Israel-Iran live: Trump mulls regime change while Tehran threatens retaliation over US strikes on nuclear sites

Australia has voiced its support for the U.S. strike on Iran, while simultaneously urging for de-escalation and a return to diplomatic efforts.

Foreign Minister Penny Wong confirmed Canberra’s stance on Monday, stating in a television interview with Seven Sunrise: “We support action that the U.S. has taken to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.”

Speaking across a series of interviews, Ms Wong characterised the strike as a unilateral action by a key security ally. She emphasised that Australia is joining Britain and other nations in calling for Iran to re-engage in negotiations.

Reiterating the urgent need to avoid further conflict, Ms Wong told reporters in Canberra: “We do not want to see escalation.”

US president Donald Trump has endorsed a change of Iranian regime, despite his vice president ruling this out earlier on Sunday.

Writing on his social media platform Truth Social, Mr Trump said: “It’s not politically correct to use the term, ‘Regime Change.’

But if the current Iranian Regime is unable to MAKE IRAN GREAT AGAIN, why wouldn’t there be a Regime change??? MIGA!!!”.

It came just hours after US vice president JD Vance said US airstrikes were intended to end Iran’s nuclear programme, not regime change.

“We don’t want a regime change,” Mr Vance said.

“We do not want to protract this. We want to end the nuclear program, and then we want to talk to the Iranians about a long-term settlement here.”

At least 950 people have been killed and 3,450 wounded in Israeli strikes on Iran, a Washington-based human rights group has reported, presenting a starkly higher death toll than figures released by Tehran.

Human Rights Activists, the group providing the figures, stated that among the dead, 380 were identified as civilians and 253 as security force personnel. The casualties cover the entire country of Iran, according to the organisation.

The group, which is based in Washington, cross-checks local reports within the Islamic Republic against an established network of sources across the country. Human Rights Activists previously provided detailed casualty figures during the 2022 protests sparked by the death of Mahsa Amini, lending weight to its current assessment.

Iranian authorities have not regularly provided death tolls during the ongoing conflict and have historically minimised casualties. On Saturday, Iran’s Health Ministry stated that approximately 400 Iranians had been killed and another 3,056 wounded in the Israeli strikes, a figure significantly lower than that reported by the human rights group.

An emergency session of the United Nations Security Council featured sharp accusations and dire warnings following Saturday’s U.S. strikes on Iran. The meeting, called by Iran, saw its ambassador condemn the action as a breach of international law and a sabotage of diplomatic efforts.

Iran’s U.N. Ambassador Amir Saeid Iravani said that his country had “repeatedly warned the warmongering U.S. regime to refrain from stumbling into this quagmire.” He accused Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of successfully influencing Donald Trump to execute the West’s “dirty work” and hijack US foreign policy, thereby “dragging the United States into yet another costly and baseless war.”

Iravani further asserted that the aggression constituted “a clear and flagrant breach of international law,” claiming the US chose to “destroy” diplomacy even as Iran’s foreign minister engaged in talks with European counterparts. He questioned demands for Iran to “return to the negotiating table,” stating, “How can Iran return to something it never left?”

Echoing Iran’s concerns, Russia’s U.N. Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia warned that the US strikes had “opened a Pandora’s box,” adding, “No one knows what new catastrophes and suffering it will bring.” Nebenzia stated that Russia had offered mediation for a peaceful resolution to Iran’s nuclear programme, but suggested US leaders were “clearly not interested in diplomacy today.”

He issued a stark warning: “Unless we stop the escalation, the Middle East will find itself on the verge of a large-scale conflict with unpredictable consequences for the entire international security system, plus the entire world might end up on the verge of a nuclear disaster.”

In defence of its actions, Acting U.S. Ambassador Dorothy Shea reiterated Trump’s warning that “any Iranian attack – direct or indirect – against Americans or American bases will be met with devastating retaliation.” Shea stated that the U.S. acted to protect Israel and American citizens, aiming to prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon. She accused Iran of having “obfuscated” its nuclear weapons programme and “stonewalled good-faith efforts in recent negotiations.”

Shea urged the Security Council to demand that Iran cease its “47-year effort to eradicate Israel,” terminate its nuclear programme, stop targeting Americans and U.S. interests, and “negotiate peace in good faith.”

Israel’s U.N. Ambassador Danny Danon declared that the U.S. strikes on three of Iran’s nuclear facilities had “removed the greatest existential threat facing the free world.” He contended that repeated diplomatic attempts had failed, claiming Iran “used the negotiating table as camouflage, a delay tactic, a way to buy time while building missiles and enriching uranium.”

Danon asserted that Israel had given Iran years to change course, but ultimately acted, stating, “When the world stood at the edge of a nuclear catastrophe, America stepped forward.” He concluded by stressing the global imperative to ensure Iran never again poses a nuclear threat.

The U.S. State Department has issued a worldwide caution to Americans following the strikes on Iranian nuclear sites.

The warning, issued late on Sunday on the East Coast of the U.S. and early Monday morning in the Middle East, read: “The conflict between Israel and Iran has resulted in disruptions to travel and periodic closure of airspace across the Middle East. There is the potential for demonstrations against U.S. citizens and interests abroad. The Department of State advises U.S. citizens worldwide to exercise increased caution.”

Iran’s U.N. ambassador, Amir Saeid Iravani, spoke to an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council hours after the U.S. attack, saying that the U.S. “decided to destroy diplomacy” with its strikes on the country’s nuclear program and that the Iranian military will decide the “timing, nature and scale of Iran’s proportionate response.”

“We will take all measures necessary,” he told the meeting.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio and the UK’s Foreign Secretary David Lammy spoke on Sunday evening.

Lammy said on X: “Important discussion with @SecRubio this evening on the situation in the Middle East.

“We will continue to work with our allies to protect our people, secure regional stability and drive forward a diplomatic solution.”