diff --git a/Sources/MarkdownText/UI/Images/BlockImageView.swift b/Sources/MarkdownText/UI/Images/BlockImageView.swift
index 3f774916..4d8694d3 100644
--- a/Sources/MarkdownText/UI/Images/BlockImageView.swift
+++ b/Sources/MarkdownText/UI/Images/BlockImageView.swift
@@ -20,16 +20,31 @@ struct BlockImageView: View {
   @Environment(\.markdownConfig) private var config
 
   @State private var isViewerPresented = false
+  @Namespace private var imageTransition
 
   var body: some View {
-    imageContent
+    transitionSource
       .frame(maxWidth: .infinity, alignment: .center)
       .accessibilityLabel(data.alt.isEmpty ? Text(String.imageLabel) : Text(data.alt))
+      .accessibilityIdentifier("markdown-image.inline")
       .contentShape(Rectangle())
       .onTapGesture {
         handleTap()
       }
-      .imageViewer(source: data.source, alt: data.alt, isPresented: $isViewerPresented)
+      .imageViewer(source: data.source, alt: data.alt, isPresented: $isViewerPresented, namespace: imageTransition)
+  }
+
+  @ViewBuilder
+  private var transitionSource: some View {
+    #if os(iOS)
+    if #available(iOS 18.0, *) {
+      imageContent.matchedTransitionSource(id: "image", in: imageTransition)
+    } else {
+      imageContent
+    }
+    #else
+    imageContent
+    #endif
   }
 
   private func handleTap() {
diff --git a/Sources/MarkdownText/UI/Images/ImageViewerView.swift b/Sources/MarkdownText/UI/Images/ImageViewerView.swift
index 6d0bccc9..27baa16f 100644
--- a/Sources/MarkdownText/UI/Images/ImageViewerView.swift
+++ b/Sources/MarkdownText/UI/Images/ImageViewerView.swift
@@ -13,7 +13,8 @@ extension View {
   func imageViewer(
     source: ImageData.Source?,
     alt: String,
-    isPresented: Binding<Bool>
+    isPresented: Binding<Bool>,
+    namespace: Namespace.ID
   ) -> some View {
     #if os(iOS)
     fullScreenCover(isPresented: isPresented) {
@@ -21,6 +22,7 @@ extension View {
         ImageViewerView(source: source, alt: alt) {
           isPresented.wrappedValue = false
         }
+        .imageZoomTransition(namespace: namespace)
       }
     }
     #else
@@ -31,6 +33,17 @@ extension View {
 
 #if os(iOS)
 
+private extension View {
+  @ViewBuilder
+  func imageZoomTransition(namespace: Namespace.ID) -> some View {
+    if #available(iOS 18.0, *) {
+      navigationTransition(.zoom(sourceID: "image", in: namespace))
+    } else {
+      self
+    }
+  }
+}
+
 /// The built-in fullscreen image viewer presented when a user taps a rendered
 /// block-level image and `ImageConfig.fullscreenViewerEnabled` is `true`.
 ///
@@ -51,6 +64,7 @@ struct ImageViewerView: View {
         .ignoresSafeArea()
 
       zoomableImage
+        .ignoresSafeArea()
         .accessibilityLabel(alt.isEmpty ? Text(String.imageLabel) : Text(alt))
 
       dismissButton
@@ -93,6 +107,7 @@ struct ImageViewerView: View {
             .background(.ultraThinMaterial, in: Circle())
         }
         .accessibilityLabel(Text(String.imageViewerCloseLabel))
+        .accessibilityIdentifier("markdown-image-viewer.close")
         .padding(16)
       }
       Spacer()
diff --git a/Sources/MarkdownText/UI/Images/PinchZoomView.swift b/Sources/MarkdownText/UI/Images/PinchZoomView.swift
index 01c232e1..3479aee3 100644
--- a/Sources/MarkdownText/UI/Images/PinchZoomView.swift
+++ b/Sources/MarkdownText/UI/Images/PinchZoomView.swift
@@ -26,6 +26,13 @@ struct PinchZoomView: View {
 
   private var isScaled: Bool { scale > Self.minZoomScale }
 
+  private var usesNativeZoom: Bool {
+    if #available(iOS 18.0, *) {
+      return true
+    }
+    return false
+  }
+
   let image: Image
   let onSwipeToDismiss: () -> Void
 
@@ -41,6 +48,7 @@ struct PinchZoomView: View {
         .aspectRatio(contentMode: .fit)
         .scaleEffect(scale * activeScale)
         .offset(offset)
+        .accessibilityIdentifier("markdown-image-viewer.image")
         .background(
           GeometryReader { proxy in
             Color.clear
@@ -57,8 +65,7 @@ struct PinchZoomView: View {
           handleDoubleTap(at: location, in: geometry)
         }
         .gesture(
-          SimultaneousGesture(
-            DragGesture()
+          DragGesture()
               .onChanged { value in
                 let deltaWidth = value.translation.width - lastDragDist.width
                 let deltaHeight = value.translation.height - lastDragDist.height
@@ -78,7 +85,10 @@ struct PinchZoomView: View {
                   panOffset(velocity: value.velocity, containerSize: geometry.size)
                 }
               },
-            MagnificationGesture()
+          including: isScaled || !usesNativeZoom ? .all : .none
+        )
+        .simultaneousGesture(
+          MagnificationGesture()
               .updating($activeScale, body: { value, state, _ in
                 state = value
               })
@@ -89,9 +99,9 @@ struct PinchZoomView: View {
                   animateOffset(to: newOffset)
                 }
               }
-          )
         )
     }
+    .interactiveDismissDisabled(usesNativeZoom && (isScaled || activeScale != Self.minZoomScale))
   }
 
   private func handleDoubleTap(at location: CGPoint, in geometry: GeometryProxy) {
diff --git a/Tests/MarkdownTextTests/ImageViewerTransitionTests.swift b/Tests/MarkdownTextTests/ImageViewerTransitionTests.swift
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..23f5d092
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Tests/MarkdownTextTests/ImageViewerTransitionTests.swift
@@ -0,0 +1,81 @@
+//
+//  Copyright (c) Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
+//  Licensed under the MIT License. See LICENSE in the project root for license information.
+//
+
+#if os(iOS)
+@testable import SwiftStreamingMarkdown
+import SwiftUI
+import UIKit
+import XCTest
+
+@MainActor
+final class ImageViewerTransitionTests: XCTestCase {
+  func test_builtin_viewer_uses_native_zoom_transition() async throws {
+    guard #available(iOS 18.0, *) else {
+      throw XCTSkip("Native zoom transitions require iOS 18")
+    }
+    let controller = UIHostingController(rootView: ImageViewerFixture())
+    let window = UIWindow(frame: CGRect(x: 0, y: 0, width: 320, height: 640))
+    window.rootViewController = controller
+    window.isHidden = false
+    defer {
+      window.isHidden = true
+      controller.dismiss(animated: false)
+      window.rootViewController = nil
+    }
+    let presented = XCTNSPredicateExpectation(
+      predicate: NSPredicate { _, _ in controller.presentedViewController != nil },
+      object: controller
+    )
+
+    await fulfillment(of: [presented], timeout: 5)
+
+    let viewer = try XCTUnwrap(controller.presentedViewController)
+    XCTAssertNotNil(viewer.preferredTransition)
+  }
+}
+
+private struct ImageViewerFixture: View {
+  @Namespace private var namespace
+  @State private var isPresented = true
+
+  var body: some View {
+    Image(systemName: "photo")
+      .resizable()
+      .frame(width: 200, height: 120)
+      .matchedImageSource(namespace: namespace)
+      .imageViewer(
+        source: .bundledResource(fileName: "sample-landscape", ext: "png"),
+        alt: "Landscape",
+        isPresented: $isPresented,
+        namespace: namespace
+      )
+      .environment(\.markdownController, MarkdownController(listener: TransitionResourceListener()))
+  }
+}
+
+private extension View {
+  @ViewBuilder
+  func matchedImageSource(namespace: Namespace.ID) -> some View {
+    if #available(iOS 18.0, *) {
+      matchedTransitionSource(id: "image", in: namespace)
+    } else {
+      self
+    }
+  }
+}
+
+private final class TransitionResourceListener: MarkdownListener {
+  func onRender(markdown: RenderableDocument) async {}
+  func onTableCopyTap(content: String) async {}
+  func onTableDownloadTap(content: String) async {}
+  func onContextMenuAppear(id: String, selectedContent: String) async {}
+  func onContextMenuTap(id: String, selectedContent: String) async {}
+  func onImageTap(image: MarkdownImage) async {}
+
+  func resolveBundledResource(fileName: String, ext: String?) -> URL? {
+    Bundle.module.url(forResource: fileName, withExtension: ext)
+  }
+}
+#endif