Latest Israel strikes Iranian government targets as Trump muses about 'regime change'

     Tel Aviv, Jun 23 (AP) Israel said it hit more Iranian government targets Monday in Tehran, including the notorious Evin Prison, as other strikes targeted Iran's underground enrichment site at Fordo for a second time.
     Iran, meanwhile, fired more missiles and drones at Israel and warned the United States that its military now has a “free hand” to attack American targets after the Trump administration's massive strikes on three Iranian nuclear sites on Sunday. Tens of thousands of American troops are based in the Middle East.
     Fears of a wider regional conflict loom large after the United States inserted itself into Israel's war, raising urgent questions about what remains of Tehran's nuclear program and how its weakened military might respond. The price of oil rose as financial markets reacted.
     President Donald Trump, who has warned of additional strikes if Tehran retaliates against US forces, mused Sunday about the possibility of “regime change" in Iran, though administration officials earlier in the day indicated they wanted to restart talks with the country — even directly.
     Here is the latest:
    
     Toppled Iranian shah's son offers to take power
     The son of Iran's last shah has offered to take over the Iranian leadership and lead the country's transition to democracy.
     Reza Pahlavi told a news conference in Paris that the 'regime is defeated, teetering, on the edge of collapse.'' He claimed he doesn't seek political power but wants to “help our great nation navigate through this critical hour towards stability, freedom and justice.''
     Pahlavi left Iran at age 17 soon before the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Many Iranians have bitter memories of repression under his father's reign as shah. Others might reject Pahlavi over his outreach to Israel.
     Several large Iranian opposition groups are based abroad but they are not united, and it's unclear how much support any of them has inside the country.

     South Africa says UN should lead diplomatic efforts
     South Africa calls on the United States, Israel and Iran to allow the United Nations to lead diplomatic efforts to find a resolution.
     It also calls on them to allow an inspection and verification of Iran's uranium enrichment and its nuclear capacity.
     South Africa has strong diplomatic ties with Iran, which the Trump administration has criticised.
    
     Hezbollah indicates it won't join the war between Israel and Iran
     The leader of Lebanon's Hezbollah indicates that the group will not join the war between Iran and Israel for now. Naim Kassem spoke in his first public comments since the US inserted itself into the war on Sunday. He says his group is ready to back any decision taken by the Lebanese state to force Israel to stop the war.
     He also tells the Iran-backed group's Al-Ahad newspaper in a report published Monday that the attacks on Iran will “have a high cost” as the whole region is in danger, and says US President Donald Trump's threats to kill Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei are a “vile act and a sign of weakness.”
    
     Trump just 'raising a question' about regime change
     White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt says US operations in the Middle East haven't changed despite Trump raising the possibility of what he called "regime change" in Iran on Sunday.
     “The president was just simply raising a question that I think many people around the world are asking,” Leavitt told reporters on Monday.
     She added, “if they refuse to engage in diplomacy moving forward, why shouldn't the Iranian people rise up against this brutal terrorist regime?”
    
     Germany's Merz says 'no reason' to criticise Israel's attacks on Iran
     German Chancellor Friedrich Merz says there's “no reason” to criticise Israel's attacks on Iran's nuclear program or the weekend intervention of the United States.
     Merz, whose country is traditionally a staunch ally of Israel, acknowledged Monday that “it is not without risk, but leaving things the way they were was also not an option.”
     He said in a speech to a conference of Germany's main industry lobby group that "for us, and for me personally, there is no reason to criticize what Israel began a week ago, and also no reason to criticize what America did last weekend."
     In an interview with ZDF television last week, Merz said “this is the dirty work that Israel is doing for us all.”
    
     Iran was an imminent threat,' White House press secretary tells ABC
     White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told ABC News on Monday morning that Iran was an “imminent threat” and Donald Trump is the “first president with the guts to actually do something about it.”
     She was definitive about the outcome of US strikes, saying they “took away Iran's ability to create a nuclear bomb.”
     Leavitt also said the administration has a “high degree of confidence” that enriched uranium was stored at the sites that were attacked by the US.
     “The president would not have launched the strikes if we weren't confident in that,” she said.
    
     US Embassy in Qatar urges American citizens to shelter in place
     The US Embassy in Qatar issued an alert on its website Monday urging American citizens in the energy-rich nation to “shelter in place until further notice," although Qatar later said the situation was "stable."
     The embassy did not elaborate, nor did it respond to multiple requests for comment from The Associated Press on the message, which comes as tensions are high in the Middle East after the US bombed Iranian nuclear sites on Sunday.
     Qatar's Foreign Ministry spokesman Majed al-Ansari later put out a statement saying that advisories from foreign embassies “do not necessarily reflect the existence of specific or credible threats.”
     “We would like to reassure the public that the security situation in the State remains stable,” he added.
     Qatar, across the Persian Gulf from Iran, is home to Al Udeid Air Base, which hosts the forward headquarters of the US military's Central Command.      Iran has threatened American forces at Al Udeid in the past, but not after Sunday's strike, though state television has mentioned American bases in its broadcasts.
     Qatar maintains diplomatic relations with Iran and shares a massive offshore natural gas field with Tehran.
     After the US strikes in Iran, security officers at all US embassies and consulates had been instructed to conduct reviews of their post's security posture and report back to the State Department by late Sunday. It wasn't immediately clear if that was connected to the alert.
    
     Evin Prison situation 'under control, Iran's judiciary says
     The situation at Tehran's notorious Evin Prison is under control, Iran's judiciary said, following an attack by Israeli forces.
     “The situation in the prison is under control and all means have been used to manage the prison complex,” the judiciary announced via its Mizan news agency.
     It said parts of the prison had been damaged, without elaborating. Video footage showed a gate being blasted open at the site.
    
     Iran says attacks on nuclear facilities damage non-proliferation efforts
     Iran's ambassador to the International Atomic Energy Agency, Reza Najafi, condemned the “unprecedented act of aggression” against Iranian nuclear facilities by Israel and the US and said that this act “delivered a fundamental and irreparable blow” to the international non-proliferation regime, including the framework of the Non-Proliferation Treaty. Najafi was speaking to reporters at an emergency meeting of the UN nuclear watchdog board that addressed the situation in Iran.
     Najafi said that Iran reserves its right to self-defence. “As long as the source of the threat persists, the Islamic Republic of Iran will continue to undertake the necessary, resolute and proportionate measures to neutralise it at the time, place and manner of its own choosing.”
    
     France FM rejects leadership change in Iran through force
     France's foreign minister says it would be “illusory and dangerous” to try to bring about a change of government in Iran through military force.
     French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot delivered the French assessment on Monday after President Donald Trump mused on social media about the future of Iran's ruling theocracy.
     Barrot did not mention Trump by name or his post but said: “We reject all attempts to organise a change of regime by force.”
     “It would illusory and dangerous to think that such a change can be provoked through force and bombs,” the French minister said. (AP)
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(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)