclear non-proliferation treaty, which was a global agreement to prevent more nations acquiring the bomb. It takes three components to have a nuclear weapon: first, uranium enriched to 90%, second, the ability to build a warhead, and third, a way to deliver that warhead to a it stands, there is no overt declaration by Israel on any of the above.- Mikey Kay, Security Brief host
Al Jazeera
16-06-2025
- Politics
- Al Jazeera
The Take: How close are Iran and Israel to full-scale war?
After Israel's strikes on Iranian cities, Iran launches a wave of retaliatory attacks. With mass evacuations under way in Tehran, the government struggles to control the growing panic. What does this mean for Iran's future, and how is the leadership reshaping the narrative? In this episode: Episode credits: This episode was produced by Khaled Soltan and Haleema Shah, with Sonia Baghat, Phillip Lanos, Spencer Cline, Tamara Khandaker, Mariana Navarrete, Remas Alhawari and our host, Manuel Rappalo. It was edited by Kyleine Kiang and Noor Wazwaz. Our sound designer is Alex Roldan. Our video editor is Hisham Abu Salah. Alexandra Locke is The Take's executive producer. Ney Alvarez is Al Jazeera's head of audio. Connect with us: @AJEPodcasts on Instagram, X, Facebook, Threads and YouTube
Al Jazeera
14-06-2025
- Politics
- Al Jazeera
The Take: Why is Israel attacking Iran now?
After Israel launched strikes in Tehran and other Iranian cities, Iran responded with its own firepower. What is behind this dramatic escalation, and what will it mean for the region and beyond? In this episode: Episode credits: This episode was produced by Marcos Bartolomé, Amy Walters, and Tamara Khandaker with Catherine Nouhan, Phillip Lanos, Spencer Cline, Mariana Navarette, Haleema Shah, and our guest host, Manuel Rapalo. It was edited by Noor Wazwaz. Our sound designer is Alex Roldan. Joe Plourde mixed this episode. Our video editor is Hisham Abu Salah. Alexandra Locke is The Take's executive producer. Ney Alvarez is Al Jazeera's head of audio. Connect with us: @AJEPodcasts on Instagram, X, Facebook, Threads and YouTube
