Alex Ritson

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I'm Alex Ritson, and in the early hours of Wednesday, June the 10th, these are our main stories. The United States has carried out strikes on Iran in response to the downing of an American helicopter. Iranian forces say they've retaliated by targeting US bases in the region. The Israeli finance minister, Bezalel Smotrich, is banned from entering France over violence by settlers against Palestinians in the West Bank.

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There's been a tit-for-tat exchange of strikes between the US and Iran in the Middle East, once again endangering their fragile ceasefire. The US Central Command said it had attacked Iranian targets close to the Strait of Hormuz after President Trump accused Tehran of shooting down an American Apache helicopter on Tuesday.

Iran has responded by firing missiles and drones at U.S. bases in Bahrain, Jordan and Kuwait. Iranian State TV quoted a statement posted on social media by the country's foreign minister, Abbas Zaragchi, saying Iran's armed forces will leave no attack unanswered. Diplomasi ra tarjih midaim, amma sohhan guftan be zabanhaa ja digar ra niz midan.

We prefer diplomacy, but we also know how to speak other languages, says Mr. Araki's statement. Our North America correspondent Peter Bowes gave me this update.

Iran was very quick to launch retaliatory attacks after the United States launched its own series of attacks over the last few hours. And according to Iran, its state media, it launched drone and long-range missile strikes targeting American bases in Bahrain, Kuwait and Jordan. And according to Iran's Revolutionary Guards website,

They say that they are ready to deliver a, quote, crushing and decisive response to any further US attacks. And this clearly is the most serious escalation of hostilities now between Washington and Tehran, since the truce was agreed between them some two months ago. The US military had said earlier that they had completed their attacks. Is there now a danger of further escalation?

I think given the tense nature of the situation, there is clearly a danger of escalation. I think there was a view at one point a few hours ago, and maybe that will still prevail, that this could be contained within a roughly 24-hour period, that the US would hit back, it believes, in response to the downing of that American helicopter on Monday.

It has certainly done that and in fact I've got the statement in front of me saying that the US has indeed completed its strikes in response to, as it puts it, Iran's attack on the Apache helicopter. It lists what it sees as its achievements in this attack striking Iranian air defence forces.

Ground control stations, surveillance radar sites near the Strait of Hormuz with, it says, precision munitions from US Air Force and Navy fighter jets. And it finishes with this line, which really goes to your question. It says, US forces remain vigilant and postured to defend against, as it puts it, unjustified Iranian aggression.

The Iranians appear to be aiming at US military targets rather than civilian ones in the region. Is that going to make a difference? It could make a difference in the same way as the United States has been targeting Iranian military sites as opposed to political sites, the country's leadership, as it did at the height of the war. So this does appear to be both countries attacking the other's military targets.

Sites, which does suggest that this may be containable, that it isn't the kind of series of attacks that is going to have further political repercussions and it could well be held within this period of 24 hours. And I think that will give some people hope, especially those negotiators on both sides that are putting a lot of hope in the series of talks that we've been hearing about, but actually not getting much detail, although President Trump...

He said that he believed that there could actually be a deal in the next three to four days. We've heard him say that before, he's saying it again now. It does show that he wants diplomacy, it seems the Iranians want diplomacy, but I think it's fair to say this ceasefire looks increasingly fragile.

Peter Bowes in Los Angeles. With his thoughts on the decision President Trump faces, here's our international editor Jeremy Bowen. The downing of the Apache helicopter is another reminder that Iran's rulers can still hurt the Americans and will not budge in their determination to come out of this war on top.

President Trump and his generals will try to calibrate their response to show just as emphatically that they cannot be pushed around, but at the same time to preserve the sluggish and so far unproductive diplomatic process. Donald Trump has been banking on a deal with Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and agree on much longer term talks over the big issues, starting with Iran's stockpile of enriched uranium and its wider nuclear plans.

The war is unpopular in America and he wants a way out that he can present as a victory. It is proving to be a tough challenge. Military action rarely unfolds as leaders expect. The Gulf remains tense, dangerous and unpredictable. Mr. Trump and Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are learning an old lesson. It is easier to start a war than to end one, let alone deliver a clear victory. Jeremy Bowen in Beirut.

Britain, France and Canada are among countries which have imposed sanctions on what they call networks involved in financing and enabling Jewish settler attacks against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank. France has also barred the Israeli finance minister Bezalel Smotrich from entering the country. The Israeli government has said it's rejected what it called disgraceful measures. Middle East analyst Sebastian Usher reports from Jerusalem.

Esimerkiksi sanotaan, että Mr. Smotrich tuottaa West Bankin anneksia ja Gazan rekolonisaatiota. Hän kuulostaa suoraan oikeaan puolueeseen. Hän ja valtion turvallisuusministeri Itamar Ben-Gavir ovat todellakin israelilaisen poliittisen vaikutuksen ja vahvistuksen johtajat.

who are pushing very hard essentially the settler cause. And in this particular coalition government, they have had a large say. So partly due to their roles in that government, there's been expansion of the settlements. I think it's not just to do them, obviously, in any way, but there's also been a considerable increase in settler violence. That, I think, is to some extent down, of course, as so many things are here, to the aftermath of the Hamas-led attacks on October 7th.