Middle East

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

Here’s where things stand on Friday, June 20:

Fighting

• Israel said on Friday that it had struck dozens of military targets in Iran overnight, including Tehran’s Organisation of Defensive Innovation and Research, missile production sites and military facilities in western and central Iran.
• The Israeli military said it struck surface-to-air missile batteries in western Iran, killing a squad of Iranian soldiers on the move during the operation, including a commander of an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) base.
• Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said he had instructed the military to intensify attacks on “symbols of the regime” and “mechanisms of oppression” in the Iranian capital, Tehran, aiming to destabilise it.
• Air defence systems were activated in Bushehr in southern Iran, the location of the country’s only operating nuclear power plant, according to the Young Journalists Club, cited by state broadcaster IRIB.
• Iran’s IRGC said it had fired its 17th wave of missiles at Israeli military facilities, including the Nevatim and Hatzerim bases.
• Iran fired missiles at Beersheba in southern Israel, with initial Israeli media reports also pointing to missile impacts in Tel Aviv, the Negev and Haifa. Iran said that the “precise hits” demonstrated “our offensive missile power is growing”.
• The Fars news agency quoted an Iranian military spokesperson as saying Tehran’s missile and drone attacks on Friday had used long-range and ultra-heavy missiles against Israeli military sites, defence industries and command and control centres.

Casualties and disruptions

• Israel’s attack on Tehran’s Organisation of Defensive Innovation and Research, which it says is involved in Iran’s alleged nuclear weapons development, killed a nuclear scientist, according to Israeli media reports.
• Iranian media reported that an industrial plant involved in the production of carbon fibre in northern Iran was damaged in an attack.
• Iran’s health ministry said a third hospital in Tehran had been struck by Israeli bombs, according to state news agency IRNA.
• At least five people were injured when Israel hit a five-storey building in Tehran housing a bakery and a hairdresser’s, Fars news agency reported.
• Iranian news outlet Asriran said that a drone attacked an apartment in a residential building in the Iranian capital’s central Gisha district.
• The Human Rights Activists News Agency, a US-based human rights organisation that tracks Iran, said that Israeli air attacks have killed 639 people in the country. Israeli authorities had previously said 24 civilians had been killed in Iranian attacks.
• Israel’s Magen David Adom rescue service said its teams were providing treatment to 17 people, three in serious condition, after Iran’s strikes.
• Israeli railway officials told local media that, due to the Iranian missile strike on Beersheba, the city’s north station was temporarily closed.
• Afghanistan’s agriculture minister said his country was in discussions with Russia to import certain foodstuffs as the conflict between Israel and Iran, one of its largest trading partners, risked cutting off supplies.

Protests

• Tens of thousands of people attended anti-Israel protest marches in Tehran, as well as other major Iranian cities, including Isfahan, Shiraz, Mashhad and Qom.
• Demonstrators in southern Beirut, Lebanon held a pro-Iran rally after Friday prayers.
• Thousands of Iraqis gathered for Friday prayers in Baghdad’s Sadr City, a suburb with a large Shia population, chanting against the US and Israel amid the attacks on Iran.
• Pro-Palestinian activists in the UK broke into the Royal Air Force Brize Norton base in Oxfordshire and damaged two aircraft.

Politics

• US President Donald Trump told reporters on Friday that his director of national intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, was wrong to suggest there is no evidence Iran is building a nuclear weapon. “Well, my intelligence community is wrong,” he replied when asked about Gabbard’s position. Trump also said that while he “might” support a ceasefire deal between Israel and Iran, “Israel’s doing well in terms of war, and I think you would say that Iran is doing less well”.
• Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said the only way to end the conflict was for Israel to stop its air attacks, warning that “failure to do so would result in a far more forceful and regrettable response from Iran”.
• Russian President Vladimir Putin said in St Petersburg that Moscow was sharing ideas with “our Israeli and Iranian friends” about how to end the bloodshed and said he believed there was a diplomatic solution.
• US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced new Iran-related sanctions aiming to disrupt Tehran’s efforts to “procure the sensitive, dual-use technology, components, and machinery that underpin the regime’s ballistic missile, unmanned aerial vehicle, and asymmetric weapons programs”.
• Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani said in a phone conversation with Norway’s Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide that Israel targeting economic facilities in Iran could lead to catastrophic regional and international repercussions.
• French President Emmanuel Macron said there was “no justification” for strikes on civilians and on civilian infrastructure in the weeklong conflict, adding that Tehran should show its willingness to return to the negotiating table concerning its nuclear programme.
• Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said in comments carried by state news agency TASS that potential use of tactical nuclear weapons by the US in Iran would be a catastrophic development.
• German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan discussed the ongoing conflict between Israel and Iran over a phone call, a German government spokesperson said.
• UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy said his country was working with Israeli authorities to arrange charter flights for British nationals from Tel Aviv when Ben Gurion International Airport reopens.

Diplomacy

• The United Nations Security Council met at its headquarters in New York to discuss the situation between Iran and Israel.
• Rafael Grossi, director of the International Agency for Atomic Energy, warned against attacks on nuclear facilities at the meeting, saying a strike on the Bushehr nuclear plant could cause “radioactive releases with great consequences” beyond Iran’s borders. He called for “maximum restraint”.
• UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said at the meeting that expansion of the Israel-Iran conflict could “ignite a fire no one can control”, calling on both sides to “give peace a chance”.
• Iran’s UN ambassador Amir Saeid Iravani urged the Security Council to take action, saying the country was “alarmed by credible report[s] that the United States … may be joining this war”.
• Israel’s UN ambassador, Danny Danon, pledged at the UNSC that there would be no letup in attacks on Iran. “Not until Iran’s nuclear threat is dismantled, not until its war machine is disarmed, not until our people and yours are safe,” he said.
• Russia’s envoy Vassily Nebenzia stressed that Israel attacked Iran on the eve of a round of nuclear talks and accused Israel of showing a blatant disregard for attempts to find a diplomatic solution to end the conflict.
• Iraq’s representative to the UN, Abbas Kadhom Obaid al-Fatlawi, said 50 Israeli warplanes from the Syrian-Jordanian border areas violated Iraqi airspace shortly before the Security Council meeting.
• Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi attended a meeting in Geneva with France, the United Kingdom, Germany and the European Union’s foreign policy chief, which appeared to yield no breakthrough.
• Araghchi told reporters in Geneva that Iran would be ready to consider diplomacy “once the aggression is stopped and the aggressor is held accountable for the crimes committed”. Earlier, he accused Israel of a “betrayal of diplomacy” in a speech to the UN Human Rights Council.
• French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot told reporters after the Geneva talks that Araghchi had signalled “his willingness to continue these discussions on the nuclear programme and, more broadly, on all issues”.
• British Foreign Minister David Lammy said European ministers in Geneva had made it clear that “Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon”.
• Germany’s Defence Ministry said that it had flown 64 people out of Israel, describing the flights as a “diplomatic pick-up” and not a military evacuation mission, which would have required parliamentary approval.
• Ireland’s Foreign Minister Simon Harris announced his country would temporarily relocate embassy personnel from Tehran “in light of the deteriorating situation”.
• The UK said it was temporarily withdrawing staff from its embassy in Iran, saying the embassy continued to “operate remotely”.
• Switzerland’s Federal Department of Foreign Affairs said it had decided to temporarily close its embassy in Iran, citing intense military operations there.
• Australia also said it had suspended operations at its embassy in Iran. Foreign Minister Penny Wong said a “crisis response team” was being sent to neighbouring Azerbaijan to support Australians departing Iran by road.
• Slovakia and the Czech Republic also announced the temporary closure of their embassies in Tehran.
• British police arrested eight men on Friday, including seven on suspicion of grievous bodily harm, following reports of an altercation involving pro and anti-Iranian protesters at a location close to the Iranian embassy in London.

How did MAGA become Trump’s biggest opponent of a US strike on Iran? The Republican base is split over Trump’s rhetoric about getting involved in another foreign war. Conservative stalwarts like Tucker Carlson and Steve Bannon are pushing back. Could a US strike on Iran be a blow against Trump at home?

US president doubles down on claim Iran is building nuclear weapon, again contradicting US intelligence community.

United States President Donald Trump has said his director of national intelligence was “wrong” when she testified that Iran was not building a nuclear weapon and that Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei had not re-authorised the country’s suspended nuclear weapons programme.

The comments come after Trump earlier this week cast doubt on Tulsi Gabbard’s March 25 report to Congress, in which she reiterated the US intelligence community’s assessment. On Tuesday, Trump told reporters, “I don’t care” that the intelligence community’s finding contradicted his own claims, saying Iran was in the late stages of developing a nuclear weapon.

But speaking on Friday, Trump went further.

A reporter asked, “What intelligence do you have that Iran is building a nuclear weapon? Your intelligence community said they have no evidence.”

The president responded, “Then my intelligence community is wrong. Who in the intelligence community said that?”

“Your DNI [director of national intelligence], Tulsi Gabbard,” the reporter replied.

“She’s wrong,” Trump said.

It is extremely rare for a US president to openly contradict the country’s intelligence community, with critics accusing Trump of flagrantly disregarding evidence to justify potential direct US involvement in the fighting, according to Al Jazeera’s senior political analyst Marwan Bishara.

“This is not just one person, one team saying something,” Bishara said. “It’s the entire intelligence community in the United States. That he would dismiss them … it’s just astounding.”

Speaking on Friday, Trump also appeared to downplay the prospect of the US brokering a ceasefire agreement between Iran and Israel, saying he “might” support such a deal, while adding, “Israel’s doing well in terms of war, and I think you would say that Iran is doing less well.”

“It’s hard to make that request right now. When someone’s winning, it’s harder than when they’re losing,” he added.

Reporting from Washington, DC, Al Jazeera’s Heidi Zhou Castro noted that Trump was “really making a point that he’s not going to make an effort to ask Israel to ease up on its aerial bombing of Iranian targets”.

“It seems that Trump is very squarely on Israel’s side as things are progressing, and … it appears that he is not leaning towards the diplomacy route, though, again, he is giving himself that two weeks’ time to make a final decision,” she said.

Trump on Thursday said he would take two weeks to decide the US response to the conflict. Experts say the decision would likely be transformative.

The US is seen as one of the few countries with the leverage to pressure Israel to step back from the brink of wider-scale regional war.

At the same time, the involvement of the US military is seen as key to Israel’s stated mission of completely dismantling Iran’s nuclear programme, which hinges on destroying the underground Fordow enrichment plant.

A successful attack on the facility would require both Washington’s 30,000-pound (13,000kg) GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrator and the B-2 bombers needed to deliver it.

Speaking to reporters on Friday, Trump also downplayed the potential role of European countries in de-escalating the situation. That came hours after Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi met the top diplomats from France, the UK, Germany and the EU in Geneva.

“Europe is not going to be able to help,” the US president said.

An EU diplomatic service audit report, seen by Reuters and AFP, looked at Israel’s actions in Gaza and occupied West Bank.

There are indications Israel may have breached its human rights obligations under the terms of a pact governing its ties with the European Union, a review of the agreement shows.

According to an EU document seen by the Reuters and AFP news agencies on Friday, the European External Action Service said that Israel’s actions in Gaza were likely not in line with rules laid out in the EU-Israel Association.

“On the basis of the assessments made by the independent international institutions … there are indications that Israel would be in breach of its human rights obligations,” the audit drafted by the EU’s diplomatic service read.

The report comes after months of deepening concern in European capitals about Israel’s operations in Gaza and the humanitarian situation in the enclave.

“Israel’s continued restrictions to the provision of food, medicines, medical equipment, and other vital supplies affect the entire population of Gaza present on the affected territory,” it said.

The document includes a section dedicated to the situation in Gaza – covering issues related to denial of humanitarian aid, attacks with a significant number of casualties, attacks on medical facilities, displacement and lack of accountability – as well as the situation in the occupied West Bank, including settler violence, Reuters reported.

The document said it relies on “facts verified by and assessments made by independent international institutions, and with a focus on most recent events in Gaza and the West Bank”.

The audit was launched last month in response to the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Gaza, in a push backed by 17 states and spearheaded by the Netherlands.

The EU’s top diplomat, Kaja Kallas, is expected to present the findings of the report to the bloc’s foreign ministers in Brussels on Monday.

EU-Israel agreement

Under the EU-Israel agreement, which came into effect in 2000, the two parties agreed that their relationship would be based on “respect for human rights and democratic principles”.

Suspending the agreement would require a unanimous decision from the bloc’s 27 members, something diplomats have said from the beginning was virtually impossible.

According to AFP, diplomats have said that they expect Kallas to propose options on a response to the report during the next foreign ministers’ meeting in July.

“The question is … how many member states would still be willing not to do anything and still keep on saying that it’s business as usual,” an unnamed diplomat told the news agency ahead of the review’s findings.

“It’s really important to not fall into the trap of Israel to look somewhere else,” they said.

The EU is Israel’s largest commercial partner, with 42.6 billion euros ($48.2bn) in goods traded in 2024. Trade in services reached 25.6 billion euros ($29.5bn) in 2023.

Israel’s mission to the EU did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment about the contents of the document.

“You’re a wolf pretending to be a diplomat”

Iranian and Israeli officials clashed during a heated UN Security Council session. Iran said it would continue to defend itself until Israeli attacks end, while Israel vowed to keep striking until Iran’s “nuclear threat” is dismantled.

Tehran, Iran – Suitcases are rolling through Tehran, but this time, it’s not for holidays or family celebrations. They are being packed in haste and out of fear – symbols of the growing anxiety gripping the Iranian capital’s 10 million residents as they face Israeli missiles.

While Iranians scramble to find shelter, dual Iranian-American nationals find themselves caught in the crossfire of war and geopolitical uncertainty.

Amir, a 36-year-old Tesla engineer and dual national, travelled to Tehran from the United States just weeks before Israeli air strikes began hitting targets across Iran. He had been visiting family and spending quiet days with them on Mount Damavand, located roughly 60 kilometres northeast of the capital. His return flight to the US was already booked, but a few days before he was scheduled to travel, Israel launched its attacks.

When the bombs started to fall, Amir found himself gripped by fear, not just of war, but of being drafted and becoming a casualty of politics beyond his control.

“I wasn’t scared at first. Being with my family brought me peace,” said Amir, who preferred not to share his last name for security reasons. He recalled how he had actually been more worried about his family’s safety during the 2022 Iran antigovernment protests, watching from afar in the US. “Back then, I was constantly anxious, glued to the news, worrying about my family. But now, being in Tehran and Damavand, I could see that life was still going on,” he said.

But he soon decided it was too risky to remain in Iran. A US Green Card holder, Amir dreaded the growing possibility of President Donald Trump reintroducing a travel ban on Iranians and feared it would include those with permanent residency, like himself. With a sense of urgency, Amir chose to leave.

Crossing borders, leaving loved ones

Fearing for his life and his future, Amir began a long overland journey. On Monday, he left by overnight bus for the western Iranian city of Urmia, an 11-hour journey. From there, he continued by road to Van, in eastern Turkiye, which took another six hours. He then boarded a domestic flight to Ankara, from where he flew to the US on Thursday.

For Amir, fleeing wasn’t just a logistical challenge; it was emotionally traumatic. “If it weren’t for the fear of being conscripted and the possibility of a new Trump-era travel ban, I would have stayed close to my loved ones,” he said. “It’s harder in the US.”

Behrouz, a 41-year-old postdoctoral researcher based in San Francisco, faced a similar choice. He had been visiting his hometown of Mashhad, in northeastern Iran, when it was struck by one of Israel’s longest-range missile attacks.

“I tried to stay calm for the first two days,” he recalled. “But then, I had to face the reality: this conflict is nothing like the past. At least for the coming months, the sky won’t be clear or open.”

Traditionally, Behrouz would end his trips to Iran with a walk through the courtyard of the Imam Reza Holy Shrine, picking up saffron and sweets for colleagues back in the US. But this time, he left in a rush. The journey was long: 10 hours by car to Tehran, another nine to Urmia, and then across the Razi border crossing into Turkiye. “It took about 20 minutes to get through the checkpoint,” he said, but what followed was a gruelling 22-hour bus ride to Istanbul.

Behrouz explained he had to leave because of his job. “But my heart is still there with my family, and with the people,” he said, his voice breaking.

“We are against both Israel and the Iranian regime,” he added. “We are millions of ordinary Iranians caught in the middle of decisions made by politicians who don’t represent us.”

Behrouz’s words echo the quiet desperation of many others. Azerbaijani media reported that about 600 Iranian-American dual nationals had crossed out of northwestern Iran via the Astara border into southern Azerbaijan with support from the US embassy. Online, travel coordination flourished in Iranian-American Facebook groups. One user asked: “My flight was scheduled for late June. Should I try to exit through Armenia or Turkiye?” Another advised: “Bring extra fuel. Gas stations are limiting purchases to 10 litres per car.” Some even pooled resources to rent a van for the journey to the Turkish border.

For those managing to leave, the logistics are complex – but often less painful than the emotional burden.

Staying behind – and getting cut off

Not everyone is leaving. Afsaneh, a 43-year-old lifestyle blogger and mother who lives in northern California, had flown to Iran with her seven-year-old daughter before the war began. Despite US State Department warnings urging citizens to leave, she wrote on Instagram that she had no intention of returning – at least for now.

“This is where I want to be,” she wrote in a recent post. “With my family, during this time.”

Others have had no choice but to watch from afar as their loved ones live through the strikes.

Maryam Mortazavi, a 38-year-old Iranian-Canadian living in Toronto, had sent her parents and sister on a summer trip to Iran just two weeks before the air strikes began. Ten days into their stay, bombs hit the northwestern city of Tabriz near their residence.

“I was on a blurry video call with them, hearing explosions and air defence systems,” Mortazavi said. Her family fled to nearby Urmia for safety. By Wednesday afternoon, the Iranian government had shut down internet access. Maryam lost all contact with them.

“I can’t even get out of bed – I’m so worried,” she said, breaking down. “I just hope they find a working VPN and reach me.”

This piece was published in collaboration with Egab.

The head of the UN atomic watchdog, Rafael Grossi, told the Security Council that an Israeli strike on Iran’s Bushehr nuclear plant would cause a nuclear disaster. The Israeli military had said on Thursday that it had struck the facility, but later clarified that the comment had been made in error.

As the war between Israel and Iran continues, Yemen’s Houthi rebels say they are coordinating with Tehran.

The Houthis, also known as Ansar Allah, have since 2023 launched attacks on Israel and shipping in the Red Sea in what they say is support for Palestinians in Gaza.

The Houthis are also a close ally of Iran, and now they say that their latest attacks are on behalf of the “Palestinian and Iranian peoples”, according to the Telegram account of Houthi spokesperson Yahya Saree, who added that the Yemeni group were coordinating with “the operations carried out by the Iranian army against the criminal Israeli enemy”.

On Sunday, two days after Israel first attacked Iran in the early hours of June 13, the Houthis announced that they had targeted Israel.

In a televised address, Saree said the group fired several ballistic missiles at Jaffa.

The Houthis are timing their attacks with the Iranians, according to Hussain Albukhaiti, a pro-Houthi political commentator.

The Houthis are launching missiles “after Iran launched its missiles”, Albukhaiti told Al Jazeera. “This way the Zionist settlers [Israelis] keep going back and forth to their shelters so they can live a small fraction of the fear they caused the Palestinian people in Gaza.”

The Houthi attacks are essentially a continuation of their previous periodic missile and drone attacks on Israel. The Israelis have mostly been able to intercept the attacks but some have gotten through, most notably an attack in early May on Ben Gurion airport that injured six people and led to a suspension of flights.

But the Houthi attacks have also had another consequence for Israeli defences, according to Yemen expert Nicholas Brumfield.

“The constant threat of Houthi attacks coming from the south requires Israel to spread out its air defences rather than positioning them all to more effectively [defend] counterattacks coming from Iran,” he told Al Jazeera.

Shipping routes

In November 2023, the Houthis began attacking ships they say were linked to Israel in the Red Sea. International ships that travel to the Red Sea are forced to pass Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen.

The attacks have ceased in recent months, particularly after the Houthis and the United States came to an agreement to stop attacking each other in early May, following a US bombing campaign that is reported to have killed more than 200 people in Yemen.

But the attacks could still resume, and the Houthis never agreed to stop targeting Israel, which itself has also continued to bomb Yemen.

“We had an agreement with the US to stop attacking each other, but Yemen will not obey this agreement if the US joins the Zionists in their attacks against Iran,” Albukhaiti said.

“We remember that Trump cancelled the nuclear deal between Iran and the US,” he said, referring to the US president’s unilateral withdrawal from the nuclear deal between Iran and several Western countries in 2018. Albukhaiti accused Trump of cancelling the deal because it was not in Israel’s interest.

“Yemen will do the same, and will cancel the agreement with the US, because it’s not in the interest of Iran, which is an important ally of Yemen,” he said, referring to the Houthi rebel group as “Yemen”, although the group’s government is not recognised internationally.

Iran has also threatened to close the Strait of Hormuz, which lies between it and Oman. About 20 million barrels per day (BPD), or the equivalent of about 20 percent of global petroleum liquids consumed, pass through the Strait of Hormuz, according to the US Energy Information Administration (EIA).

Analysts said the Houthis could potentially do the same in the Red Sea.

Sea mines are “very low-tech, easy-to-make mines that would nevertheless introduce considerable uncertainty for global shippers,” Brumfield said.

“I don’t think that Iran or Yemen will hesitate to use sea mines if necessary to block the entire shipping lines in our region,” Albukhaiti added.

Risks to Gulf states

There are also fears that the conflict could drag in other countries in the region. The US has bases in a number of countries in the Middle East, and the Houthis have previously been involved in fighting with many of them, including Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

If the current conflict spirals, Gulf countries may find themselves threatened by Houthi attacks.

“The Houthis are trying to recover from the US strikes we saw between mid-March and May, and probably aren’t begging to restart those more intensive strikes if they don’t have to,” Brumfield said. “But I also think they’d be amenable to restarting them if they saw themselves as participating in a grand regional war between the US-Israel and the Axis of Resistance, especially if a lot of US military resources are diverted to Iran.”

Albukhaiti said Houthi forces “could also target US bases in the region”, specifically those involved in the coalition against Yemen, such as Saudi Arabia and the UAE, because “we are still at war with these countries”, he said.

The Saudi-led coalition intervened militarily in the war in Yemen between the Houthis and the country’s internationally recognised government in 2015, unleashing a years-long campaign of air strikes. Saudi Arabia ceased hostilities in Yemen in 2022, but has yet to officially reach a deal with the Houthis.

And before that, it had come under Houthi attack. In 2019, Saudi oil production was cut by around 50 percent after Houthi drone strikes on oil plants. Since then, analysts say the Saudis have worked hard to keep more stable relations with the Houthis in order to avoid further attacks.

But despite these efforts, the detente could be forgotten if the Houthis see fit to resume hitting their northern neighbour.

“I don’t think [attacks on Saudi Arabia are] off the table,” Brumfield said. “If elements in Houthi leadership in favour of a military-first approach win out, it’s plausible they would attack the Kingdom [of Saudi Arabia] as part of a general escalation in both the regional and Yemen conflict.”

Brumfield added that the Houthis would, however, have to also keep in mind that Saudi Arabia has provided “diplomatic cover” for the Houthis in the past few years, as it seeks to find a final deal to end the conflict in Yemen. Any attacks from the Houthis would likely make Saudi Arabia abandon that strategy.

Internal strife

Anti-Houthi groups in Yemen have been watching events carefully over the past few months, as they sense an opportunity with the initial US campaign against the Houthis, and now the weakening of the Houthis’ principal ally, Iran.

“The most [the Houthis are] capable of doing is continuing symbolic attacks on Israel or potentially restarting activity in the Red Sea,” Raiman Al-Hamdani, an independent Yemen analyst, told Al Jazeera. “But doing so could provoke a renewed military response from the US, Israel, and the UK, which might weaken their position domestically and open space for anti-Houthi groups to exploit any resulting instability.”

However, analysts say that few of the groups that oppose the Houthis, including the Yemeni government, are in a position to take and effectively govern territory from the Houthis.

And, should those groups mobilise, the Houthis would likely respond, Albukhaiti said.

Houthi forces could target any domestic opponents through “oil and gas fields and platforms” as well as the “airports and water distillation plants” of the countries he said backed the groups, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

Violence against children in conflict zones reached ‘unprecedented levels’ in 2024, with most violations committed in Gaza, occupied West Bank, UN says.

The United Nations has kept Israel on its “blacklist” of countries committing abuses against children in armed conflict for a second straight year, as its war on Gaza continues for nearly 20 months.

The listing on Thursday came as the UN said in a new report that violence against children in conflict zones reached “unprecedented levels” in 2024, with the highest number of violations committed in the Gaza Strip and the occupied West Bank by the Israeli army.

The annual report on Children in Armed Conflict detailed “a staggering” 25 percent surge globally in grave violations against children below the age of 18 last year from 2023. It said it had verified 41,370 grave violations against children, including killing and maiming, sexual violence, and attacks on schools and hospitals.

Among them were 8,554 grave violations against 2,959 children – 2,944 Palestinian, 15 Israeli – in the occupied Palestinian territory and Israel.

The figure includes confirmation of 1,259 Palestinian children killed and 941 wounded in Gaza, which has come under relentless Israeli bombardment following an attack led by the Palestinian group Hamas in southern Israel on October 7, 2023.

The Ministry of Health in Gaza has reported much higher figures, and the UN said it is currently verifying information on an additional 4,470 children killed in 2024 in the besieged territory.

The UN said it has also verified the killing of 97 Palestinian children in the occupied West Bank, including occupied East Jerusalem, where a total of 3,688 violations were recorded.

The report also called out Israel’s military operations in Lebanon, where more than 500 children were killed or injured last year.

UN chief Antonio Guterres said he was “appalled by the intensity of grave violations against children in the Occupied Palestinian Territory and Israel”, citing the widespread use of explosive weapons in populated areas.

Guterres also reiterated his calls on Israel to abide by international law requiring special protections for children, protection for schools and hospitals, and compliance with the requirement that attacks distinguish between fighters and civilians and avoid excessive harm to innocent people.

There was no immediate comment by Israel’s UN mission.

The armed wing of the Palestinian group Hamas, the Qassam Brigades, and the al-Quds Brigades, the armed wing of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad group, were also included in the blacklist for a second time.

Following the Palestinian territory, the countries where the UN registered the most violence against children in 2024 were the Democratic Republic of the Congo (more than 4,000 grave violations); Somalia (more than 2,500); Nigeria (nearly 2,500); and Haiti (more than 2,200).

The sharpest percentage increase in the number of violations was recorded in Lebanon (545 percent), followed by Mozambique (525 percent), Haiti (490 percent), Ethiopia (235 percent), and Ukraine (105 percent), it added.

Iran has re-emerged at the centre of international attention, following Israeli attacks on the Middle East’s second-largest country on June 13.

Stretching from the Caspian Sea in the north to the Gulf of Oman in the south, Iran’s landscape is as varied as its history, with key access to critical waterways, including the Strait of Hormuz, through which 20 percent of the world’s oil flows.

Iran’s history spans millennia, making it one of the world’s most ancient and culturally rich nations, continuously inhabited and influential throughout history.

In this visual explainer, Al Jazeera provides a snapshot of Iran’s geography, key cities, population makeup, and ethnic diversity.

Iran at a glance

With a population of 92 million, Iran is the 17th-largest country in the world by population and land area.

Iran’s nominal gross domestic product (GDP) is $418bn, ranking it 36th in terms of the economy size. It has an unemployment rate of about 7.2 percent.

The country’s adult literacy rate is 89 percent, with youth literacy nearing 99 percent, though these rates vary between rural and urban areas.

The country is rich in oil and gas, ranking as the world’s ninth-largest oil producer and third-largest natural gas producer.

How big is Iran?

Located in Western Asia, Iran is the second-largest country in the Middle East after Saudi Arabia and the 17th-largest in the world, covering approximately 1.65 million square kilometres (636,000 square miles).

Iran shares land borders with seven countries, the longest being Iraq, followed by Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Azerbaijan, Turkiye and Armenia.

Iran covers about one-sixth the equivalent land area of the United States, nearly as large as the state of Alaska.

It is about one-sixth the size of Europe, about one-fifth the size of Australia, roughly half the size of India and about 80 times larger than Israel.

Where are Iran’s main population centres?

Most of Iran’s 92 million people live in the western half of the country, where the terrain features rugged mountains alongside fertile valleys and river basins that sustain much of the population.

With 9.6 million inhabitants, Tehran has been the capital since 1795 and is the country’s largest city. Situated beneath the Alborz Mountains, Tehran’s history dates back more than 6,000 years.

Mashhad, in the northeast, is Iran’s second-largest city with 3.4 million people and a history spanning more than 1,200 years. It is a major religious and cultural centre and is home to the Imam Reza Shrine, which brings in millions of pilgrims from around the world.

Isfahan, the third-largest city, is home to some 2.3 million people. More than 2,500 years old, the city was once the capital of the Safavid Empire, which lasted from 1501 to 1722. Isfahan hosts major educational institutions and is a centre for textiles, steel and manufacturing, along with nuclear and aerospace industries.

Other populous cities across Iran include: Shiraz (1.7 million), Tabriz (1.7 million), Karaj (1.6 million), Qom (1.4 million) and Ahvaz (1.3 million).

Demographic breakdown

Nearly 60 percent of Iran’s population is below the age of 39, according to figures from the United Nations Statistics Division.

The country’s median age is 33-34 years, and about 77 percent of Iranians live in urban areas.

The largest age groups in Iran are those aged 30-34 and 35-39, meaning most of the population was born after the 1979 Islamic Revolution that toppled the Pahlavi Shah regime.

However, there has been a significant emigration of Iranian professionals in recent years, largely driven by economic hardship.

What are Iran’s ethnicities?

Iran is a highly diverse country, both ethnically and culturally. Persians make up approximately 61 percent of the population, while significant minority groups include Azerbaijanis (16 percent), Kurds (10 percent) and others, such as Lurs (6 percent), Arabs (2 percent), Baloch (2 percent) and Turkic groups (2 percent).

Iran is predominantly Shia Muslim, making up about 90 percent of the population, while Sunni Muslims and other Muslim sects account for roughly 9 percent. The remaining 1 percent includes roughly 300,000 Baha’i, 300,000 Christians, 35,000 Zoroastrians, 20,000 Jews, and 10,000 Sabean Mandeans according to the Minority Rights Group.

In border regions such as Kurdistan, Khuzestan and Sistan-Baluchestan, ethnic groups play a key role in shaping the country’s ethnic and religious diversity as well as its regional politics.

While Persian (Farsi) is the official national language, many regions across the country speak a variety of other languages.

Trump’s base is splintering from GOP hawks over possible US strikes on Iran. While some Republicans push for military action and regime change, key MAGA allies warn war could derail Trump’s domestic agenda. Trump says he’ll decide within two weeks on action in Iran.

The Israeli government has issued new directives restricting how its media covers its current war with Iran.

On Wednesday, a circular from Israel’s military censor, Brigadier General Kobi Mandelblit, announced new rules on what Israeli media organisations and journalists within the country can – and cannot – publish about the effect of Iranian strikes.

The legal underpinnings of censorship in Israel are older than the country itself.

Restrictions on media freedom in the territory were first established by the British during their Mandate for Palestine in 1945, before being incorporated into Israeli law after the state was created three years later.

However, restrictions on press freedom in Israel go further than just outlawing aspects of journalists’ reporting.

According to figures from the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), Israel has killed at least 164 journalists in Gaza since October 7, 2023. More have been killed in Lebanon, the occupied West Bank and, now, Iran.

Since May 2024, the Israeli government has banned Al Jazeera from its territory and, since November, has sanctioned the Israeli liberal daily, Haaretz, over coverage considered critical of its actions.

So, what are the new restrictions on journalists and how does media freedom in Israel stack up against that in other countries?

Here’s what we know.

What do the new restrictions involve?

The new regulations relate specifically to the conflict with Iran. They place special restrictions on the way journalists and editors can report the impact of Iranian strikes on Israel.

In a circular, published on Wednesday, titled Rising Lion – IDF Censor Guidelines for Media Coverage of Attack on the Israeli Home Front, the office of Israel’s chief military censor ordered editors to take “strict measures” when reporting on missile and drone attacks.

The censor is also warning against reporting anything that could indicate attack positions or air defence operations, or damage assessments that could “assist the enemy” and pose “a tangible threat to state security”.

Specifically, journalists and editors are prohibited from:

• Filming or broadcasting images from impact sites, particularly near military installations.
• Using drones or wide-angle cameras to show impact areas.
• Detailing the precise location of affected areas near security installations.
• Broadcasting images of Israeli missiles being launched or of Iranian missiles being intercepted.
• The directive also bans the sharing of videos from social media without prior review by the censor, cautioning – as a side note – that some may be “enemy-generated fake news”.

The new restrictions have taken immediate effect. Photographers in the port city of Haifa were arrested in the early hours of Tuesday morning while setting up cameras to capture images of potential strikes on the port.

What restrictions were already in place before this?

Journalists and editors were already required to submit any article that could touch upon Israel’s security to the military censor for approval ahead of publication.

Under the existing regulations, the censor has the power to halt publication of any article if “there is a “near certainty that real damage will be caused to the security of the state” by its publication.

It may not, however, restrict articles or reports on the grounds that they might damage the reputation of either the Israeli army or the country’s politicians.

In 2023, Israel’s already tight restrictions were increased via an amendment to the country’s anti-terrorism law which punishes those who “systematically and continuously consume terrorist publications” or who broadcast  “a direct call to commit an act of terrorism”.

According to media freedom organisations, such as the Index on Censorship, even before the new restrictions on reporting the Iran conflict were introduced, the censor’s definition of “security issues” was very broad, covering topics as diverse as the army, intelligence agencies, arms deals, administrative detainees, aspects of Israel’s foreign affairs, and more.

Any journalist, publication or media group can appeal a decision by the censor to the Supreme Court, which has the power to overturn its decisions.

How often does the censor take action?

Frequently.

In May, the Israeli-Palestinian magazine, + 972, described what it called an “unprecedented spike in media censorship” since the start of the war on Gaza.

According to the magazine, throughout 2024, Israel’s military censor fully blocked 1,635 articles from being published and imposed partial restrictions on another 6,265.

This amounted to an average of roughly 21 interventions in news stories every day; more than twice the highest previous daily tally of about 10 interventions during the 2014 Gaza conflict (Operation Protective Edge), and more than three times that typically recorded during peacetime of 6.2 per day.

Complicating matters are regulations banning outlets from stating whether parts of an article have been censored, so readers cannot be certain what information has been censored and what has not.

None of the countries that Israeli leaders typically compare themselves with has any institution comparable to Israel’s military censor.

According to the Reporters Sans Frontieres (RSF) World Press Freedom Index, Israel currently stands at 112th place out of 180 countries for freedom of the press – below Haiti, Guinea Bissau, South Sudan and Chad.

According to the RSF: “Press freedom, media plurality and editorial independence have been increasingly restricted in Israel since the start of the war in Gaza, launched by Israel on 7 October 2023 following the deadly Hamas attack.”

RSF also noted the importance given to political connections in choosing the leadership of Israel’s broadcasting regulatory bodies and that only firmly pro-government networks, such as Israel’s Channel 14, are generally selected to host interviews with senior figures.

US President Donald Trump has made his administration “a subcontractor, a junior partner” to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s objectives in the Middle East, argues Democratic Senator Chris Van Hollen.

As the president mulls further involvement in Israel’s attack on Iran, Senator Van Hollen tells host Steve Clemons that “This notion that you can just drop a few big bombs and be done with it misunderstands history, because there is a real risk that the United States will get dragged deeper and deeper into this war.”

Van Hollen also criticised the US-Israeli Gaza Humanitarian Foundation as “death traps” for Palestinians.

Islamabad, Pakistan – Pakistan’s army chief, Field Marshal Asim Munir, has held an unprecedented one-on-one meeting with United States President Donald Trump at the White House, where the two leaders spoke for more than two hours, according to the Pakistani military.

In a statement issued on Thursday by Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the Pakistani military’s media wing, the meeting, originally scheduled for one hour, was held in the Cabinet Room over lunch and then continued in the Oval Office.

After Wednesday’s meeting, the ISPR said, Munir expressed “deep appreciation” for Trump’s efforts in facilitating a ceasefire between India and Pakistan after a four-day conflict in May between the two nuclear-armed neighbours. According to the ISPR, Trump welcomed Pakistan’s cooperation against “terrorism”.

While the White House did not release any statement on the meeting, which was held behind closed doors and without news media photo opportunities, Trump spoke to reporters briefly after his talks with Munir. He thanked the army chief and said he was “honoured to meet him”.

Yet amid the bonhomie and the promise of a sharp uptick in relations after years of tension between Washington and Islamabad, Trump also referred to the ongoing military conflict between Israel and Iran, which the US president has said his country might join.

The Pakistanis, Trump said, “know Iran very well, better than most”, adding that they are “not happy”.

For Pakistan, analysts said, that comment underscored how the reset in ties with the US that Islamabad desperately seeks will be tested by two key challenges. Iran and the current crisis with Israel will force Pakistan into a diplomatic balancing act, they said. And Islamabad’s close relations with China could similarly pull Pakistan in conflicting directions.

What did Trump and Munir talk about?

According to the ISPR, Munir spoke to Trump about a range of areas where the two nations could strengthen cooperation, including “economic development, mines and minerals, artificial intelligence, energy, cryptocurrency, and emerging technologies”.

But the Pakistani military conceded that the two leaders also held “detailed discussions” on the escalating tensions between Iran and Israel with both Munir and Trump – according to Islamabad – emphasising the need for a peaceful resolution.

Munir was accompanied by Pakistan’s national security adviser, Lieutenant General Asim Malik, who also heads the country’s premier intelligence agency, the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI).

On the American side, Trump was joined by Secretary of State Marco Rubio and the president’s top negotiator in the Middle East, Steve Witkoff.

Marvin Weinbaum, a senior fellow at the Middle East Institute (MEI), said the lack of a media presence during the lunch could be interpreted as suggesting that “the nature of the conversation was such that neither party wanted photo opportunities”. Weinbaum told Al Jazeera that neither side likely wanted to reveal much about “what was discussed, though my read is it was perhaps the US wanting to know about Pakistan’s role on what follows in Iran during this ongoing situation”.

Later on Wednesday evening, Munir attended a dinner hosted by the Pakistani embassy with nearly three dozen figures from think tanks, policy institutions and diplomatic circles. Al Jazeera spoke to several participants, who all requested anonymity to discuss what Munir said at the dinner.

One participant said Munir did not divulge specifics from his meeting with Trump but he remarked that the conversation was “fantastic and could not have gone any better”. Munir added, according to this person, that Pakistan’s relations with the previous administration of President Joe Biden had been “among the worst” historically.

Another attendee told Al Jazeera that Munir said the US “knows what it needs to do regarding Iran” and reiterated that Pakistan’s view is that “every conflict is resolvable through dialogue and diplomacy”.

‘Significant upswing’

For the moment, experts said, the meeting represents a major gain for Pakistan in its bid to improve ties with the US.

Pakistan has been a close US ally since gaining independence in 1947. They worked closely together in Afghanistan after the Soviet invasion in 1979 and then again after the US invasion of Afghanistan following the 9/11 attacks.

While the US has provided more than $30bn in aid in the last two decades to Pakistan, it has repeatedly accused Islamabad of “duplicity” and of not being a reliable security partner.

Pakistan, in turn, has argued that Washington constantly demands it “do more” without fully acknowledging the losses and instability Pakistan has suffered due to regional violence.

Elizabeth Threlkeld, director of the South Asia Program at the Stimson Center in Washington, DC, said Munir’s visit marks a “significant upswing” in US-Pakistan ties under the Trump administration.

“Given President Trump’s central role in shaping foreign policy and his preference for personal relationships, this visit has allowed Field Marshal Munir to solidify a rapport built during the recent crisis,” she told Al Jazeera.

Sahar Khan, a Washington, DC-based security policy expert, said that while the meeting was significant, it doesn’t mean the two countries are “now friends”. However, it does indicate a “thaw in the relationship”.

She added that although Trump is unpredictable, Pakistan should consider striking a deal with him to prevent unrealistic demands regarding regional issues.

“For now, Munir’s message to the Trump administration is, take the time to understand Pakistan and stop viewing it through the lens of India, China or Afghanistan,” she said.

Making that message stick, though, won’t be easy, analysts said.

China, the real strategic dilemma

China remains Pakistan’s most critical partner, with whom it enjoys deep economic, strategic and military ties. But simultaneously, over the past three decades, Beijing’s rise as a global superpower has made it Washington’s principal rival.

Muhammad Faisal, a South Asia security researcher and China expert at the University of Technology in Sydney, said managing ties with both powers will test Islamabad’s commitment to a policy of “no-camp politics”.

China has invested $62bn in the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), a large infrastructure project connecting western China to the Arabian Sea via Pakistan.

On the military front, Pakistan procures more than 80 percent of its weaponry from China, and some of those products, particularly Chinese jets and missiles, showcased their worth in the recent conflict with India.

“In the long run, both [China and the US] are crucial for Pakistan in their own right,” Faisal told Al Jazeera. And while the US and China might each want Islamabad on their side, the fact that Pakistan is sought after by both has its own advantage. It “gives Islamabad considerable diplomatic space to expand cooperation with both Beijing and Washington”, he said.

The Iran challenge

Iran, currently under an intense Israeli assault that has targeted key infrastructure and senior military and nuclear figures, presents another sensitive challenge for Pakistan.

Analysts argued that Pakistan’s proximity and ties to Tehran position it as a potential mediator between the US and Iran.

“It is in Pakistan’s interest to play a mediating role. It cannot afford another adversary on its western border, given its internal challenges,” Khan said.

Last month, Munir travelled to Iran along with Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. During the visit, he met Major General Mohammad Bagheri, chief of General Staff of the Iranian military. In the first wave of strikes by Israel on Friday, Bagheri was one of the several military officials who were killed.

Since the Israeli strikes began, Pakistan has strongly defended Iran’s right to self-defence, describing the Israeli strikes as violations of Iran’s territorial sovereignty and calling them “blatant provocations”.

Home to nearly 250 million people, Pakistan has a significant Shia minority – between 15 percent and 20 percent of the population – who look to Iran for religious leadership.

Faisal noted that these demographic and geographic realities would constrain Pakistan’s public support for any US military intervention.

“Islamabad can continue to call for diplomacy and cessation of hostilities to contain the conflict. As a neighbour, instability in Iran isn’t in Pakistan’s interest,” he said. At the same time, Faisal added, “a spike in sectarian tensions [in Pakistan] can test internal security. Thus, Islamabad will be wary of pro-American public posturing.”

Israel has bombed the northern Iranian city of Rasht, causing a massive fireball to rise through the night sky, not long after it sent out a warning for people to evacuate the area. One of the strikes reportedly hit the Sefidrood Industrial park.

Israel has been making plans to attack Iran for years, so why is it happening now?

Start Here with Sandra Gathmann explains.

This episode features:

Barbara Slavin | Distinguished fellow, Stimson Center

Gideon Levy | Israeli journalist & Author

James Bays | Al Jazeera diplomatic correspondent

Ali Akbar Dareini | Writer and researcher, Center for Strategic Studies, Tehran

Washington, DC – Over the past week, United States President Donald Trump has been issuing statements on Iran that appear to be contradictory.

He has called for ending the war and hinted at peace coming “soon”, only to then suggest that assassinating Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei could be an option for the US along with joining Israel’s bombing campaign.

In the latest turn, the White House said on Thursday that Trump will make a decision on whether to join the war within two weeks.

These changes in the president’s stance have some observers thinking that Trump may not have a clear strategy or endgame; rather he is being dragged to war by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has been seeking US attacks on Iran for decades.

Alternatively, could Trump be using his increasingly bellicose rhetoric against Iran to compel Tehran to agree to entirely give up its nuclear programme?

If so, experts warn that brinkmanship could turn into an all-out war between the US and Iran.

Jamal Abdi, president of the National Iranian American Council, said Trump could be attempting to build leverage with threats to strongarm Iran into accepting his demands of “total surrender”.

“I think he’s trying to present himself as this madman who is unpredictable, and in so doing, he can then insist on this very hard line that Iran has refused to accept for decades of full dismantlement of its enrichment programme,” Abdi told Al Jazeera.

Another possible explanation of Trump’s latest statements, Abdi added, is that he is “being taken for a ride by Bibi Netanyahu to commit the United States to a full-on war with Iran”.

‘He says one thing. He does another’

Iranian American analyst Negar Mortazavi also said that Trump is being “outmaneuvered” by Netanyahu.

“I don’t even know if President Trump knows what he wants,” Mortazavi told Al Jazeera.

“He campaigned as the president of peace … he promised he’s going to end conflicts. Russia-Ukraine hasn’t ended. Gaza has escalated, and he just let the third big Middle East war – which looks like a regime-change war – start under his watch. So, he says one thing. He does another.”

Israel launched its bombing campaign against Iran last week, two days before US and Iranian officials were set to meet for a sixth round of talks in Oman.

Hours before the Israeli assault began, Trump renewed his commitment to diplomacy. And the initial US response to the Israeli strikes was to stress that Washington is not involved in the attacks.

In subsequent days, however, Trump appeared to take credit for the Israeli bombing campaign.

“We now have complete and total control of the skies over Iran,” he wrote in a social media post on Tuesday, without elaborating on who the “we” was.

“Iran had good sky trackers and other defensive equipment, and plenty of it, but it doesn’t compare to American made, conceived, and manufactured ‘stuff.’ Nobody does it better than the good ol’ USA.”

Israel’s strikes have targeted Iran’s air defences, military and nuclear facilities, oil infrastructure and residential buildings, killing hundreds of people, including top military and political officials as well as many civilians. Iran has responded with hundreds of ballistic missiles that have killed at least 24 Israelis and left widespread destruction across the country.

Israeli officials claim they are trying to destroy Iran’s nuclear and missile programmes, but also note that their military campaign could lead to the collapse of the Iranian governing system, which they say would be a welcome development.

However, it is widely believed that Israel would need US help to destroy Iran’s main uranium enrichment facility, Fordow, which is buried inside a mountain.

Mortazavi said war hawks and Israeli officials appear to be making the case to Trump that bombing Fordow will be an easy task.

“Instead of a regime change war – a devastating, unnecessary war with Iran, which he has been warning everyone and running against in his campaigns, they’re just making this look like, ‘Oh, you just use your bunker busters once and done.’”

But Iran has promised to retaliate harshly against any US attack.

Thousands of US troops in the region could come under Iranian missile strikes. If the war escalates, Iran could also disrupt shipping lanes in the Gulf – a major lifeline for global energy.

Iranian lawmakers have already suggested that Iran could close the Strait of Hormuz that connects the Gulf to the Indian Ocean and through which 20 percent of the world’s oil flows.

‘Catastrophic’ war

Mortazavi said escalating the conflict will have “catastrophic” consequences for the region.

“It will look like Iraq and Afghanistan combined, if not worse. Iran is a big country,” she said.

In Iraq, Bush’s regime-change war led to years of sectarian bloodshed and the rise of groups like ISIL (ISIS). In Afghanistan, US forces fought for 20 years after deposing the Taliban from the capital Kabul, only to see the group swiftly return to power as US troops withdrew.

Even if Iran’s governing system is toppled under US and Israeli blows, experts warn that US war hawks should be careful what they wish for.

Iran is a country of more than 90 million people. The fall of the government could lead to internal conflict, displacement crises and regional – if not global – instability, analysts say.

“This is not a colour revolution. This is going to be war and chaos, potentially civil war, and unrest,” Mortazavi said.

Sarah Leah Whitson, executive director of the rights group DAWN, said that even if Trump is trying to gain leverage with his threats and is not seeking war or regime change in Iran, it’s a risky strategy.

“The possibilities of the assaults on Iran escalating into not just a broader regional war, but potentially a global war, are extremely high,” Whitson told Al Jazeera.

“And so, continued belligerence and hostile rhetoric from President Trump is only throwing fuel on the fire.”