Israel

Israel says that ending Iran’s nuclear programme is a key aim of its attacks on the country.

Israel is widely believed to have nuclear arms, but has never admitted that.

So, what are the nuclear capabilities of both sides, and what are the risks from this conflict?

Presenter: Laura Kyle

Guests:

Dan Smith – Director at the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute

Sahil Shah – Nuclear weapons policy analyst in London

Rebecca Johnson – Director at the Acronym Institute for Disarmament Diplomacy and former senior adviser to Dr Hans Blix, who was formerly the top UN weapons inspector in Iraq and an IAEA chief

Iran has no clear off-ramps to end its war with Israel, which could soon drag in the United States and lead to a new quagmire in the Middle East, analysts told Al Jazeera.

Since June 13, Israel has killed at least 240 Iranians, many of them civilians. Top Iranian military leaders and nuclear scientists have been among the dead.

Israel has struck Iran’s state television station, hit a hospital, targeted apartment blocks, and damaged the country’s air defences.

In response, Iran has fired barrages of ballistic missiles at Israel, targeting military and security installations, and hitting the Haifa oil refinery, residential buildings, and a hospital. At least 24 people have been killed in Israel as a result of the attacks.

Israel aims to destroy Iran’s nuclear programme and potentially go as far as bringing about regime change, analysts say.

These goals make it difficult for Iran to navigate a quick end to the conflict. Iran’s official position is that it will not negotiate while under attack, fearing it will be forced to fully surrender to US and Israeli terms.

Iran may instead have to hope that US President Donald Trump can be persuaded to rein in Israel, which may be in his interest to avoid getting entangled in a far-away war, even if the US leader has recently appeared to favour striking Iran, and has reiterated that Iran cannot be allowed to have a nuclear weapon.

“If the United States recognises the urgency of de-escalation and manages to persuade Israel to halt its military campaign, then – given the mounting costs of war for Iran and the fact that Iran’s primary goal is to stop, not expand, the conflict – it is highly likely that Iran would agree to a ceasefire or political resolution,” said Hamidreza Aziz, an expert on Iran for the Middle East Council for Global Affairs think tank.

Few viable options

In theory, Iran could return to the negotiating table and sign a deal while under fire.

However, Iran would be forced to entirely give up its nuclear programme, enabling its enemies to then aggressively pursue regime change without fear of consequence, analysts previously told Al Jazeera.

This is an unlikely scenario, according to Reza H Akbari, an analyst on Iran and the Middle East, North Africa and South Asia Program Manager at the Institute for War and Peace Reporting.

“[Iran’s nuclear] program continues to remain a leverage for Iran, which enables them to even engage with the US. Giving it up would be a shocking development which I don’t foresee for the time being,” he told Al Jazeera.

The US and Iran had already engaged in five rounds of negotiations before Israel instigated the conflict.

The two sides had reached an impasse when Trump demanded that Iran give up its entire nuclear programme, which every country has an “inalienable right” to use for peaceful purposes, according to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, which Iran is a signatory to.

Trump has since warned Iran to quickly surrender to a deal or face even more dire repercussions, hinting at regime change.

Iran has few good options, said Negar Mortazavi, an expert on Iran with the Center for International Policy (CIP).

She believes Iran has little to lose by retaliating against Israel, but also notes that the strategy would not necessarily give Tehran a way out of the conflict.

“If Iran does not retaliate after each attack, [Iranian officials] think [the Israeli attacks] will get harder and I think they’re correct,” Mortazavi told Al Jazeera. “But every time [Iran] retaliates, they give Israel the excuse to attack them again.”

Pressuring the US?

Over the last year, Iran’s regional influence has suffered major setbacks, leaving it geopolitically vulnerable.

Iran had long relied on its ally, the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah, to provide deterrence from direct Israeli attacks, but Hezbollah was significantly weakened after fighting an all-out war against Israel last year.

In addition, Iran lost another ally when Syria’s former President Bashar al-Assad was toppled in December 2024.

Iran could still direct attacks against US bases and personnel through a web of Iranian-backed armed groups in the region, particularly in Iraq, said Barbara Slavin, an expert on Iran and a distinguished fellow at the Stimson Centre think tank.

She believes Iranian-backed groups in Iraq could fire “warning shots” to try and exploit US public opinion.

Trump’s nationalist “America First” base remains staunchly opposed to any US involvement in wars abroad, which they view as unrelated to their domestic concerns.

And anti-interventionist sentiments are likely to increase if US troops are put in harm’s way as a result of any attacks related to the conflict with Iran.

“The thought of Americans dying in this would make it even more controversial for [the US] than it already is,” Slavin told Al Jazeera.

Iran could also make Americans feel the impact of the war economically. It has threatened to attack commercial ships in the Strait of Hormuz, which would affect global trade and increase oil prices. But Slavin said this move would badly hurt Iran’s economy, too.

Slavin added that Iran also relies on commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, which lies between Iran and Oman and is one of the most important shipping routes in the world, to export oil. Instead, Slavin said that Iran’s best option was to contain the war with Israel and wait out the conflict, arguing that any manoeuvre to escalate against US personnel, even as a warning, is a risky gambit.

Trump’s administration, which includes many war hawks, has explicitly warned Iran against targeting its assets or soldiers.

Iran is also wary of giving the US any easy pretext to directly enter the war on behalf of Israel, Akbari said.

“Iran’s leadership knows that drawing the US further into the war could be catastrophic for both the regime and in terms of industrial damage. [It would risk destroying] everything Iran has built over the last 40-plus years,” Akbari said.

Strategic calculus

Iran’s formal position is to inflict significant political, military and material cost on Israel for instigating the war.

This position was echoed by Hassan Ahmadian, an assistant professor at Tehran University, who suggested Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu may stop the war if Israelis feel the impact of a crisis he instigated.

“Iranians are quite confident that they can inflict enough retaliatory pain to make Israel stop [its attacks],” Ahmadian told Al Jazeera.

It is unclear how much damage Iran is doing to Israel’s military infrastructure since the latter bars the media from reporting such information.

Furthermore, it’s hard to assess how long Iran can sustain a war against Israel.

But Israel itself may struggle to attack for a protracted period without the US, said Slavin.

She referenced media reports that Israel is running low on defensive interceptors, which could make it more vulnerable to long-range strikes by Iran.

The challenges facing both foes could prompt them to end the fighting sooner rather than later – at least that appears to be what Iran is betting on.

“Right now, Iran is trying to hunker down and somehow get through this,” Slavin said.

“No outside power will save Iran. It’s up to them [to save themselves],” she told Al Jazeera.

“This man absolutely should not continue to exist.” Israel’s defence minister threatened to assassinate Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, after Iranian missile strikes across Israel. The missiles injured dozens, damaging a hospital, a high-rise, and several residential buildings.

Israeli social media users have gone viral for videos mocking an Iranian TV anchor whose live broadcast was interrupted by an Israeli bombing, mimicking her clothes and her reaction to the attack. Some comments criticised the videos as a ‘despicable’ celebration of war crimes.

An Iranian missile slammed into the main hospital in southern Israel, wounding people and causing “extensive damage,” according to the medical facility.

However, IRNA, the Islamic Republic News Agency, has said on Telegram that the “main target” of the missile attack early on Thursday “was the large [Israeli army] Command and Intelligence (IDF C4I) headquarters and the military intelligence camp in the Gav-Yam Technology Park”.

It said that this facility is located next to Soroka hospital in Be’er Sheva.

IRNA claimed that the hospital only suffered minor damage from the shockwave resulting from the missile attack.

“The military infrastructure was a precise and direct target,” it said.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned the attack and promised a response, saying: “We will exact the full price from the tyrants in Tehran.”

Another missile hit a high-rise building and several other residential buildings in at least two sites near Tel Aviv. At least 47 people were wounded in the attacks, according to Israel’s Magen David Adom rescue service.

Israel, meanwhile, carried out strikes on Iran’s Arak heavy water reactor in its latest attack on the country’s sprawling nuclear programme, on the seventh day of a conflict that began with a surprise wave of Israeli air strikes targeting military sites, senior officers and nuclear scientists.

Israel’s military said its fighter jets targeted the Arak facility and its reactor core seal to stop it from being used to produce plutonium.

Israel separately claimed to have struck another site around Natanz that it described as being related to Iran’s nuclear programme.

Iranian state TV said there was “no radiation danger whatsoever” from the attack on the Arak site.

Israel is the only nuclear-armed state in the Middle East – but does not acknowledge having such weapons.

A new wave of Iranian missiles has struck multiple sites across Israel, damaging a hospital, and Israel has attacked Iran’s Arak heavy water nuclear reactor as the two countries trade fire for a seventh consecutive day.

Rescue operations were under way on Thursday after an Iranian missile hit the Soroka Medical Center in the city of Beersheba in southern Israel. Iran said it was targeting a military site in the attack.

Reports said the Iranian projectiles made impact in at least six other locations, including in Tel Aviv and two of its districts – Holon and Ramat Gan. Emergency crews said at least 50 people were injured, including four who were in critical condition.

The Israeli army said its fighter jets struck dozens of sites in Iran, including the Arak heavy water nuclear reactor.

The partially built reactor was originally called Arak and is now named Khondab.

The military said it specifically targeted “the structure of the reactor’s core seal, which is a key component in plutonium production”.

Iranian media reported air defences were activated in the area of the Khondab nuclear facility and two projectiles hit an area close to it.

Officials told Iranian state TV that evacuations were made before the strikes and no risk of radiation or casualties was detected. There was no mention of any damage.

The attacks were carried out as the two countries traded fire for a seventh day after Israel launched a major attack on Friday on Iranian military facilities and nuclear sites, killing senior military officials and top nuclear scientists.

Iran responded to that attack with air strikes on Israel, and the conflict has since widened to include civilian targets, including residential areas and oil and gas facilities.

Iran has fired hundreds of missiles and drones at Israel although most have been shot down by Israel’s multitiered air defences.

Major hospital

The Soroka Medical Center, which has more than 1,000 beds and provides services to about 1 million residents of southern Israel, said in a statement there was “extensive damage” in several areas of the hospital and the emergency room was treating several minor injuries. The hospital was closed to all new patients except for life-threatening cases.

Many hospitals in Israel have activated emergency plans in the past week, converting underground parking to hospital floors and moving patients underground, especially those who are on ventilators or are difficult to move quickly.

“This is a war crime committed by the Iranian regime,” Israeli Health Minister Uriel Buso was quoted as saying by Israeli Army Radio in reference to the attack on Soroka. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned the Iranian leaders they would pay “a heavy price” for the attack.

The Iranian news agency IRNA said the “main target” of the Beersheba attack “was the large [Israeli army] Command and Intelligence (IDF C4I) headquarters and the military intelligence camp in the Gav-Yam Technology Park”. The facility is next to the Soroka Medical Center, it said, claiming the health facility suffered only minor damage from the shockwave resulting from the missile strike.

Tight military censorship in Israel means information about sites such as military and intelligence facilities are not released to the public. According to Israeli media reports, a building next to the hospital described as “sensitive” sustained heavy damage.

Ori Goldberg, an Israeli political commentator, told Al Jazeera that Israeli authorities were focusing on the hospital attack and trying to send a “message that the Iranians target hospitals”.

“Of course, Israelis target hospitals as well. It’s important to mention that there really are very sensitive installations and headquarters very near to the hospital because Israel places its military headquarters in the midst of civilian neighbourhoods and towns,” he added, speaking from Tel Aviv.

Iranian state TV, meanwhile, reported the attack on the Arak site, saying there was “no radiation danger whatsoever”. An Iranian state television reporter, speaking live in the nearby town of Khondab, said the facility had been evacuated and there was no damage to civilian areas around the reactor.

Israel had warned earlier on Thursday morning that it would attack the facility and urged the public to leave. The Israeli military said its latest round of air strikes also targeted Tehran and other areas of Iran, without elaborating.

The strikes came a day after Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei rejected United States calls for a surrender and warned that any US military involvement in the conflict would cause “irreparable damage to them”.

A Washington, DC-based Iranian human rights group said at least 639 people, including 263 civilians, have been killed in Iran in the past week of air strikes and more than 1,300 have been wounded. Iran has fired about 400 missiles and hundreds of drones at Israel, killing at least 24 people and wounding hundreds.

The Russian president says Iran’s nuclear programme continues and society remains united behind political leadership.

Russian President Vladimir Putin declined to comment on speculation that Israel or the United States may try to assassinate Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and continued to push for a political solution to the Iran-Israel conflict during a meeting with international journalists.

“If I may, I hope that this will be the most correct answer to your question. I do not even want to discuss this possibility. I do not want to,” he said in response to questions about Khamenei on Thursday from the sidelines of the Saint Petersburg International Economic Forum.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said earlier this week that the conflict could lead to regime change in Iran, where Israeli attacks have targeted senior military leaders and top nuclear scientists.

Israeli strikes have killed at least 585 people, among them 239 civilians, since last Friday, according to a US-based Iranian human rights group.

US President Donald Trump earlier said that Washington knew the location of Khamenei. He said the US would not act for now, although he has not ruled out the possibility that the US may join Israel’s attack on Iran.

Despite the threats from Netanyahu, Putin said that Iranian society remains united behind its government.

“We see that today in Iran, with all the complexity of the internal political processes taking place there … that there is a consolidation of society around the country’s political leadership,” he said.

The Russian leader has presented himself in recent days as a possible mediator between the two sides, although his overtures have been rebuffed by world leaders like Trump due to Moscow’s close ties with Tehran.

Despite the roadblocks, Putin has continued to push for a peaceful resolution that would need to ensure Iran’s “peaceful nuclear activities” and the “interests of Israel from the point of view of the unconditional security of the Jewish state”.

“This is a delicate issue, and of course, we need to be very careful here, but in my opinion, a solution can be found,” he said.

Russia has yet to supply Iran with weapons, despite signing a strategic partnership in January, he said, although it continues to help with Iran’s nuclear programme. Tehran says this programme is designed for civilian use and has consistently denied seeking a bomb, but Israel claims Iran intends to build a nuclear weapon.

Putin said Tehran’s nuclear programme continues underground despite the recent Israeli air strikes.

“These underground factories, they exist, nothing has happened to them,” Putin said.

Putin also said that more than 200 Russians continue to work at the Russian-built Bushehr nuclear power plant in southern Iran. The group is safe, he said, after Moscow “agreed with the leadership of Israel that their security would be ensured”.

US President Donald Trump says he is still weighing his options regarding United States military intervention amid escalating hostilities between Israel and Iran.

Standing on the South Lawn of the White House on Wednesday, Trump said, “The next week is going to be big,” adding that Iranian officials are eager to negotiate. However, he warned them that “it’s very late to be talking,” after they reached out to him.

Officials and experts have suggested that the US’s 30,000-pound (13,000kg) bunker buster bomb is the only weapon capable of destroying the Fordow Fuel Enrichment Plant, a facility believed to be central to Tehran’s nuclear programme and carved deep into a mountain.

The United States is the only country to possess these bombs, which it delivers using B-2 bombers. If deployed against Iran, it would represent a major shift from primarily intercepting missiles on Israel’s behalf to conducting active offensive strikes against Iran.

What are bunker buster bombs?

“Bunker buster” is a general term for bombs designed to destroy targets located deep underground that conventional bombs cannot reach.

The US military’s most powerful bunker buster is the GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrator. Weighing about 30,000 pounds (13,600 kg), including a 2,700kg (6,000-pound) warhead, this precision-guided bomb is made of high-strength steel and built to penetrate up to 200 feet (61 metres) underground before exploding.

The B-2 Spirit, a US stealth bomber, is currently the only aircraft designed to deploy the GBU-57 and can carry two bunker buster bombs at a time. The US Air Force says multiple bombs can be dropped sequentially, either by the same aircraft or by several, allowing each strike to burrow deeper, amplifying the overall impact.

Israel also operates US-made bunker busters, including the GBU-28 and BLU-109, which are typically dropped from fighter jets such as the F-15. These weapons, however, have a much shallower penetration range and are not capable of reaching extreme depths of fortified sites like Iran’s Fordow nuclear facility. In 2024, Israel reportedly used successive BLU-109 bombs to kill Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in his underground headquarters in Beirut.

How deep is Iran’s Fordow nuclear facility?

Iran’s Fordow Fuel Enrichment Plant, located about 95km (60 miles) southwest of Tehran, is built into the side of a mountain, reportedly up to 80-90 metres (260-300 feet) underground, to survive air strikes and bunker buster attacks.

Construction of the Fordow facility is believed to have begun in about 2006, and it became operational in 2009, the same year Iran officially acknowledged it.

Under the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, known as the JCPOA, Iran agreed to halt enrichment at Fordow and convert the site into a research centre. However, after the US withdrew from the agreement in 2018, Iran resumed uranium enrichment at the facility. Iran has insisted its nuclear programme is for civilian purposes.

Fordow is reportedly defended by Iranian and Russian surface-to-air missile systems, though those defences may have already been targeted in Israel’s ongoing strikes.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has framed the campaign as a mission to dismantle Iran’s missile and nuclear capabilities, describing them as an existential threat. Officials have confirmed that Fordow is a key target.

“This entire operation … really has to be completed with the elimination of Fordow,” said Yechiel Leiter, Israel’s ambassador to the United States, in an interview with Fox News.

Other nuclear sites targeted

Israel is believed to have destroyed the above-ground section of Iran’s uranium enrichment facility at Natanz, the country’s largest nuclear site.

According to the United Nations’ International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the resulting power loss may have also caused damage to the underground enrichment halls at the facility.

Before and after satellite imagery reveals the extent of the damage at Natanz.

Israeli attacks have also damaged the Isfahan enrichment facility in central Iran.

Potential nuclear and chemical contamination

On Monday, Rafael Grossi, the head of the UN nuclear watchdog, said there was a possibility of both radiological and chemical contamination from the damaged Natanz site.

Speaking at an emergency IAEA session in Vienna, Grossi said radiation levels remain normal outside Iran’s Natanz and Isfahan nuclear sites, both of which were hit in Israeli strikes. However, he warned that ongoing military escalation increases the risk of a radiological release.

Fordow is located about 32 kilometres (20 miles) south of the city of Qom, Iran’s seventh-largest city with a population of some 1.4 million and a major religious and political centre.

June 19 (UPI) — The U.S. government and a Florida agency are working to arrange evacuation flights and cruise ship departures for Americans who want to leave Israel.

That includes participants in Birthright Israel, which is a free, 10-day heritage trip to Israel offered to young Jewish adults between the ages of 18-26.

U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee said Wednesday his embassy is working to get Americans out of Israel.

“Urgent notice! American citizens wanting to leave Israel-US Embassy in Israel @usembassyjlm is working on evacuation flights & cruise ship departures,” Huckabee wrote on his personal X account and later reposted on official accounts. “You must enroll in the Smart Traveler Enrollment Program (STEP). You will be alerted w/ updates.”

The State Department later said that it has “no announcement about assisting private U.S. citizens to depart at this time.”

The situation is complicated by the closure of Ben Gurion International Airport in Tel Aviv. Jordan’s airports are open for commercial flights after being shut on Friday and Saturday.

On Tuesday, Americans participating in Birthright Israel boarded buses and sailed on the Crown Iris, a luxury Israeli cruise ship operated by Mano Maritime, to Cyprus. After the 13-hour voyage, they were flown to Tampa, Fla., on four jets chartered by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.

In October 2023, DeSantis’ office flew nearly 700 Americans from Israel to Florida after Hamas attacked the Middle Eastern country.

The Florida Division of Emergency Management wrote on Facebook Sunday that it is “actively coordinating efforts to assist Americans seeking evacuation from the hostile situation in Israel.”

Sierra Dean, a spokesperson for the governor, said stranded Americans can fill out an emergency evacuation form from Grey Bull Rescue, a Tampa nonprofit that helps rescue citizens in conflict zones. Project Dynamo, a nonprofit also in Tampa, has teams on the ground in Israel and Jordan to assist.

Birthright Israel, a nonprofit, said it will pay for all its participants’ transportation costs.

When the airstrikes began, Birthright had about 2,800 young adult participants in Israel with 20,000 planning to go there this summer. Trips were canceled after the Israel-Hamas war, but were resumed in January 2023.

“Today we witnessed the true spirit of Birthright Israel – not only as an educational journey, but as a global family committed to the safety and well-being of every participant,” the organization’s CEO, Gidi Mark, said in a statement to The Times of Israel.

“This was a complex and emotional operation, carried out under immense pressure, and we are proud to have brought 1,500 young adults safely to Cyprus. Our team continues to work around the clock to secure solutions for the remaining participants still in Israel.”

Birthright participants were instructed to keep the voyage a secret by their group leaders.

“We’ve spent the last week going to bomb shelters every single night and barely getting any sleep,” Cantor Josh Goldberg told WPEC-TV. “So at least we all got to sleep on the boat.”

About 1,300 Birthright participants were still in Israel.

Footage shows Pakistani citizens evacuated from Iran fleeing the country as the Israel-Iran conflict deepens. Pakistan shut all crossings with Iran indefinitely on Monday, raising concerns the conflict could destabilise the nuclear-armed nation.

Russian President Vladimir Putin says Israel has given assurances about the safety of its personnel at Iran’s Russian-built nuclear power plant in Bushehr. Russia and Iran have been working on the joint project for three decades. He made the comments at a meeting with foreign press.

UN chief Antonio Guterres, in a statement read by spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric, warned against escalating the Iran-Israel conflict. He urged restraint and diplomacy, and warned against any ‘additional military interventions.”

Iranian TV has aired footage of what it says is Iran’s air defences shooting down an Israeli Hermes 900 drone. It’s the first time Iran has aired footage of a drone takedown. The UAV crashed near the city of Isfahan.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Iran’s supreme leader on Wednesday rejected U.S. calls for surrender in the face of more Israeli strikes and warned that any military involvement by the Americans would cause “irreparable damage to them.”

The second public appearance by Ayatollah Ali Khamenei since the Israeli strikes began six days ago came as Israel lifted some restrictions on daily life, suggesting that the missile threat from Iran was easing.

Khamenei spoke a day after President Trump demanded in a social media post that Iran surrender without conditions and warned Khamenei that the U.S. knows where he is but has no plans to kill him, “at least not for now.”

Trump initially distanced himself from Israel’s surprise attack on Friday that triggered the conflict, but in recent days he has hinted at greater American involvement, saying he wants something “much bigger” than a ceasefire. The U.S. has also sent more military aircraft and warships to the region.

‘Nobody knows what I’m going to do’

Speaking to reporters at the White House Wednesday, Trump would not say whether he has decided to order a U.S. strike on Iran, a move that Tehran warned anew would be greeted with stiff retaliation if it happens.

“I may do it, I may not do it,” Trump said in an exchange with reporters at the White House. “I mean, nobody knows what I’m going to do.”

Trump added that it’s not “too late” for Iran to give up its nuclear program as he continues to weigh direct U.S. involvement in Israel’s military operations aimed at crushing Tehran’s nuclear program.

“Nothing’s too late,” Trump said. “I can tell you this. Iran’s got a lot of trouble.”

“Nothing is finished until it is finished,” Trump added. But “the next week is going to be very big — maybe less than a week.”

Trump also offered a terse response to Khamenei’s refusal to heed to his call for Iran to submit to an unconditional surrender.

“I say good luck,” Trump said.

‘The Iranian nation is not one to surrender’

Khamenei dismissed the “threatening and absurd statements” by Trump.

“Wise individuals who know Iran, its people and its history never speak to this nation with the language of threats, because the Iranian nation is not one to surrender,” he said in a low-resolution video, his voice echoing. “Americans should know that any military involvement by the U.S. will undoubtedly result in irreparable damage to them.”

Iran released Khamenei’s statement before the video was aired, perhaps as a security measure. His location is not known, and it was impossible to discern from the tight shot, which showed only beige curtains, an Iranian flag and a portrait of Grand Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, Khamenei’s immediate predecessor, who died in 1989.

An Iranian diplomat had warned earlier Wednesday that U.S. intervention would risk “all-out war.”

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei did not elaborate, but thousands of American troops are based in nearby countries within range of Iran’s weapons. The U.S. has threatened a massive response to any attack.

Another Iranian official said the country would keep enriching uranium for peaceful purposes, apparently ruling out Trump’s demands that Iran give up its disputed nuclear program.

Strikes in and around Tehran

The latest Israeli strikes hit one facility used to make uranium centrifuges and another that made missile components, the Israeli military said. Military officials said their defenses intercepted 10 missiles overnight as Iran’s retaliatory barrages diminished. The U.N. nuclear watchdog agency said Israel struck two centrifuge production facilities in and near Tehran.

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said the military also struck the headquarters of Iran’s internal security forces on Wednesday, without specifying the agency or location. The strike marks a shift toward targeting Iran’s domestic security apparatus, which has long cracked down on dissent and suppressed protests.

Israel’s air campaign has struck several nuclear and military sites, killing top generals and nuclear scientists. A Washington-based Iranian human rights group said at least 585 people, including 239 civilians, have been killed and more than 1,300 wounded.

Iran has fired some 400 missiles and hundreds of drones in retaliatory strikes, killing at least 24 people in Israel and wounding hundreds. Some have hit apartment buildings in central Israel, causing heavy damage, and air-raid sirens have repeatedly forced Israelis to run for shelter.

Iran has fired fewer missiles as the conflict has worn on. It has not explained the decline, but Israel has targeted launchers and other infrastructure related to the missiles.

By Wednesday, Israel eased some of the restrictions that it had imposed on daily life when Iran launched its retaliatory attack, allowing gatherings of up to 30 people and letting workplaces reopen as long as there is a shelter nearby.

Schools are closed, and many businesses remain shuttered, but Israel’s decision to reverse its ban on gatherings and office work for all but essential employees signals the Israeli military’s confidence that its attacks have limited Iran’s missile capabilities.

Casualties mount in Iran

The Washington-based group Human Rights Activists said it had identified 239 of those killed in Israeli strikes as civilians and 126 as security personnel.

The group, which also provided detailed casualty figures during 2022 protests over the death of Mahsa Amini, crosschecks local reports against a network of sources it has developed in Iran.

Iran has not been publishing regular death tolls during the conflict and has minimized casualties in the past. Its last update, issued Monday, put the toll at 224 people killed and 1,277 others wounded.

Shops have been closed across Tehran, including in its famed Grand Bazaar, as people wait in gas lines and pack roads leading out of the city to escape the onslaught.

A major explosion was heard around 5 a.m. Wednesday in Tehran. That followed other explosions earlier in the predawn darkness. Authorities in Iran offered no acknowledgement of the attacks, which have become increasingly common as the Israeli airstrikes have intensified.

At least one strike appeared to target Tehran’s eastern neighborhood of Hakimiyeh, where the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard has an academy.

Iran says it will keep enriching uranium

Israel says it launched the strikes to prevent Iran from building a nuclear weapon, after talks between the United States and Iran over a diplomatic resolution made little visible progress over two months but were still ongoing. Trump has said Israel’s campaign came after a 60-day window he set for the talks.

Iran has long insisted its nuclear program is peaceful, though it is the only non-nuclear-armed state to enrich uranium up to 60%, a short, technical step away from weapons-grade levels of 90%. U.S. intelligence agencies have said they did not believe Iran was actively pursuing the bomb.

Israel is the only country in the Middle East with nuclear weapons, but has never publicly acknowledged them.

Iran’s ambassador to Geneva, Ali Bahreini, told reporters that Iran “will continue to produce the enriched uranium as far as we need for peaceful purposes.”

He rejected any talk of a setback to Iran’s nuclear research and development from the Israeli strikes, saying, “Our scientists will continue their work.”

Israel welcomes first repatriation flights

Israelis began returning on flights for the first time since the country’s international airport shut down at the start of the conflict.

Two flights from Larnaca, Cyprus, landed Wednesday at Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion International Airport, said Lisa Dvir, an airport spokesperson.

Israel closed its airspace to commercial flights because of the ballistic missile attacks, leaving tens of thousands of Israelis stranded abroad.

Krauss, Gambrell and Frankel write for the Associated Press. Frankel reported from Jerusalem. Associated Press writers Amir Vahdat and Nasser Karimi in Iran, and Jamey Keaten in Geneva, contributed.

Here are the key events on day six of the Israel-Iran conflict.

Here’s where things stand on Monday, June 18:

Fighting

• The Israeli army continued to launch attacks across Iran, targeting the capital Tehran, where explosions were reported throughout the day, in the central province of Isfahan as well as near Kahraj.
• Israel said it struck 40 sites in Iran, including weapons facilities. Other strikes targeted two centrifuge production facilities – one in Tehran and one in Kahraj, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
• Israel’s military claimed it is “operating freely” in Iranian skies, while confirming one of its unmanned aircraft was downed in Iranian territory. Iranian state media said Iranian forces shot down an Israeli drone and fighter jet.
• An Iranian drone that entered airspace over the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights in Syria was also intercepted, Israel said, adding later that a second drone was intercepted in the south of the territory.
• Iran also launched a wave of missile attacks towards Israel. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said long-range Sejjil missiles were used in its 12th wave of firings at Israel.
• The IRGC warned that the skies above “occupied lands” are open to Iranian missiles and drones, adding that the attacks will be “focused and continuous”.
• Explosions were reported in the greater Tel Aviv area and east of the city. Israel said it intercepted eight missiles in that salvo in the evening.

Casualties and disruptions

• An Israeli strike on a vehicle in Isfahan’s Najafabad killed six people, including a pregnant woman and two children, according to local media reports.
• Israel did not report any deaths on Wednesday.
• Iran’s Ministry of Communications said it will temporarily limit internet access to prevent “the enemy from threatening citizens’ lives and property”.
• The London-based internet watchdog NetBlocks also said that there was a “near-total national internet blackout”.
• A spokesman for the Ministry of Roads and Urban Development in Iran announced the extension of domestic and international flight cancellations until early Thursday.
• Public safety guidelines in Israel that heavily restricted activity were eased. Limited gatherings and work operations are now allowed in areas where people can quickly reach a “standard protected place” until Friday evening.

Diplomacy

• Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei delivered his first televised address since Israel began its attacks on Friday, warning that any United States military intervention in the conflict would be met with “irreparable consequences”.
• Esmaeil Baghaei, Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman, warned in an interview with Al Jazeera that any US intervention would be “a recipe for an all-out war in the region”.
• US President Donald Trump spoke to reporters on the White House lawn, and when asked if the US was moving closer to striking Iran, he said: “I may do it. I may not do it.”
• Trump also claimed that Iranian officials reached out to him and suggested visiting the White House. Iran has denied this, saying “the only thing more despicable than his lies is his cowardly threat to ‘take out’ Iran’s Supreme Leader”.
• Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu thanked Trump for his “support in defending Israel’s skies”, describing him as a “a great friend of the state of Israel”.
• Russian President Vladimir Putin reiterated his country’s willingness to help mediate the crisis.
• Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said his country wants to see the crisis resolved diplomatically and Ankara could play a constructive role, but accused Israel of waging “crazed” attacks against Iran that amount to “state terrorism”.
• France is planning along with European partners to suggest a negotiated solution to end the conflict between Iran and Israel, the country’s presidency said, after President Emmanuel Macron chaired a Defence and National Security Council meeting.
• Macron has indicated that military regime change in Iran is a strategic mistake, according to France’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson.
• Iran’s mission to the United Nations has requested an emergency UN Security Council meeting, saying the situation “has dangerously escalated due to mounting and undeniable evidence of direct US involvement”.
• UN chief Antonio Guterres said he remains “profoundly alarmed” and reiterated calls for “immediate de-escalation leading to a ceasefire”.
• Germany’s Chancellor Friedrich Merz defended his comments, which drew outrage in some quarters, terming Israel’s attacks on Iran as “dirty work Israel is doing for all of us”.
• Iran has consistently denied seeking a nuclear weapon, and IAEA chief Rafael Grossi told Al Jazeera that the UN nuclear watchdog has found no evidence that Iran was building one.
• The UN Security Council will hold an emergency meeting on Friday. Iran requested the meeting, saying the situation “has dangerously escalated due to mounting and undeniable evidence of direct US involvement in this unlawful campaign”.

As Israel attacks Iran, its genocide in Gaza has shown no signs of easing.

At least 70 Palestinians were killed in a single day this week at a food distribution site run by a controversial group in Khan Younis that is backed by Israel and the United States.

All other aid channels are blocked – including medical supplies.

So, what’s the impact of this latest Israeli strategy?

Presenter: Nick Clark

Guests: 

Amjad Shawa – Director of the Palestinian Non-Governmental Organizations Network in Gaza

Christopher Lockyear – Secretary-general at Doctors Without Borders (Medecins Sans Frontieres or MSF)

Mads Gilbert – Medical doctor with extensive experience in Gaza