- US ramps up military deployment with more fighter aircraft and other warplanes to Middle East to bolstering its forces in the region
- Iran launches new wave of fierce attacks hitting major centre of Israeli spy agency Mossad
- US lawmaker Thomas Massie with fellow lawmaker Ro Khanna introduce resolution to prohibit US involvement in the war
- Qatari FM ‘strongly condemns’ Israel’s attack on Iran as uncalculated measure that will have very dire repercussions
- Macron warns efforts to overthrow Tehran’s clerical state would be a ‘strategic error’
- Russia says ready to act as a peace broker while China’s President Xi ‘deeply worried’ by Israel’s military action
- Turkish President accuses Israeli Prime Minister of being ‘the biggest threat’ to ME region
- More than 600 foreign nationals of 17 countries have crossed from Iran into neighbouring Azerbaijan since Israeli strikes
WASHINGTON/TEHRAN/TEL AVIV: In dramatic escalation, President Donald Trump ramped up rhetoric against Iran and its supreme leader on Tuesday amid the country’s ongoing fighting with Israel, saying on social media that the United States knows where Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is located but will not kill him “for now.”
Trump’s ‘contradictory and cryptic messaging about the conflict has deepened the uncertainty surrounding the crisis and fuelled the speculations as to whether Washington would join Israel’s attacks after insisting it had no hand in the campaign.
His public comments have ranged from military threats to diplomatic overtures, not uncommon for a president known for an often erratic approach to both domestic and foreign policy.
In another post, Trump also appeared to demand Iran’s “unconditional surrender!” as he fuelled questions about whether the US would join Israel’s attacks on Tehran’s leadership and nuclear facilities.
“We know exactly where the so-called ‘supreme leader’ is hiding. He is an easy target, but is safe there — We are not going to take him out (kill!), at least not for now,” Trump said on his Truth Social platform.
“But we don’t want missiles shot at civilians, or American soldiers. Our patience is wearing thin. Thank you for your attention to this matter!” said Trump.
Minutes later, the US president followed up with another message simply saying: “Unconditional surrender!”
Trump was meeting with his National Security Council to discuss the conflict, a White House official said.
Questioned about possible US involvement in the conflict, State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce said the matter was for Trump to decide and she could not speak on his behalf.
She said the State Department has established a Middle East task force to help coordinate support for US citizens, diplomatic missions and personnel amid the conflict. Bruce, speaking to reporters at a regular news briefing, said the task force was intended to help ensure the State Department and American citizens get the information they may need.
Trump flew back earlier from the G7 summit in Canada late on Monday as the conflict between Iran and key US ally Israel escalated, and was set to meet top officials in the White House Situation Room today.
The US president has so far stressed that his country is not getting involved in the conflict, and has said that Iran could still take a deal to end its nuclear programme that he had proposed before Israel’s attacks.
But Trump has given mounting signals that Washington’s intervention in some form may now be imminent.
Trump said today that “we” have “complete and total control of the skies over Iran”, hailing the use of US-made weaponry without explicitly mentioning Israel.
Israel, the closest US ally in the Middle East, had recently made a similar claim.
Earlier, Trump told reporters on Air Force One while returning from Canada that he wanted “a real end, not a ceasefire” to the Iran-Israel conflict, and warned that “I’m not in too much of a mood to negotiate.”
After months of attacking Gaza — flattening homes, targeting hospitals, and starving a besieged population — Israel expanded its assault by launching wide-scale air strikes against Iran’s nuclear facilities, military sites and private residences last week, killing top commanders, scientists and civilians..
Israeli officials have claimed the strikes are part of a broader operation codenamed ‘Rising Lion’ to deter Tehran’s nuclear ambitions, which the latter has consistently denied, saying its uranium enrichment programme is for civilian purposes.
Trump said he “wants ‘a real end’ to the nuclear problem with Iran”, while predicting that Israel would not be slowing its attacks on Iran, according to comments shared by CBS journalist Jennifer Jacobs on X.
“You’re going to find out over the next two days. You’re going to find out. Nobody’s slowed up so far,” CBS journalist Jennifer Jacobs quoted Trump as saying on Air Force One.
The US would “come down so hard if they (Iran) do anything to our people”, Trump warned, according to the reporter.
Trump said “I may”, on the prospect of sending US Middle East Envoy Steve Witkoff or Vice President JD Vance to meet with Iran. However, he added that “it depends what happens when I get back”, according to Jacobs.
Later in the day, Vice President JD Vance said, while responding to speculation that the US could intervene in the conflict, that Trump may decide that “further action” is needed to stop Iran’s nuclear programme.
“The president has shown remarkable restraint in keeping our military’s focus on protecting our troops and protecting our citizens. He may decide he needs to take further action to end Iranian enrichment,” Vance said in a post on X.
Look, I’m seeing this from the inside, and am admittedly biased towards our president (and my friend), but there’s a lot of crazy stuff on social media, so I wanted to address some things directly on the Iran issue:
First, POTUS has been amazingly consistent, over 10 years, that…
— JD Vance (@JDVance) June 17, 2025
French President Emmanuel Macron warned any attempt to change the regime in Iran would result in “chaos”. Macron was speaking at a G7 summit in Canada shortly after Trump said the US would not kill Iran’s supreme leader “for now”.
Macron said that Trump had a critical role in restarting diplomacy with Tehran and said he believed the US leader favours a ceasefire between Iran and Israel.
“I believe we need the United States of America to bring everyone back around the table,” Macron told reporters.
Meanwhile, three US officials said that the country’s military was deploying more fighter aircraft to the Middle East and extending the deployment of other warplanes, bolstering US military forces in the region as the war between Israel and Iran rages.
One of the officials said the deployments include F-16, F-22 and F-35 fighter aircraft.
Two of the officials stressed the defensive nature of the deployment of fighter aircraft, which have been used to shoot down drones and projectiles.
The Pentagon did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Reuters was first to report on Monday the movement of a large number of tanker aircraft to Europe as well as the deployment of an aircraft carrier to the Middle East, providing options to Trump as Middle East tensions soar.
US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth described the deployments as defensive in nature, as Washington looks to safeguard forces in the Middle East from potential blowback from Iran and Iran-aligned forces in the region.
A fourth US defence official raised the possibility of the deployment to the Eastern Mediterranean of additional US Navy warships capable of shooting down ballistic missiles.
Four US Stratofortress bombers are currently stationed at the Diego Garcia base in the Indian Ocean, according to an AFP analysis of satellite imagery.
The base, leased to the United States by Britain, is one of its key military facilities in the Asia-Pacific region, and was used as a hub for long-range bombers and ships during the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.
The four B52H Stratofortresses, which can carry nuclear weapons or other precision-guided munitions, were spotted on a southern tarmac at Diego Garcia on Monday at 0922 GMT.
Images provided by Planet Labs indicate they arrived in mid-May.
A C-17 Globemaster III troop and cargo transport plane is also at the base, according to the AFP analysis, as well as six jets likely to be KC-135 airborne refuelling tanker.
The Pentagon said Monday that it was sending “additional capabilities” to the Middle East amid an escalation of the Iran-Israel conflict, while the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz cancelled a Vietnam visit to head toward the Indian Ocean, according to Marine Traffic, a ship-tracking site.
Washington has also redeployed around 30 refuelling planes toward bases in Europe.
The US already has a sizeable force in the Middle East, with nearly 40,000 troops in the region, including air defence systems, fighter aircraft and warships that can detect and shoot down enemy missiles.
Israel launched its air war, its largest ever on Iran, on Friday after drawing the conclusion that Iran was on the verge of developing a nuclear weapon.
Iran denies seeking nuclear weapons and has pointed to its right to nuclear technology for peaceful purposes, including enrichment, as a party to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
US lawmaker Thomas Massie said that he introduced an Iran War Powers Resolution with fellow lawmaker Ro Khanna to prohibit US involvement in the Israel-Iran war.
I just introduced an Iran War Powers Resolution with @RepRoKhanna to prohibit U.S. involvement in the Israel-Iran war.
This is not our war. Even if it were, Congress must decide such matters according to our Constitution. pic.twitter.com/LuIl59lt45
— Thomas Massie (@RepThomasMassie) June 17, 2025
“This is not our war. Even if it were, Congress must decide such matters according to our constitution,” he said.
Iran-Israel fighting stretches for 5th day
As long-standing foes Iran and Israel continued their air war, both warned of intensifying their warfare.
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said a “more powerful” new wave of missiles had recently been launched towards Israel, Al Jazeera reported, citing the official IRNA news agency.
“A new wave of fierce attacks by the armed forces, especially the army’s ground forces, with new and advanced weapons has begun and will intensify in the coming hours,” it quoted Kioumars Heydari, commander of the Army Ground Forces, as saying.
Iranian outlets IRNA and Tasnim reported that a major centre of Israeli spy agency Mossad was targeted in an attack. “The IRGC said in a statement that its Aerospace Force units carried out an effectual operation against Mossad in the early hours of Tuesday.
Despite being protected by highly advanced air defence systems, the military intelligence directorate of the Zionist regime’s army, known as AMAN, and the Mossad centre in Tel Aviv, used for planning assassination attacks and evil acts, were hit by the IRGC, it noted,” the latter reported.
It added that as per the IRGC, a fire was now “blazing in the doomed centre”.
On the other side, Major General Shlomi Binder, chief of the Military Intelligence Directorate, said Israel would soon “break ground” in areas of Iran besides Tehran, Times of Israel reported.
“You brought the intelligence that paved the way to Tehran and enabled the strike on the Iranian general staff. Soon, you’ll break ground in additional areas. You’ve proven that you can push boundaries and reach any target,” Binder told officers today, according to an army statement.
Two loud explosions were heard from central and north Tehran, AFP correspondents reported, as the Iranian capital came under Israeli bombardment for a fifth straight day. There was no immediate word on the cause or precise whereabouts of the twin blasts.
Iranian media said several blasts were heard in the central city of Isfahan, which hosts multiple nuclear facilities.
“Several explosions were heard in the east and north of Isfahan and air defences were activated against the hostile targets,” the Mehr news agency reported.
The Israeli military said its forces struck several locations in western Iran, hitting “dozens” of missile launchers.
“A short while ago, the Israeli air force completed a series of strikes in western Iran,” a military statement said. “As part of the strikes, a number of sites and dozens of surface-to-surface missile launchers were struck.”
Iranian media reported widespread internet disruption. “Internet users in several provinces are reporting widespread internet disruption,” the Ham Mihan newspaper reported. Other media carried similar reports.
It was not immediately clear what caused the disruption.
Qatari Foreign Ministry spokesman Majed al-Ansari said Qatar “strongly condemned” Israel’s attack on Iranian nuclear facilities, calling it “an uncalculated measure that will have very dire repercussions”, according to Al Jazeera.
He stressed that the attack came at a time when Iran was “progressing in a positive diplomatic course”, with Washington, a process that many regional countries were engaged in. Qatar, he said, is still involved in mediation with the US and “believes there is an American desire for an agreement”.
“We will continue to work for a ceasefire between the warring parties — Israel and Iran,” he said.
Meanwhile, Russia said it was ready to act as a peace broker but that Israel was showing reluctance to accept outside mediation.
“President Putin has said that Russia is ready to provide mediation services if necessary,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters in a daily briefing.
“At present, we see a reluctance, at least on the part of Israel, to resort to any mediation services or to embark on a peaceful path towards a settlement.”
China’s President Xi Jinping said he was “deeply worried” by Israel’s military action, Chinese state media reported.
“Israel launching military action against Iran has caused a sudden escalation in tension in the Middle East, China is deeply worried about this,” he said during a meeting with the Uzbek president in Kazakhstan, Xinhua reported.
“We oppose any act that infringes upon the sovereignty, security and territorial integrity of other countries.”
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan accused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of being “the biggest threat” to the Middle East region, in a phone call with Qatar’s emir on Tuesday, his office said.
Erdogan said that he “will continue his efforts to end the spiral of violence, and that Netanyahu has shown once again that he is the biggest threat to the security of the region”, according to the presidency.
Tensions have escalated since Friday, with more than 224 Iranians killed and over 1,000 injured, most of them civilians. Israel says 24 people have been killed, mostly civilians.
Three more people were killed while four others were wounded when an Israeli projectile hit a checkpoint in Isfahan’s Kashan city this morning, local security official Akbar Salehi said, according to a Mehr news agency report quoted by Al Jazeera.
Iranian media reported explosions and heavy air defence fire in Tehran earlier on Tuesday. Air defences were also activated in Natanz, home to key nuclear installations 320km away, the Asriran news website reported.
The UN’s atomic watchdog said there appear to have been “direct impacts” on the underground part of Iran’s Natanz nuclear site during Israel’s attacks.
“Based on continued analysis of high-resolution satellite imagery collected after Friday’s attacks, the IAEA has identified additional elements that indicate direct impacts on the underground enrichment halls at Natanz,” the International Atomic Energy Agency said on X.
Iran: Based on continued analysis of high resolution satellite imagery collected after Friday’s attacks, the IAEA has identified additional elements that indicate direct impacts on the underground enrichment halls at Natanz.
No change to report at Esfahan and Fordow.— IAEA – International Atomic Energy Agency ⚛️ (@iaeaorg) June 17, 2025
A White House aide said it was not true that the US was attacking Iran. US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee said a missile strike lightly damaged a building used by the American embassy in Tel Aviv. The State Department had warned Americans not to travel to Israel.
In Israel, air raid sirens wailed in Tel Aviv after midnight and again early in the morning, when several explosions were heard over the city.
There were two direct impacts from those Iranian missiles — one in the Tel Aviv area and one in Herzliya. Israeli reports described the missile strike in Herzliya as having targeted a sensitive site, Al Jazeera reported.
The report added that a sensitive site was code for something of military or strategic significance.
Israel’s military also claimed that it had killed Ali Shadmani, Iran’s wartime chief of staff and the most senior military commander, AFP reported.
It also said it targeted multiple missile and UAV sites in western Iran, including surface-to-surface missile infrastructure, surface-to-air launchers and drone storage facilities, in a statement accompanied by black-and-white footage showing missile launchers exploding.
Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz warned Khamenei he could suffer a fate “similar to” Iraqi president Saddam Hussein, who was toppled and later executed.
Katz warned Khamenei risked “a fate similar to Saddam Hussein” during a meeting with Israeli military and security service commanders, according to a statement from his office.
“I warn the Iranian dictator against continuing to commit war crimes and launch missiles toward Israeli civilians,” Katz was quoted as saying.
“He should remember what happened to the dictator in the neighbouring country to Iran who took the same path against Israel.”
Saddam was toppled in the US-led invasion of 2003 and later captured and executed. His administration fired missiles at Israel during the 1991 Gulf War and was accused of running a covert nuclear weapons programme.
While Trump had reportedly vetoed an Israeli plan to assassinate Khamenei, Netanyahu did not rule out the possibility when asked about the reports during an interview with ABC News.
“It’s not going to escalate the conflict, it’s going to end the conflict,” he said.
Netanyahu said Israel was eliminating Iran’s security leadership “one after the other”. “We are changing the face of the Middle East, and that can lead to radical changes inside Iran itself,” he said.
Oil prices rise
Oil prices were driven higher by the conflict, though major oil and gas infrastructure and flows have so far been spared from substantial impact.
Brent crude futures gained $1.49, or 2.03 per cent, to $74.72 a barrel by 1315 GMT (1815 Pakistan Time).
US West Texas Intermediate crude was up $1.28, or nearly 1.78pc, at $73.05.
Both contracts rose more than 2pc early in the session but also retreated in volatile trade before bouncing back.¶
While there was no noticeable interruption to oil flows, Iran partially suspended gas production at the South Pars field that it shares with Qatar after an Israeli strike started a fire there on Saturday. Israel also hit the Shahran oil depot in Iran.
“The market is largely worried about disruption through [the Strait of] Hormuz, but the risk of that is very low,” said Saxo Bank analyst Ole Hansen.
There is no appetite for closing the waterway, given that Iran would lose revenue and the US wants lower oil prices and lower inflation, Hansen added.
Two oil tankers collided and caught fire on Tuesday near the Strait of Hormuz, where electronic interference has surged, highlighting the risks to companies moving oil and fuel supplies in the region.
Despite the potential for disruption, there are signs oil supplies remain ample amid expectations of lower demand.
In its monthly oil report on Tuesday, the International Energy Agency revised its world oil demand estimate downwards by 20,000 barrels per day (bpd) from last month’s forecast and increased the supply estimate by 200,000 bpd to 1.8 million bpd.¶
Investors were also focused on central bank interest rate decisions, PVM Associates analyst Tamas Varga said in a note, with the US Federal Open Market Committee set to discuss rates later today.
G7 calls for regional de-escalation, says no to Iran having nuclear weapons
Earlier on Tuesday, the G7 countries — Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States — called for a wider regional de-escalation that would lead to a ceasefire in Gaza. They also stated their conviction that Iran “can never have a nuclear weapon”.
“We urge that the resolution of the Iranian crisis leads to a broader de-escalation of hostilities in the Middle East, including a ceasefire in Gaza,” said the G7 joint statement released by Canada.
The statement said that Israel “has a right to defend itself” and stressed “the importance of the protection of civilians,” as the growing attacks kill civilians on both sides.
Esmail Baghaei, spokesman for Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, criticised the G7 leaders for disregarding what he described as Israel’s “blatant aggression” against his country.
“The G7 member states, especially the three permanent members of the UN Security Council, must assume their legal and moral responsibility for this blatant act of aggression against a UN member state,” Baghaei said in a social media post.
“Hundreds of innocent people have been killed, our public and state facilities and people’s homes are brutally demolished and hospitals and health centres are targeted. Iran is defending itself against a cruel aggression. Does Iran really have any other choice?”
Baghaei said stability in the region will only come after an “immediate end to Israel’s aggression”.
G7 Leaders’ statement has revealingly disregarded Israel’s blatalnt aggression against #Iran, and the unlawful attacks on our peaceful nuclear infrastructure as well as indiscriminate targetting of residential areas and killing of our citizens.
Member States of G7, in…
— Esmaeil Baqaei (@IRIMFA_SPOX) June 17, 2025
Trump told reporters before his decision was announced to leave early due to the Middle East situation: “As soon as I leave here, we’re going to be doing something.”
He later stated that his early departure from the summit had “nothing to do with” working on a ceasefire between Israel and Iran, refuting comments by Macron, who said the US president made a ceasefire proposal.
Macron “mistakenly said that I left the G7 Summit, in Canada, to go back to DC to work on a ‘ceasefire’ between Israel and Iran”, Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform as he left the moot to return to Washington.
“Wrong! He has no idea why I am now on my way to Washington, but it certainly has nothing to do with a ceasefire. Much bigger than that,” Trump added in the post.
Macron said earlier today that Trump had made an offer for a ceasefire between Israel and Iran.
“There is indeed an offer to meet and exchange. An offer was made especially to get a ceasefire and to then kick-start broader discussions,” Macron told reporters at the G7.
Trump has repeatedly declined to say if the United States would participate in Israeli military action, although he has said Washington was not involved in initial strikes, and the White House said that US forces remained in a defensive posture.
A US official had said Trump would not sign a draft statement from G7 leaders calling for a de-escalation of the conflict. The draft statement had stated Iran must never have a nuclear weapon and that Israel has the right to defend itself.
Separately, Macron called for strikes against civilians in Iran and Israel to end, as he warned against forcing regime change in Tehran.
“If the United States can achieve a ceasefire, that’s a very good thing,” Macron told reporters at the G7 summit in Canada. Fox News reported he would convene his National Security Council.
Macron called on both Israel and Iran to “end” strikes against civilians and warned that aiming to overthrow Tehran’s clerical state would be a “strategic error”.
“All who have thought that by bombing from the outside you can save a country in spite of itself have always been mistaken,” he said.
Sources told Reuters that Tehran had asked Oman, Qatar and Saudi Arabia to urge Trump to pressure Netanyahu to agree to an immediate ceasefire. In return, Iran would show flexibility in nuclear negotiations, according to two Iranian and three regional sources.
US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth told Fox News on Tuesday that Trump was still aiming for a nuclear deal with Iran even as hostilities have escalated between Israel and Tehran, while a White House aide said separately that Washington was not attacking Iran.
“Of course,” Hegseth said on Fox News’ “Jesse Watters Primetime” show when asked if Trump was still aiming for a nuclear deal with Iran.
“We are postured defensively in the region to be strong in pursuit of a peace deal. And we certainly hope that’s what happens here,” Hegseth said.
“If President Trump is genuine about diplomacy and interested in stopping this war, next steps are consequential,” Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on X.
“Israel must halt its aggression, and absent a total cessation of military aggression against us, our responses will continue.”
Netanyahu told reporters on Monday that Israel was committed to eliminating threats posed by Iran’s nuclear and ballistic missile programmes, adding, “If this can be achieved in another way — fine. But we gave it a 60-day chance.”
Countries evacuate their nationals from Iran
More than 600 foreign nationals of 17 countries have crossed from Iran into neighbouring Azerbaijan since Israeli strikes began, a government source told AFP on Tuesday.
The evacuees, who crossed the border via the Astara checkpoint on the Caspian Sea coast, are being transported to Baku airport and “flown to their home countries on international flights,” the source said.
Among those evacuated are citizens of Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, as well as Germany, Spain, Italy, Serbia, Romania, Portugal, the United States, the United Arab Emirates, China, and Vietnam.
Meanwhile, with security concerns growing and Israeli airspace closed because of the war, the Chinese embassy in Israel urged Chinese citizens to leave the country via land border crossings as soon as possible.
Flights carrying evacuees from Israel arrived in Slovakia and the Czech Republic, authorities said, making these countries among the first to get their citizens out of the Middle East.
Slovak authorities said that the first evacuation flight with 73 people, including 25 Slovak tourists and five family members of Slovak diplomats working in Tel Aviv, had arrived in the capital, Bratislava, late on Monday.
The Japanese government was looking into “various options” to evacuate Japanese nationals from affected areas, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi told reporters today.
Meanwhile, the Thai government has ordered its military to prepare planes to evacuate its citizens from Israel and Iran.
“We are ready to evacuate people and have coordinated with the military to prepare planes to bring them home from Israel and Iran,” government spokesperson Jirayu Houngsub told reporters after a cabinet meeting.
India’s foreign ministry said Indian students in Tehran have been moved out of the city for safety in light of the conflict, while others who are “self-sufficient” in terms of transport have been advised to move out too.
“Separately, some Indians have been facilitated to leave Iran through the border with Armenia,” the ministry said.
Ukraine also urged its citizens to leave Israel and Iran as soon as possible amid the spiralling conflict between the two countries.
“Due to the significant deterioration of the security situation in the Middle East, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs strongly recommends that Ukrainian citizens leave the territory of the State of Israel and the Islamic Republic of Iran as soon as possible until the situation in the region stabilises,” Ukraine’s foreign ministry said in a statement.
Earlier today, Trump urged civilians to evacuate Tehran “immediately” amid rising tensions between Israel and Iran.
“Iran should have signed the ‘deal’ I told them to sign. What a shame, and waste of human life. Simply stated, Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon. I said it over and over again!
“Everyone should immediately evacuate Tehran!” he said on his Truth Social platform.
The Iran-Israel air war — the biggest battle ever between the two longtime enemies — escalated on Monday with Israel targeting Iran’s state broadcaster and uranium enrichment facilities.
Last night, Iran’s state TV resumed live coverage after an Israeli attack on the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB) building that the broadcaster said killed three people, AFP reported.
“The Zionist regime, the enemy of the Iranian nation, minutes ago conducted a military operation against the Islamic Republic of Iran news network”, part of IRIB, said Hassan Abedini, a senior official at the broadcasting service. “The regime (Israel) was unaware of the fact that the voice of the Islamic revolution and the great Iran will not be silenced with a military operation.”
The blast occurred as the presenter was live on TV, lambasting Israel before she was seen leaving the live broadcast, Iranian media reported, sharing a video of the incident. The attack was confirmed by the Israeli defence minister as well.
The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) strongly condemned Israel’s strike on IRIB and called for an end to the “bloodshed”, Al Jazeera reported.
“CPJ is appalled by Israel’s bombing of Iran’s state TV channel while live on air,” CPJ Regional Director for the Middle East Sara Qudah said.
“Israel’s killing, with impunity, of almost 200 journalists in Gaza has emboldened it to target media elsewhere in the region. This bloodshed must end now.”
IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi told the BBC that the Natanz plant sustained extensive damage, likely destroying 15,000 centrifuges, while Iran’s Fordow plant remained largely intact.
Trump has consistently said the Israeli assault could end quickly if Iran agreed to US demands that it accept strict curbs to its nuclear programme. Talks between the US and Iran, hosted by Oman, had been scheduled for June 15 but were scrapped, with Tehran saying the attacks made the dialogue “meaningless”.
“As I’ve been saying, I think a deal will be signed, or something will happen, but a deal will be signed, and I think Iran is foolish not to sign,” Trump told reporters on the sidelines of the Group of Seven summit in Canada on Monday.
Yesterday, Israel’s Haifa-based Bazan Group said all refinery facilities have been shut down after a power station used to produce steam and electricity were significantly damaged in an attack by Iran, according to a regulatory filing.
The group said the Iranian attack resulted in the death of three company employees. The refinery is located in Haifa Bay, according to Israeli media.
