Middle East

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”.

Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has warned the United States that joining Israeli strikes on his country would “result in irreparable consequences” for the US as his and US President Donald Trump’s war of words accelerates and the Israel-Iran hostilities rage for a sixth day.

In his first televised address since Israel began its attacks on Friday, Khamenei said on Wednesday that Iran “will not surrender to anyone”.

Iran “will stand firm against an imposed war, just as it will stand firm against an imposed peace”, he said.

Responding to threatening remarks made a day earlier by Trump, Khamenei said those who know Iran and its history “know that Iranians do not answer well to the language of threat”.

In recent days, Trump has strongly hinted that the US could join in Israel’s military operation against Iran, saying he is seeking something “much bigger” than a ceasefire.

In comments made on Wednesday on the White House lawn at a flag-raising ceremony, Trump said: “I may do it. I may not do it,” when asked if the US was moving closer to striking Iran.

He claimed, without offering any evidence, that Iran is “totally defenceless. They have no air defence whatsoever.” Iran has said it has had success in bringing down Israeli drones and fighter jets.

“The next week is going to be very big, maybe less than a week,” Trump said without elaborating.

The US has in recent days sent more warplanes to the Middle East and is also sending the USS Nimitz aircraft carrier.

The US president claimed Iranian officials reached out to him and suggested visiting the White House, something Iran denies.

“No Iranian official has ever asked to grovel at the gates of the White House. The only thing more despicable than his lies is his cowardly threat to ‘take out’ Iran’s Supreme Leader,” the Iranian mission at the United Nations said in a post on X.

No Iranian official has ever asked to grovel at the gates of the White House. The only thing more despicable than his lies is his cowardly threat to “take out” Iran’s Supreme Leader.

Iran does NOT negotiate under duress, shall NOT accept peace under duress, and certainly NOT…

— I.R.IRAN Mission to UN, NY (@Iran_UN) June 18, 2025

Trump’s comments came after he demanded on Tuesday Iran’s “unconditional surrender”, saying: “We now have complete and total control of the skies over Iran.” He also boasted that the US could easily assassinate Khamenei.

In an interview with Al Jazeera, Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei echoed Khamenei’s sentiments, warning: “Any American intervention would be a recipe for an all-out war in the region.”

Iran is “under an attack by a genocidal” government and it will defend itself with “full force” against Israel’s “war of aggression”, Baghaei said.

Significantly, he added he trusted that Iran’s Arab neighbours would not allow the US to launch attacks on Iran from their countries.

Day 6 of Israel-Iran hostilities

The warnings were issued as Israel and Iran exchanged fire for a sixth consecutive day. The Israeli military said it struck 40 sites in Iran, including centrifuge production and weapons facilities.

The strikes targeted two centrifuge production sites – one in Tehran and one in Karaj, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

Reporting from Tehran, Al Jazeera’s Tohid Assadi said explosions were heard near Payam International Airport in Karaj as well as in areas in eastern Tehran. An Iranian government spokesperson also confirmed cyberattacks on at least two of Iran’s banks, he added.

ویدیوی دریافتی: “حمله دوباره به حوالی همان نقطه قبلی در شمال شرق #تهران.
بزرگراه صدر در تصویر مشخص است.”#iran #israel https://t.co/DAYs7Qmtb3 pic.twitter.com/vV6jlM199W

— Vahid Online (@Vahid) June 18, 2025

Translation: Another attack near the same previous location in northeast Tehran. Sadr Highway is visible in the footage.

Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said Israeli jets “destroyed the Iranian regime’s internal security headquarters” without providing evidence.

Israel’s military confirmed one of its remotely piloted aircraft fell in Iran after being shot at by a surface-to-air missile. “No injuries were reported, and there is no risk of an information breach,” the military said. Iranian state media earlier had said Iranian forces shot down an Israeli drone and fighter jet.

‘Crazed’ Israeli attacks

Israeli strikes have continued to target other areas of Iran, including the central province of Isfahan. An Israeli strike on a vehicle in Najafabad killed six people, including a pregnant woman and two children, Iran’s Tasnim news agency reported.

According to Iran’s Ministry of Health and Medical Education, at least 240 people, including 70 women and children, have been killed since Israel began attacking the country.

In a statement on Wednesday, the Israeli army said it is “operating freely” in Iranian skies and had shot down 10 Iranian drones.

It also said its forces intercepted an Iranian drone that entered airspace over the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights in Syria.

Meanwhile, explosions were heard over Tel Aviv on Wednesday morning as the army said two barrages of Iranian missiles were launched towards the country.

Al Jazeera’s Nour Odeh, reporting from Amman, Jordan, said Iran’s missile attacks are creating an unprecedented “disruption” of life.

“Over the past six days, the Israeli public has experienced something they haven’t in the past: a formidable army that is firing ballistic missiles at Israeli cities and sensitive Israeli sites,” Odeh said.

They’re seeing “reports in their back yard of dozens of buildings damaged and condemned for demolition,” she said. “There are more than 1,300 Israelis who now have to live in hotels because their homes are unliveable, damaged beyond repair.”

The attacks have continued to cause global concern, and many countries have expressed a need for de-escalation.

Russian President Vladimir Putin reiterated his country’s willingness to help mediate the crisis.

Speaking to members of his ruling Justice and Development Party in parliament, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said his country wants to see the crisis resolved diplomatically and Ankara could play a constructive role.

Erdogan accused Israel of waging “crazed” attacks against Iran that amount to “state terrorism”.

Iran’s response, he said, has been natural, legal and legitimate.

Hassan Ahmadian, an associate professor at the University of Tehran, said he doubts the prospects for any diplomatic solution between Iran and the US, which had been trying to reach a new nuclear agreement before Israel launched its attacks.

“The minimal trust that led to the negotiations with the US is currently nonexistent,” Ahmadian said, adding that many Iranians now view the previous round of nuclear talks as little more than a distraction before the surprise Israeli attack.

“I don’t see much of a chance for diplomacy at this point – not until this confrontation ends and we see what comes next,” he told Al Jazeera.

British sympathy for the Palestinian cause – and criticism of Israel – is surging, according to a new survey.

London, United Kingdom – Most Britons who oppose Israel’s war on Gaza believe the onslaught, which has to date killed more than 55,000 people, amounts to genocide, according to a new poll.

The survey, carried out by YouGov and commissioned by the Action for Humanity charity and the International Centre of Justice for Palestinians (ICJP) advocacy group, found that 55 percent of Britons are against Israel’s aggression. A significant number of those opponents – 82 percent – said Israel’s actions amount to genocide.

“This translates to 45 percent of adults in the UK who view Israel’s actions as genocidal,” said Action for Humanity and ICJP.

Details of the poll, which 2,010 people responded to in early June, were released on Wednesday.

Sixty-five percent said the UK should enforce the International Criminal Court’s arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu if he were to visit Britain.

“It is clear that a majority of the public here are disgusted with Israel’s conduct, and a growing number agree that this is clearly a genocide,” said Othman Moqbel, head of Action for Humanity.

He added that all but a few believe the UK should do “everything in its power to stop Israel and seek justice against those responsible”.

“The government’s failure to recognise the scale of the crimes being inflicted upon Gaza is not just putting them on the wrong side of history, it’s putting them on the wrong side of the present day.”

Tens of thousands of Britons have taken to the streets over the past 20 months to protest against Israel’s war on Gaza.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s government has in recent weeks adopted harsher tones on Israel and sanctioned top officials. In 2024, the UK suspended 30 arms export licences to Israel for use in Gaza amid concerns Israel was violating international humanitarian laws.

But critics have lamented the pace and power of the UK’s response, calling for tougher sanctions and measures that would prevent Israel from receiving F-35 components made in Britain.

The survey also highlighted the positions of Britons who voted for the Labour Party in the 2024 general election.

Of the 68 percent of Labour voters who are against Israel’s actions in Gaza, 87 percent believe they amount to genocide. Seventy-eight percent of Labour voters said the UK should enforce the ICC arrest warrant for Netanyahu.

The UK has suggested it would comply with the ICC warrant.

“The UK government is totally out of touch with the British public they are supposed to represent, and the Labour Party are even more out of touch with their own voters,” said Jonathan Purcell of the International Centre of Justice for Palestinians.

“UK policymaking should be based on complying with international law obligations, regardless, but this poll just goes to show the level of popular support for such policies too. There is absolutely no appetite to drag our national reputation through the mud by continuing to stand with a rogue, pariah state.”

In an exclusive interview with Al Jazeera, the spokesman for Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said his country was in a fight with a genocidal enemy, and that any American intervention in the conflict with Israel “would be a recipe for an all-out war”.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei says Iran is ‘for the time being’ focused on targeting Israeli sites only as conflict enters sixth day.

Iran has warned that any intervention by the United States in its conflict with Israel would risk an “all-out war”, as the regional rivals traded missile fire for a sixth day.

After President Donald Trump hinted at greater US involvement in the conflict and sent warplanes to the region, Esmaeil Baghaei, spokesperson for Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, on Wednesday pledged that Iran would defend itself with “all force”.

Here are some key takeaways from an exclusive interview the Iranian official gave to Al Jazeera.

Will Iran attack US forces?

Baghaei said Iran is “under an attack by a genocidal regime”, adding it will defend itself with “full force” against Israel’s “war of aggression”.

He said Iran is “for the time being” focused on targeting Israeli sites only, and Tehran trusts its neighbours would not allow the US to use their territory for attacks against it.

“Right now, we focus on defending ourselves from attacks from Israel, and that is why we have been very careful, very responsible, very calculated in our response to these attacks. We have targeted military bases, security bases inside the occupied lands, so for the time being, we are focused on that,” he said.

“We have very good relations with Arab countries, and they are very cognisant of the fact that Israel has been trying to drag others into the war … We are sure our Arab countries hosting US bases would not allow their territory to be used against their Muslim neighbours,” he added.

“I trust that the understanding between Iran and our neighbouring countries would not allow any third party to abuse their territory,” he said.

Is Iran willing to engage in diplomacy?

According to Baghaei, “diplomacy never ends”. But he said Tehran no longer trusts Washington.

“We were in the middle of [nuclear] negotiations [with the US], and all of a sudden, Israel started attacking Iran. And no one can imagine in our region, not only in Iran, that Israel started this war without a prior green light from the US,” he said.

“So I think what is at stake is the credibility of a country that is supposed to be a global power. What is at stake is the international law that has been almost annihilated because of all the atrocities committed in occupied Palestine and in Syria and elsewhere,” he noted.

Baghaei said Iran is in contact with other countries, including Russia, because it is a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council. “We expect everyone that has leeway, that has a mandate under the UN Security Council, to act to help achieve a resolution in condemnation of this attack,” he said.

Will Iran give up its nuclear programme?

Israel has said its attacks on Iran came to stop Tehran from building nuclear weapons. Iran has repeatedly denied that it seeks nuclear bombs and that its nuclear programme is peaceful.

Baghaei argued: “Where are the IAEA’s violation reports? The true criminals bomb inspected facilities.”

“Our nuclear programme has been part and parcel of our right under the NPT [Non-Proliferation Treaty]. So we have not done anything wrong under international law. Our nuclear programme started in the 1950s and it has continued for the past five decades completely peacefully,” he said.

He accused Israel of attacking a “peaceful installation” in Iran and questioned why members of the NPT allowed the attack to happen.

“This is completely banned under international law. This is completely criminal. And in accordance with Article 573 of [the UN convention on nuclear safety, as adopted by the International Atomic Energy Agency] IAEA … the threat of attack against a country’s peaceful installation constitutes a threat to peace and security,” he noted.

“Now, we are witnessing a serious breach of peace … so I think the international community must make Israel and its supporters accountable for what they have done in their aggression against Iran.”

For more than three decades, a familiar refrain has echoed from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu: Iran is on the verge of developing nuclear weapons.

Since 1992, when Netanyahu addressed Israel’s Knesset as an MP, he has consistently claimed that Tehran is only years away from acquiring a nuclear bomb. “Within three to five years, we can assume that Iran will become autonomous in its ability to develop and produce a nuclear bomb,” he declared at the time. The prediction was later repeated in his 1995 book, Fighting Terrorism.

The sense of imminent threat has repeatedly shaped Netanyahu’s engagement with United States officials. In 2002, he appeared before a US congressional committee, advocating for the invasion of Iraq and suggesting that both Iraq and Iran were racing to obtain nuclear weapons. The US-led invasion of Iraq followed soon after, but no weapons of mass destruction were found.

In 2009, a US State Department cable released by WikiLeaks revealed him telling members of Congress that Iran was just one or two years away from nuclear capability.

Three years later, at the United Nations General Assembly, Netanyahu famously brandished a cartoon drawing of a bomb to illustrate his claims that Iran was closer than ever to the nuclear threshold. “By next spring, at most by next summer … they will have finished the medium enrichment and move on to the final stage,” he said in 2012.

Now, more than 30 years after his first warning, Israel has conducted attacks against Iran while Netanyahu maintains that the threat remains urgent. “If not stopped, Iran could produce a nuclear weapon in a very short time,” he argued recently, suggesting the timeline could be months, even weeks.

These assertions persist despite statements from the US Director of National Intelligence earlier this year saying Iran was not building a nuclear weapon.

For Netanyahu, the message has scarcely changed in decades — a warning that appears to transcend shifting intelligence assessments and diplomatic developments.

As the conflict between Iran and Israel escalates, United States President Donald Trump’s administration is offering mixed signals about whether it still backs a diplomatic solution to Iran’s nuclear programme.

Publicly, it has backed a negotiated agreement, and US and Iranian negotiators had planned to meet again this week. As recently as Thursday, Trump insisted in a Truth Social post: “We remain committed to a Diplomatic Resolution.”

But 14 hours later as Israel began its attacks on Iran, Trump posted that he had given Iran a 60-day deadline to reach an agreement – and that the deadline had passed. By Sunday, Trump was insisting that “Israel and Iran should make a deal” and they would with his help.

On Monday as Trump prepared to leave the Group of Seven summit in Canada early, his warnings grew more ominous: He posted that Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon and “Everyone should immediately evacuate Tehran!” The US president later denied speculation that he had returned to Washington, DC, early to negotiate a ceasefire, noting that it was for something “much bigger than that”.

Trump’s ambiguous statements have fuelled debate among analysts about the true extent of US involvement and intentions in the Israel-Iran conflict.

Debating Trump’s wink and a nod

Trump has denied any US involvement in the strikes. “The U.S. had nothing to do with the attack on Iran, tonight,” he wrote on Sunday.

Kelsey Davenport, director for nonproliferation policy at the US-based Arms Control Association, said Trump’s messaging had been clear. “I think that President Trump has been very clear in his opposition to the use of military force against Iran while diplomacy was playing out. And reporting suggests that he pushed back against [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu,” she said.

What’s more likely, Davenport said, is that “Israel was worried that diplomacy would succeed, that it would mean a deal” and “that it did not view [this as] matching its interests and objectives regarding Iran”.

Richard Nephew, a professor at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs, agreed, saying it was Trump’s consistent march towards a deal that troubled Israel.

“I think it is that consistency that’s actually been the thing that’s the problem,” said Nephew, who served as director for Iran at the US National Security Council from 2011 to 2013 under then-President Barack Obama.

But Ali Ansari, a professor of Iranian history at St Andrews University in Scotland, disagreed.

“The US was aware. … Even if the specific timing did surprise them, they must have been aware, so a wink is about right,” he told Al Jazeera.

“At the same time, the US view is that Israel must take the lead and should really do this on their own,” he said.

Could Trump get sucked into the conflict?

Israel is believed to have destroyed the above-ground section of Iran’s uranium enrichment facility at Natanz. The facility has enriched uranium to 60 percent purity – far above the 3.67 percent needed for nuclear power but below the 90 percent purity needed for an atomic bomb. Power loss at Natanz as a result of the Israeli strike may have also damaged the underground enrichment section at Natanz, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

But in the IAEA’s assessment, Israel did not damage Iran’s other uranium enrichment plant at Fordow, which is buried inside a mountain and also enriches uranium to 60 percent purity.

“It’s likely that Israel would need US support if it actually wanted to penetrate some of these underground facilities,” Davenport said, pointing to the largest US conventional bomb, the 13,600kg (30,000lb) Massive Ordnance Penetrator.

“[With] repeated strikes with that munition, you could likely damage or destroy some of these facilities,” Davenport said, noting that Washington “has not transferred that bomb to Israel”.

Barbara Slavin, a distinguished fellow at the Stimson Center, a US-based think tank, also told Al Jazeera that Israel would need US weapons to complete its stated mission of destroying Iran’s nuclear programme.

Nephew, for one, did not discount the chances of that happening.

“We know that [Trump] likes to be on the side of winners. To the extent that he perceives the Israelis as winners right now, that is the reason why he is maintaining his position and why I think we have a wink [to Israel],” he said.

On Friday, the US flew a large number of midair-refuelling planes to the Middle East and ordered the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz to sail there. On Tuesday, it announced it was sending more warplanes to the region.

Ansari agreed that the initial success of Israel’s attacks could mean that “Trump is tempted to join in just to get some of the glory,” but he thinks this could force Iran to stand down.

“It may well be that the US does join in on an attack on Fordow although I think even the genuine threat of an American attack will bring the Iranians to the table,” Ansari said. “They can concede – with honour – to the United States; they can’t to Israel, though they may have no choice.”

Wary of American involvement, US Senator Tim Kaine introduced a war powers resolution on Monday that would require the US Congress to authorise any military action against Iran.

“It is not in our national security interest to get into a war with Iran unless that war is absolutely necessary to defend the United States,” Kaine said.

Diplomacy vs force

Obama did not believe a military solution was attractive or feasible for Iran’s nuclear programme, and he opted for a diplomatic process that resulted in the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) in 2015. That agreement called for the IAEA to monitor all of Iran’s nuclear activities to ensure that uranium enrichment only reached the levels required for energy production.

According to Nephew and Davenport, Trump indirectly fanned the flames of the military option when he pulled the US out of the JCPOA as president in 2018 at Israel’s behest.

Two years later, Iran said it would enrich uranium to 4.5 percent purity, and in 2021, it refined it to 20 percent purity. In 2023, the IAEA said it had found uranium particles at Fordow enriched to 83.7 percent purity.

Trump offered no alternative to the JCPOA during his first presidential term, nor did President Joe Biden after him.

“Setting [the JCPOA] on fire was a direct contribution to where we are today,” Nephew said. Seeking a military path instead of a diplomatic one to curtail a nuclear programme “contributes to a proliferation path”, he said, “because countries say, ‘The only way I can protect myself is if I go down this path.’”

Davenport, an expert on the nuclear and missile programmes of Iran and North Korea, said even the regime change in Tehran that Netanyahu has called for wouldn’t solve the problem.

“Regime change is not an assured nonproliferation strategy,” she said. “We don’t know what would come next in Iran if this regime were to fall. If it were the military seizing control, nuclear weapons might be more likely. But even if it were a more open democratic government, democracies choose to build nuclear weapons too.”

It’s a recurring nightmare likely shared by many Syrians who fled their homeland during the war – a mirage of home and hope, slipping away.

Directed by Yazan Rabee, BACK is a short documentary that follows those who return in their sleep to ghostly hometowns, hunted down by menacing forces.

Blending intimate testimony with striking visuals, BACK explores how political violence becomes embedded in the subconscious, especially for those who long for home from life in exile.

But as Rabee asks, did the nightmare really begin in 2012, with the uprising against president Bashar al-Assad? Or did the trauma take root decades earlier, during the brutal reign of Bashar’s father?

Israel’s military killed more than 70 Palestinians and wounded hundreds when it fired tank shells, machine guns and drones on a crowd seeking aid in Gaza, making it the deadliest day so far around sites of the Israel- and US-backed aid group GHF.

Islamabad, Pakistan – In January 2024, Pakistan and Iran fired missiles into each other’s territory in a brief military escalation between the neighbours.

Yet 17 months later, after Israel attacked Iran with strikes on the latter’s nuclear facilities, and assassinated multiple Iranian generals and nuclear scientists, Pakistan was quick to condemn the Israeli action.

Islamabad described the Israeli strikes as violations of Iran’s territorial sovereignty and labelled them “blatant provocations”.

“The international community and the United Nations bear responsibility to uphold international law, stop this aggression immediately and hold the aggressor accountable for its actions,” Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement on June 13.

As Israeli attacks on Iran, and Tehran’s retaliatory strikes, enter their sixth day, the deepening conflict is sparking fears in Islamabad, say analysts, rooted in its complex ties with Tehran and the even greater unease at the prospect of the Israeli military’s aerial influence extending close to the Pakistani border.

The human toll from the spiralling Israel-Iran conflict is growing. Israel’s attacks on Iran have already led to more than 220 deaths, with more than a thousand people injured. In retaliation, Iran has launched hundreds of missiles into Israeli territory, resulting in more than 20 deaths and extensive property damage.

While Pakistan, which shares a 905km (562-mile) border with Iran via its southwestern province of Balochistan, has voiced staunch support for Tehran, it has also closed five border crossings in Balochistan from June 15.

More than 500 Pakistani nationals, mainly pilgrims and students, have returned from Iran in recent days.

“On Monday, we had 45 students who were pursuing degrees in various Iranian institutions return to Pakistan. Almost 500 pilgrims also came back via the Taftan border crossing,” the assistant commissioner for Taftan, Naeem Ahmed, told Al Jazeera.

Taftan is a border town neighbouring Iran, situated in the Chaghi district in Balochistan, which is famous for its hills where Pakistan conducted its nuclear tests in 1998, as well as the Reko Diq and Saindak mines known for their gold and copper deposits.

At the heart of the decision to try to effectively seal the border is Pakistan’s worry about security in Balochistan, which, in turn, is influenced by its ties with Iran, say experts.

A complex history

Pakistan and Iran have both accused each other of harbouring armed groups responsible for cross-border attacks on their territories.

The most recent flare-up occurred in January 2024, when Iran launched missile strikes into Pakistan’s Balochistan province, claiming to target the separatist group Jaish al-Adl.

Pakistan retaliated within 24 hours, striking what it said were hideouts of Baloch separatists inside Iranian territory.

The neighbours patched up after that brief escalation, and during Pakistan’s brief military conflict with India in May, Iran studiously avoided taking sides.

On Monday, Minister of Foreign Affairs Ishaq Dar addressed Parliament, emphasising how Pakistan had been speaking with Iran and suggesting that Islamabad was willing to play a diplomatic role to help broker an end to the military hostilities between Iran and Israel.

“Iran’s foreign minister [Abbas Araghchi] told me that if Israel does not carry out another attack, they are prepared to return to the negotiating table,” Dar said. “We have conveyed this message to other countries, that there is still time to stop Israel and bring Iran back to talks.”.

Minister of State for Interior Talal Chaudhry told Al Jazeera that other nations needed to do more to push for a ceasefire.

“We believe we are playing our role, but the world must also do its duty. Syria, Libya, Iraq – wars devastated them. It even led to the rise of ISIS [ISIL]. We hope this is not repeated,” he added.

Fahd Humayun, assistant professor of political science at Tufts University and a visiting research scholar at Stanford, said that any Pakistani bid to diplomatically push for peace would be helped by the fact that the administration of President Donald Trump in the United States is also, officially at least, arguing for negotiations rather than war.

But Umer Karim, a Middle East researcher at the University of Birmingham, suggested that for all the public rhetoric, Pakistan would be cautious about enmeshing itself too deeply in the conflict at a time when it is trying to rebuild bridges with the US, Israel’s closest ally.

“I doubt Pakistan has the capacity or the will to mediate in this conflict, but it definitely wants it to wind down as soon as possible,” he said.

Balochistan and security concerns

Pakistan’s greatest concern, according to observers, is the potential fallout in Balochistan, a resource-rich but restive province. Rich in oil, gas, coal, gold and copper, Balochistan is Pakistan’s largest province by area but smallest by population, home to about 15 million people.

Since 1947, Balochistan has experienced at least five rebellion movements, the latest beginning in the early 2000s. Rebel groups have demanded a greater share of local resources or outright independence, prompting decades of military crackdowns.

The province also hosts the strategic Gwadar port, central to the $62bn China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), linking western China to the Arabian Sea.

Baloch nationalists accuse the state of exploiting resources while neglecting local development, heightening secessionist and separatist sentiments. Baloch secessionist groups on both sides of the border, particularly the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) and the Balochistan Liberation Front (BLA), have been waging a rebellion in Pakistan to seek independence.

“There is a major concern within Pakistan that in case the war escalates, members of armed groups such as BLA and BLF, many of whom live in Iran’s border areas, might try and seek protection inside Pakistan by crossing the very porous boundaries shared by the two countries,” Abdul Basit, a research fellow at the S Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore, told Al Jazeera.

“Thus, Pakistan had to shut down the crossing in an attempt to control the influx. It remains to be seen whether they can successfully do that, but at least this is their objective.”

Worries about an Afghanistan redux

Since the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979, waves of Afghan refugees have sought shelter in Pakistan. The latest mass entry occurred after the Taliban took over Kabul in August 2021. At their peak, there were close to 4 million Afghans living in the country.

In 2023, however, Pakistan launched a campaign to send the refugees back to Afghanistan. According to government estimates, close to a million of them have been expelled so far. Pakistan has cited rising incidents of armed violence in the country, which it blames on groups that it says find shelter in Afghanistan, as a key justification for its decision. The Taliban reject the suggestion that they allow anti-Pakistan armed groups sanctuary on Afghan territory.

Basit said Pakistan would likely want to avoid any repeat of what happened with Afghan refugees.

“With such a long border [with Iran], and a history of deep connection between people of both sides, it is not out of realm of possibility that it was this factor which factored in Pakistan’s decision to close the border,” he added.

Fears of Israeli aerial superiority

Baloch armed groups and the prospect of a refugee influx are not the only concerns likely worrying Pakistan, say experts.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has claimed that his air force has control over Tehran’s skies. And while both Israel and Iran continue to strike each other’s territory, Pakistan, which does not recognise Israel and views it as a sworn enemy, will not want Israeli influence over the Iranian airspace to grow and creep towards the Iran-Pakistan border.

“Pakistan is also averse to Israel achieving complete air superiority and control of Iranian airspace, as it would upend the current security status quo on Pakistan’s western flank,” Karim, the University of Birmingham scholar, told Al Jazeera.

Break from the past

Security analyst Ihsanullah Tipu Mehsud, based in Islamabad, noted that Pakistan has historically sided with the US in regional wars, including in Afghanistan, but may hesitate this time.

A majority Sunni nation, Pakistan still boasts a significant Shia population – more than 15 percent of its population of 250 million.

“Pakistan has already dealt with sectarian issues, and openly supporting military action against [Shia-majority] Iran could spark serious blowback,” he said.

Crude oil prices jump more than 4 percent amid fears the US may join Israel’s offensive against Iran.

Oil prices have spiked amid fears that the Israel-Iran crisis could spiral into a broader conflict involving the United States.

Brent North Sea Crude and West Texas Intermediate – the two most popular oil benchmarks – rose 4.4 percent and 4.3, respectively, on Tuesday as US President Donald Trump demanded “unconditional surrender” from Tehran.

The benchmarks stood at $76.45 per barrel and $74.84 per barrel, respectively, following the jump.

Oil prices edged up further in early trading on Wednesday, with both benchmarks about 0.5 percent higher as of 03:30 GMT.

US stocks fell on the rising geopolitical tensions overnight, with the benchmark S&P500 and tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite declining 0.84 percent and 0.91 percent, respectively.

Israel has bombed multiple oil and gas facilities in Iran since Friday, including the South Pars gasfield, the Fajr Jam gas plant, the Shahran oil depot and the Shahr Rey oil refinery.

While there has been little disruption to global energy flows so far, the possibility of escalation – including direct US involvement in Israel’s military offensive – has put markets on edge.

On Tuesday, Trump ratcheted his rhetoric against Iran, adding to fears that his administration could order a military strike against Iran’s uranium enrichment facility at Fordow.

In a thinly veiled threat against Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Trump said in a Truth Social post that the US knew his location but did not want him killed “for now”.

Iran has the world’s third-largest reserves of crude oil and second-largest reserves of gas, though its reach as an energy exporter has been heavily curtailed by US-led sanctions.

The country produced about 3.99 million barrels of crude oil per day in 2023, or 4 percent of global supply, according to the US Energy Information Administration.

Iran also sits on the Strait of Hormuz, which serves as a conduit for 20-30 percent of global oil shipments.

Nearly all of Iran’s oil exports leave via the Kharg Island export terminal, which has so far been spared from Israeli bombing.

“In the context of seeking to destabilize Iran, Israel may choose to strike its oil exports, believing that working to finish off a hostile regime is worth the risk of alienating allies concerned with potential price escalation,” Clayton Seigle, a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, DC, wrote in an analysis on Monday.

“Israeli strategists are likely well aware that Iran’s oil export capacity is quite vulnerable to disruption. Its offshore oil export terminal at Kharg Island accounts for nearly all of its 1.5 million barrels per day average export volume.”

Tel Aviv, Israel – For the fourth night in a row, missiles have hit Israeli cities. Iran’s retaliatory strikes, triggered by Israeli attacks, saw people sheltering in stairwells and bomb shelters as the scale of the damage and Iranian rockets managing to penetrate one of the world’s most sophisticated defence systems have left many reeling.

On Friday, Israel began its assault on Iran, targeting military and nuclear facilities and killing high-profile security, intelligence and military commanders as well as scientists. Israel’s attacks, which have also targeted residential areas, have killed more than 224 people and wounded at least 1,481, according to Iranian authorities. The government said most of those killed and wounded have been civilians.

In response, Iran has fired barrages of missiles towards Tel Aviv and other Israeli cities.

Hundreds of Iranian missiles have been launched since Friday, and Israel’s air defence systems, though robust, have been unable to stop all of them. While the number of missiles fired by Iran appears to have gone down on a night-by-night basis, the scale of the attacks continues to be unprecedented for Israelis.

Central Tel Aviv, Haifa, the scientific hub of Rehovot and homes have been struck. At least 24 people in Israel have been killed in the strikes and hundreds wounded.

The Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot, a source of national pride and a cornerstone of Israeli military research, was among the hardest hit. Its laboratories were torn open, glass panes shattered, and cables and rebar left dangling.

“This isn’t just damage to buildings,” said Jenia Kerimov, 34, a biology PhD candidate who lives nearby. “It’s years of research, equipment we can’t easily replace, data that might be lost forever.”

She had been in a bomb shelter a block away when the institute was struck. “We’re supposed to be helping protect the country. But now even our work, our home, feels exposed.”

Shelters across the country are packed. In older neighbourhoods without bunkers, residents crowd into communal safe rooms. In Tel Aviv and West Jerusalem, stairwells have become makeshift bedrooms. The Israeli military’s Home Front Command has evacuated hundreds of people to hotels after buildings that were hit were deemed uninhabitable.

‘No shelter in our building’

Yacov Shemesh, a retired social worker in West Jerusalem, said his wife has been sleeping on the stairs in their apartment block since the attacks began.

“There’s no shelter in our building,” the 74-year-old explained. “I went to the roof Sunday night to see what was happening. I saw a flash in the sky and then a boom. But I couldn’t find anything in the news. Maybe they [the state] don’t want us to know how close it came.”

The barrage has triggered panic in a society long shaped by conflict – but where, until now, the destruction and wars were inflicted elsewhere – in Gaza, Jenin or southern Lebanon. Now, many Israelis are being confronted with destruction in their home cities for the first time.

In Tel Aviv, long lines snaked through the aisles of a grocery store. Despite being crowded, the atmosphere was hushed as customers tapped their phones, their faces drawn tight.

Gil Simchon, 38, a farmer from near the Ramat David Airbase, east of Haifa, stacked bottles of water in his arms.

“It’s one thing to hear for decades about the Iranian threat,” he said, “but another to see it with your own eyes – to see high rises in Tel Aviv hit.”

On Monday night, he used a bomb shelter for the first time in his life.

Even the Kirya, Israel’s military headquarters in Tel Aviv, was struck although damage was limited. Iran’s ability to hit such a fortified and symbolically vital target has deeply rattled a population raised on the reliability of its multilayered defence architecture.

While much of Israel is covered by the Iron Dome, David’s Sling and Arrow defence systems, officials admit these were not designed for a saturation attack involving ballistic missiles with heavy warheads. “These aren’t homemade rockets from Gaza,” one analyst said on Israeli television. “These are battlefield weapons.”

On Saturday night, the streets of West Jerusalem were quiet. One of the few lit spaces was a gym. Its owner gestured to the staircase descending underground. “We’re protected,” he said. Then with a smile, he added, “Gymgoers are crazy. If you’re working out at night, the gym had better be open.”

Outside, the night air buzzed with tension. A neon sign flared against the darkness. A small group gathered, eyes fixed on the sky. Moments earlier, streaks of light had passed overhead.

“They’re headed somewhere else – Haifa, I think,” a young man muttered. Minutes later, sirens wailed. Video soon appeared online showing flames erupting from a gas installation near Haifa.

Initially, social media was flooded with footage of missile impacts – some from residential balconies, others from dashcams. By the third night, multiple reports were published of people being arrested for documenting the attacks while Israeli officials warned foreign media against breaking a ban on broadcasting such content, describing it as a security offence.

Meanwhile, fears of power outages are growing. In Tel Aviv, drivers queued at petrol stations, anxious to keep their tanks full. A father strapped his children into the back seat before speeding away. His eyes flicked to the clouds, then the rear-view mirror.

‘Protecting ourselves and making it worse’

For some Israelis abroad, a feeling of helplessness has deepened. Eran, 37, who lives and works in New York, spoke to his elderly parents near the city of Beit Shemesh. “They’ve gone to shelters before, but this time, the fear was different,” he tells Al Jazeera. “The shelter was full. When they returned home, they found pieces of interceptor debris in the yard.”

Eran, a former conscientious objector who refused Israel’s mandatory military draft – for which he spent time in jail – and asked to use a pseudonym for fear of state reprisal upon his return to Israel, has long been critical of Israeli policies. Now watching his family in danger, he feels more certain than ever.

“Israel claims to act for all Jews,” he said. “But its crimes in Gaza and elsewhere just bring danger to families like mine. Even in New York, it impacts me.”

For others, the picture is murkier.

“I don’t know any more where the line is between protecting ourselves and making it worse,” Gil said. “You grow up believing we’re defending something. But now, the missiles, the shelters, the fear – it feels like a cycle we can’t see out of.”

The Israeli government, meanwhile, has struck a belligerent tone, promising to make Tehran “pay a heavy price”. But in the shelters, tension is mixed with exhaustion and a growing recognition that something fundamental has changed.

“It’s like the feeling of a meat lover after they visit a meat-packing factory,” Gil said quietly. “You grow up on it, you believe in it – but when you see how it’s made, it makes you uneasy.”

This piece was published in collaboration with Egab.

UN agency IOM says 743 people have died so far this year attempting to cross the Mediterranean to Europe.

At least 60 refugees and migrants are feared missing and drowned at sea after two shipwrecks off the coast of Libya, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) has said, after attempting the perilous crossing to Europe.

“With dozens feared dead and entire families left in anguish, IOM is once again urging the international community to scale up search and rescue operations and guarantee safe, predictable disembarkation for survivors,” Othman Belbeisi, the regional director for the Middle East and North Africa.

One shipwreck occurred on June 12 near Alshab port in Tripolitania, the United Nations agency said. Only five survivors were found and 21 people were reported missing. Among those feared dead are six Eritreans, including three women and three children, five Pakistanis, four Egyptians and two Sudanese men. The identities of four others remain unknown.

The second incident occurred on June 13, approximately 35km (22 miles) west of Libya’s Tobruk. According to the sole survivor, who was rescued by fishermen, 39 people are missing.

At least 743 people have died so far this year attempting to cross the Mediterranean to Europe, including 538 on the Central Mediterranean route, which remains the deadliest known migration route in the world.

In recent years, the European Union has increased efforts to reduce such migration, including by providing equipment and financial support to the Libyan coastguard, a quasi-military organisation linked to militias accused of abuses and other crimes.

NGOs say the phasing out of state-run search and rescue operations has made journeys across the Mediterranean more dangerous. They have also denounced what they see as punitive action by states against charities operating in the Mediterranean.

As a result, many people fleeing conflict and persecution have found themselves stranded in Libya, often held in detention in conditions that rights groups describe as inhumane.

Libya, which is still struggling to recover from years of war and chaos after the 2011 NATO-backed overthrow of longtime ruler Muammar Gaddafi, has been criticised for its treatment of refugees and migrants.

Accusations from rights groups range from extortion to slavery, while smugglers and human traffickers have also taken advantage of the climate of instability in the country.

When Iranian missiles began raining down on Israel, many residents scrambled for cover. Sirens wailed across the country as people rushed into bomb shelters.

But for some Palestinian citizens of Israel – two million people, or roughly 21 percent of the population – doors were slammed shut, not by the force of the blasts and not by enemies, but by neighbours and fellow citizens.

Mostly living in cities, towns, and villages within Israel’s internationally recognised borders, many Palestinian citizens of Israel found themselves excluded from life-saving infrastructure during the worst nights of the Iran-Israel conflict to date.

For Samar al-Rashed, a 29-year-old single mother living in a mostly Jewish apartment complex near Acre, the reality of that exclusion came on Friday night. Samar was at home with her five-year-old daughter, Jihan. As sirens pierced the air, warning of incoming missiles, she grabbed her daughter and rushed for the building’s shelter.

“I didn’t have time to pack anything,” she recalled. “Just water, our phones, and my daughter’s hand in mine.”

The panicking mother tried to ease her daughter’s fear, while hiding her own, gently encouraging her in soft-spoken Arabic to keep up with her rushed steps towards the shelter, as other neighbours climbed down the stairs, too.

But at the shelter door, she said, an Israeli resident, having heard her speak Arabic, blocked their entry – and shut it in their faces.

“I was stunned,” she said. “I speak Hebrew fluently. I tried to explain. But he looked at me with contempt and just said, ‘Not for you.’”

In that moment, Samar said, the deep fault lines of Israeli society were laid bare. Climbing back to her flat and looking at the distant missiles lighting up the skies, and occasionally colliding with the ground, she was terrified by both the sight, and by her neighbours.

A history of exclusion

Palestinian citizens of Israel have long faced systemic discrimination – in housing, education, employment, and state services. Despite holding Israeli citizenship, they are often treated as second-class citizens, and their loyalty is routinely questioned in public discourse.

According to Adalah-The Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel, more than 65 laws directly or indirectly discriminate against Palestinian citizens. The nation-state law passed in 2018 cemented this disparity by defining Israel as the “nation-state of the Jewish people”, a move critics say institutionalised apartheid.

In times of war, that discrimination often intensifies.

Palestinian citizens of Israel are frequently subjected to discriminatory policing and restrictions during periods of conflict, including arrest for social media posts, denial of access to shelters, and verbal abuse in mixed cities.

Many have already reported experiencing such discrimination.

In Haifa, 33-year-old Mohammed Dabdoob was working at his mobile repair shop Saturday evening when phones simultaneously all rang with the sound of alerts, triggering his anxiety. He tried to finish fixing a broken phone, which delayed him. He then rushed to close the shop and ran towards the nearest public shelter, beneath a building behind his shop. Approaching the shelter, he found its sturdy door locked.

“I tried the code. It didn’t work. I banged on the door, called on those inside to open – in Hebrew – and waited. No one opened,” he said. Moments later, a missile exploded nearby, shattering glass across the street. “I thought I was going to die.”

“There was smoke and screaming, and after a quarter of an hour, all we could hear were the sounds of the police and the ambulance. The scene was terrifying, as if I were living a nightmare similar to what happened at the Port of Beirut,” he added, referring to the 2020 Beirut port explosion.

Frozen by sheer fear and shock, Mohammed watched from his hiding place in a nearby parking lot as the chaos unfolded, and soon enough, the shelter’s door opened. As those who were inside the shelter began trickling out, he looked at them silently.

“There’s no real safety for us,” he said. “Not from the missiles, and not from the people who are supposed to be our neighbours.”

Discrimination in shelter access

In theory, all citizens of Israel should have equal access to public safety measures – including bomb shelters. In practice, the picture is very different.

Palestinian towns and villages in Israel have significantly fewer protected spaces than Jewish localities. According to a 2022 report by Israel’s State Comptroller quoted by the newspaper Haaretz, more than 70 percent of homes in Palestinian communities in Israel lack a safe room or space that is up to code, compared to 25 percent of Jewish homes. Municipalities often receive less funding for civil defence, and older buildings go without the required reinforcements.

Even in mixed cities like Lydd (Lod), where Jewish and Palestinian residents live side by side, inequality is pronounced.

Yara Srour, a 22-year-old nursing student at Hebrew University, lives in the neglected neighbourhood of al-Mahatta in Lydd. Her family’s three-storey building, which is around four decades old, lacks official permits and a shelter. Following the heavy Iranian bombardment they witnessed on Saturday evening, which shocked the world around them, the family tried early on Sunday to flee to a safer part of the city.

“We went to the new part of Lydd where there are proper shelters,” Yara said, adding that her 48-year-old mother, who suffers from weak knees, was struggling to move. “Yet, they wouldn’t let us in. Jews from poorer areas were also turned away. It was only for the ‘new residents’ — those in the modern buildings, mostly middle-class Jewish families.”

Yara recalls the horror vividly.

“My mother has joint problems and couldn’t run like the rest of us,” she said. “We were begging, knocking on doors. But people just looked at us through peepholes and ignored us, while we saw the sky light up with fires of intercepted rockets.”

Fear, trauma and anger

Samar said the experience of being turned away from a shelter with her daughter left a psychological scar.

“That night, I felt completely alone,” she said. “I didn’t report it to the police – what’s the point? They wouldn’t have done anything.”

Later that evening, a villa in Tamra was hit, killing four women from the same family. From her balcony, Samar watched smoke rise into the sky.

“It felt like the end of the world,” she said. “And still, even under attack, we’re treated as a threat, not as people.”

She has since moved with her daughter to her parents’ home in Daburiyya, a village in the Lower Galilee. Together, they can now huddle in a reinforced room. With the alerts coming every few hours, Samar is thinking of fleeing to Jordan.

“I wanted to protect Jihan. She doesn’t know this world yet. But I also didn’t want to leave my land. That’s the dilemma for us – survive, or stay and suffer.”

While Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated after the attacks that “Iran’s missiles target all of Israel – Jews and Arabs alike,” the reality on the ground told a different story.

Even before the war, Palestinian citizens of Israel were disproportionately arrested for expressing political views or reacting to the attacks. Some were detained merely for posting emojis on social media. In contrast, calls for vigilante violence against Palestinians in online forums were largely ignored.

“The state expects our loyalty in war,” said Mohammed Dabdoob. “But when it’s time to protect us, we’re invisible.”

For Samar, Yara, Mohammed, and thousands like them, the message is clear: they are citizens on paper, but strangers in practice.

“I want safety like anyone else,” said Yara. “I’m studying to become a nurse. I want to help people. But how can I serve a country that won’t protect my mother?”

This piece was published in collaboration with Egab.

Here’s where things stand on Monday, June 17:

Fighting

• Several explosions rocked areas across Iran, including its central and western provinces as well as the densely populated capital Tehran, as Israel stepped up bombardment.
• The Israeli military said it struck “12 missile launch and storage sites”.
• Areas attacked by Israel include Isfahan province and Tabriz city, while attacks on Tehran were “continuous and intense”, according to Iranian state media IRNA.
• Israel’s military claimed one of its strikes in Tehran assassinated Iran’s Armed Forces chief Ali Shadmani.
• Iran launched retaliatory strikes towards parts of northern Israel and Tel Aviv, and said its missile attacks hit a military intelligence centre and a Mossad operations planning centre.
• Iran’s army also said it tracked and intercepted 28 “hostile aircraft” in the past 24 hours, adding that one of them was a spy drone trying to gain intelligence on “sensitive” sites.
• Abdolrahim Mousavi, chief of staff of the Iranian Armed Forces, said attacks carried out so far have been a “warning for deterrence”, and warned “the punitive operation will be executed soon”.

Casualties and disruptions

• Iran reported several killed in Israel’s attack on a State tv building Monday and three others died in strikes on the central city of Kashan.
• Israel has not reported any deaths on Tuesday.
• The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said it conducted more satellite imagery analysis of Israel’s recent attacks on Iranian nuclear sites, adding it has further evidence indicating “direct impacts” on the “underground enrichment halls” in the Natanz facility.
• The IAEA added its analysis did not show any such change at two of Iran’s other major nuclear facilities targeted by Israel – Isfahan and Fordow.
• The head of the World Health Organization (WHO) Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus warned of a devastating toll on civilians and potential health risks associated with Israel’s nuclear-site attacks on Iran.
• More than 600 foreign nationals have crossed from Iran into neighbouring Azerbaijan in recent days, including citizens of Russia, Germany, Spain, Italy, Romania, the United States, among others.
• Ukraine, China, and South Korea have become the latest countries to advise their citizens to leave Israel and Iran, citing “significant deterioration of the security situation” in the region.

Diplomacy

• US President Donald Trump, after leaving the G7 summit early, said he is not pushing for an Israel-Iran ceasefire but wants a “real end”, with Iran “giving up entirely” on nuclear weapons.
• He also wrote on his Truth Social app that “we now have complete and total control of the skies over Iran”, without clarifying further, and made a thinly veiled threat to assassinate Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
• The remarks come as US Vice President JD Vance said Trump may take “further action to end Iranian enrichment”.
• Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia is ready to act as a mediator, but added there is a “reluctance, at least on the part of Israel”, to start talks.
• Russia’s Foreign Ministry denounced continued the Israeli attacks as illegal.
• Jordan’s King Abdullah II warned that Israel’s “attacks” on Iran threatened to dangerously escalate tensions and were “a threat to people everywhere”.
• Qatar also said it “strongly condemns” Israel’s attacks, calling them “an uncalculated measure that will have very dire repercussions”.
• French President Emmanuel Macron said he was against military action against Iran that could lead to regime change and potential “chaos”.