Middle East

The crisis in Sudan has become ‘a grave human rights and protection emergency’, the United Nations mission says.

The UN Independent International Fact-Finding Mission for Sudan has warned that both sides in the country’s civil war have escalated the use of heavy weaponry in populated areas while weaponising humanitarian relief, amid devastating consequences for civilians.

“Let us be clear: the conflict in Sudan is far from over,” said Mohamed Chande Othman, chair of the Fact-Finding Mission, which presented its latest findings to the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva on Tuesday.

“The scale of human suffering continues to deepen. The fragmentation of governance, the militarisation of society, and the involvement of foreign actors are fuelling an ever-deadlier crisis.”

The brutal conflict, now in its third year, erupted in April 2023 between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), and has killed tens of thousands of civilians and displaced more than 13 million Sudanese, according to United Nations data.

The UN has previously said that Sudan is experiencing the world’s “worst humanitarian crisis”.

The mission found that both sides escalated the use of heavy weaponry in populated areas. In May, an RSF drone strike on Obeid International Hospital in North Kordofan killed six civilians, while earlier this month, an SAF bombing in Al Koma killed at least 15 civilians.

Aid was also being weaponised by the SAF, which imposed bureaucratic restrictions, as well as by the RSF, which looted convoys and blocked aid, the group said.

The mission also documented a sharp rise in sexual and gender-based violence, including gang rape, abduction, sexual slavery, and forced marriage, mostly in RSF-controlled displacement camps.

Member of the Fact-Finding Mission Mona Rishmawi said what began as a political and security crisis has become “a grave human rights and protection emergency, marked by international crimes that stain all involved”.

“It is unconscionable that this devastating war is entering its third year with no sign of resolution,” she said.

Sudan has seen growing instability since longtime President Omar al-Bashir was removed from power in 2019 after months of anti-government protests.

In October 2021, the Sudanese military staged a coup against the civilian government of Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok, leading to his resignation in early 2022.

Sudan’s army chief, Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and rival Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, who leads the RSF, had shared power after the coup but then started fighting for control of the state and its resources in April 2023.

Last week, the Sudanese Army accused the forces of eastern Libyan military commander Khalifa Haftar of attacking Sudanese border posts, the first time it has charged its northwestern neighbour with direct involvement in the civil war.

Egypt, which has also backed Haftar, has long supported the Sudanese Army. Sudan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs accused the United Arab Emirates of backing the RSF, which it denies.

Beirut, Lebanon – When Israel attacked Lebanon in September 2024, Fatima Kandil left her home in Beirut’s southern suburbs, known colloquially as Dahiyeh. As the area sustained wide-scale Israeli air strikes, many Lebanese fled Dahiyeh for other parts of the country or, like Kandil, sought refuge in Iraq.

Nearly seven months after the November ceasefire between Israel and the armed Lebanese group Hezbollah – an agreement Lebanon says Israel has repeatedly violated – rockets are lighting up the night sky once again. But this time, Hezbollah is not involved. Instead, Israel and Iran are exchanging direct military attacks.

“We don’t know how this will all end, so we are undoubtedly tense,” Kandil, now back in Lebanon, told Al Jazeera. However, she added that she had a feeling of satisfaction seeing missiles rain down on Israel. “Our revenge is being taken,” she said.

While Kandil’s sentiment is shared by some in Lebanon, others – those who see Iran’s support for Hezbollah, a group that has dominated Lebanon militarily and politically for two decades, as nefarious – cheered on the Israeli attacks against Iran. Many people in Lebanon told Al Jazeera they hoped that stability would prevail and that their country wouldn’t be dragged back into a prolonged conflict or subjected to the ferocity and frequency of the Israeli attacks it suffered last year.

“People are taking precautions,” Karim Safieddine, a Lebanese political writer and academic, told Al Jazeera. “Some are readying their bags.”

No intervention … yet

Early Friday, Israel struck Iran and assassinated several top commanders in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) along with top nuclear scientists. Numerous civilians were also killed, including children, according to Iranian state media.

Hours later, Hezbollah released a statement condemning the Israeli attacks and offering condolences for the slain Iranian officers. But analysts say the statement was a clear sign that Hezbollah would not be entering the battle in support of Iran.

“Currently, there is no need for Hezbollah to intervene, as Iranian missiles are capable of confronting the Israeli occupation,” said Qassem Kassir, a Lebanese political analyst supportive of the group. “However, if the situation escalates into a full-scale war, nothing prevents the situation from changing.”

Hezbollah, founded amid the Lebanese civil war in 1982 with Iranian backing and funding, draws much of its support from Lebanon’s Shia Muslim community. The group began firing rockets at Israel on October 8, 2023, after the start of Israel’s war on Gaza.

Israeli attacks in Lebanon between October 2023 and November 2024 largely targeted areas where Shia live, killing around 4,000 civilians and fighters, according to Lebanon’s Ministry of Public Health.

Many Lebanese are still reeling from the damage left by Israel’s attacks. Some remain displaced from their villages in southern Lebanon, which was razed. Hezbollah’s priority is to ensure that homes and towns are built in the area.

While Israel is still hitting targets around the country, mostly in southern Lebanon but occasionally in the Beirut suburbs as well, any resumption of military activity by Hezbollah would likely draw an even more intense Israeli response and further disrupt reconstruction efforts.

Much of Hezbollah’s military arsenal was reportedly destroyed during the Israeli attacks, though analysts believe they have retained some arms, including ballistic missiles.

Still, Hezbollah’s lack of intervention in the current Israel-Iran conflict is “evidence of their lack of capacity”, Safieddine said. Hezbollah may not have the means to intervene militarily.

The Israeli campaign on Lebanon also left Hezbollah’s political leadership battered. Many of the group’s most senior military figures, including longtime leader Hassan Nasrallah, were assassinated. The group’s political hegemony is now being challenged by the Lebanese state, with pressure from the United States and Israel, as it moves to disarm Hezbollah and bring the use of force under the state’s exclusive authority.

For now, analysts believe there is a consensus and understanding between Tehran and Hezbollah that the group will not intervene.

“Domestic political circumstances make it extremely difficult for Hezbollah to join in Iranian retaliation,” Nicholas Blanford, a nonresident senior fellow with the US-based think tank Atlantic Council, told Al Jazeera. “And the Iranians recognise they can’t call on them.”

The battle within

While Hezbollah is sometimes referred to as an Iranian proxy, many experts say the group is more accurately described as a close ally of the IRGC and the Iranian government with shared interests and a similar ideology.

During Israel’s heavy bombardment of Lebanon between September and November 2024, Iran’s intervention was relatively limited. Israel invaded southern Lebanon, and while Israeli troops have pulled out of most of the Lebanese territory they entered during the war, they still occupy five points.

“There’s resentment and unhappiness toward Iran by Hezbollah because they feel Iran let them down in the recent conflict,” Blanford said. Iran reportedly asked Hezbollah not to use some of its more lethal weapons, which analysts linked to fears of an Israeli response on Iranian territory.

As for Israel’s attacks on Iran, there’s no indication that Tehran has asked Hezbollah to get involved yet, according to Kassir, the analyst thought to be close to Hezbollah. But that might change if a protracted war draws in actors from around the region.

Blanford said he doesn’t expect to “see Hezbollah joining in full scale”, but noted that if Israel starts to struggle in its fight against Iran, it could lead to “some activity along the Blue Line”, the line traversing Lebanon’s southern border. If that happens, Blanford said, Hezbollah may look to carry out operations in the Israeli-occupied areas of Lebanon.

Israel’s plans for Lebanon and Hezbollah remain unclear, but the sound of Israeli drones, an ever-present buzz during the most severe days of the war, has returned to Beirut’s skies in the last few days.

“I wouldn’t rule out [Hezbollah’s intervention] entirely,” said Blanford. “But for now, it looks like they will stand on the sidelines and keep an eagle eye on what is going on.”

Israel and Iran are engaged in attacks for a fifth straight day, with Israel targeting Iran’s nuclear facilities, military sites, oil and gas facilities, and state TV headquarters.

The escalation has raised fears of a widening conflict and turmoil in global energy markets.

Iran is one of the top global producers of oil and gas and holds the world’s second largest proven natural gas reserves and the thirdlargest crude oil reserves, according to the United States Energy Information Administration.

How big is Iran’s oil industry?

With about 157 billion barrels of proven crude oil, Iran holds about a quarter (24 percent) of the Middle East’s and 12 percent of the world’s proven oil reserves.

Iran is the ninth largest oil producer globally and the fourth largest within OPEC, producing about 3.3 million barrels of crude oil per day. It exports roughly 2 million barrels of crude and refined fuel each day.

In 2023, Iran’s net oil export revenues were estimated at $53bn, up sharply from $37bn in 2021. While Iran’s economy is relatively diversified compared with many of its neighbours, oil continues to be a critical source of government income.

However, years of limited foreign investment and international sanctions have kept Iran’s oil production well below its full potential.

After Israel’s attacks on Iran began on Friday, fears of a wider Middle East conflict sent oil prices soaring nearly 7 percent in a single day. Prices have held steady about that level since.

Where are Iran’s oil facilities?

Iran’s oil facilities are spread across several regions, mainly in the south and west of the country. These include onshore oilfields, offshore platforms, refineries, export terminals and pipelines.

Nearly all of Iran’s crude oil flows through Kharg Island, the country’s main export terminal, which handles close to 1.5 million barrels per day.

More than 20 percent of the world’s seaborne oil passes through the Strait of Hormuz, a narrow maritime chokepoint between Iran and Oman.

Major onshore oilfields include:

• Ahvaz Field – Iran’s largest oilfield and one of the biggest globally
• Gachsaran Field – second-largest Iranian field, producing light crude
• Marun Field – another high-output field near Ahvaz
• Agha Jari, Bibi Hakimeh and Karanj fields – located mostly within Khuzestan province in southwestern Iran, a key oil-producing region

Major offshore fields include:

• Abuzar, Foroozan, Doroud and Salman fields – located in the Gulf and shared with Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates

Its main refineries include:

• Abadan Refinery – one of the oldest and largest refineries in the Middle East
• Tehran Refinery – supplies the capital and nearby provinces
• Isfahan, Bandar Abbas, Arak and Tabriz refineries – process various crude types for domestic use and export

How big is Iran’s gas industry?

Iran has the world’s second largest proven natural gas reserves after Russia. They are estimated at 1,200 trillion cubic feet (34 trillion cubic metres), which accounts for 16 percent of global reserves and 45 percent of OPEC’s total.

Iran is the third highest producer of natural gas behind the US and Russia with production reaching 9,361 billion cubic feet (265 billion cubic metres) in 2023, accounting for at least 6 percent of global production.

Like oil, Iran relies heavily on domestic companies to develop its gasfields due to international sanctions, which have limited foreign investment and technology access.

Where are Iran’s gas facilities?

Iran’s gas facilities are concentrated primarily in the south, especially along the Gulf, with major gasfields and processing plants.

Iran’s largest gasfield, and the largest in the world, is the South Pars field, which it shares with Qatar, where it’s known as the North Field.

Other important gasfields are the North Pars, Golshan, Ferdowsi, Kangan and Nar fields.

Iran’s main gas-processing centre is the South Pars Gas Complex, located in Bushehr province.

Which facilities has Israel attacked?

Israel has struck multiple energy facilities, including the South Pars gasfield, Fajr Jam gas plant, Shahran oil depot, Shahr Rey oil refinery and Tehran fuel depots.

Israeli soldiers have killed dozens of Palestinians and wounded hundreds as they sought aid in Gaza, according to Palestinian officials.

The soldiers fired at the crowds on Tuesday morning as they gathered along the main eastern road in the southern city of Khan Younis. It was the latest in a string of killings since the Israel- and United States-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) launched operations to distribute food in the enclave three weeks ago.

The Palestinian Ministry of Health reported that at least 51 civilians were killed. However, the death toll is expected to rise as many of the injured are in a critical condition, according to medics at Nasser Hospital, where the casualties were being treated.

Gaza Civil Defence spokesman Mahmud Bassal added that more than 200 people were injured although reports concerning the number of casualties varied.

“Israeli drones fired at the citizens. Some minutes later, Israeli tanks fired several shells at the citizens, which led to a large number of martyrs and wounded,” the spokesman said, noting that the crowd had assembled in the hope of receiving flour.

Israel did not immediately comment on the incident.

‘Shredded to pieces’

Survivors described horrific scenes.

“Dozens of civilians, including children, were killed, and no one could help or save lives,” survivor Saeed Abu Liba, 38, told Al Jazeera.

Yousef Nofal, who called the event a “massacre”, said he saw many people lying motionless and bleeding on the ground. The soldiers continued to fire on people as they fled, he said.

“I survived by a miracle,” said Mohammed Abu Qeshfa, who mentioned both heavy gunfire and tank shelling.

Al Jazeera’s correspondent Tareq Abu Azzoum, reporting from Deir el-Balal in central Gaza, quoted medical sources at Nasser Hospital as saying many victims were “unidentifiable” because they had been “shredded to pieces” in the attack.

The incident on Tuesday is the latest in a string of killings around GHF food distribution centres.

The private organisation began distributing aid at the end of May after Israel partially lifted an almost three-month blockade of food and other essential items that has put Gaza’s 2.3 million people at risk of famine.

The United Nations and other major humanitarian groups have refused to work with the GHF, saying it cannot meet the level of need in Gaza and it breaks humanitarian principles by giving Israel control over aid access.

After previous shootings, which have been a near-daily occurrence since the aid centres opened, the military has said its soldiers had fired warning shots at what it called suspects approaching their positions although it did not say whether those shots struck anyone.

The death toll of more than 50 people made Tuesday the deadliest day around the GHF sites so far. Previously, that record was set on Monday, when 38 people were killed, mostly in the Rafah area south of Khan Younis.

Reports indicated more than 300 people have been killed and more than 2,000 wounded while trying to collect aid from the GHF.

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk has hit out at Israel over the killings of Palestinians near the aid delivery points.

“I urge immediate, impartial investigations into deadly attacks on desperate civilians to reach food distribution centres,” he said on Monday.

After Israel launched what it described as “preventive” attacks on Iranian military and nuclear targets last week, Russia’s position appeared clear.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Moscow condemned what it called “unprovoked military strikes against a sovereign UN member state”, referring to Iran.

The Kremlin, whose partnership with Iran dates back many years, has urged a diplomatic solution to the crisis.

Since the hostilities began on Friday, more than 220 people have been killed in Israeli attacks on Iran while 24 people have been killed in Iranian counterstrikes.

Both Iran and Russia shared an ally in former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and intervened on his behalf in the Syrian war until his eventual defeat late last year. Iran has supplied Russia with Shahed kamikaze drones to be used on Ukrainian targets, and last year, there were reports that Russia received hundreds of Fath-360 ballistic missiles from Iran, which are known to be accurate at short range.

“Of course, Russia should be friends with Iran because, in politics and in life, everything is very simple,” hawkish Russian TV personality Sergey Mardan commented after the latest Middle East crisis escalated. “If you have an enemy and your enemy has partners and allies, his partners and allies are automatically your enemies.

“There are no illusions about this, and there can’t be any. Since Israel is a key ally of the United States; … of course, we are interested in the weakening of Israel and helping its adversaries.”

While Russia might be sympathetic to Iran, the extent of their relationship should not be overstated, said independent Middle East specialist Ruslan Suleymanov, who is based in Baku, Azerbaijan.

Russia now manufactures its own Shahed drones under licence, so its own combat capabilities are unlikely to be affected by the Iran-Israel conflict, he said.

“The Iranians, in turn, expected more from Russia. They expected a much larger amount of aircraft, military, space technologies, not to mention nuclear,” Suleymanov told Al Jazeera.

“But Russia did not rush to share because it is very important for Moscow to maintain a balance in the Middle East and maintain relations with Israel. And if Russia begins to supply arms to Iran, no one excludes the fact that these weapons can be directed at Israel, and the Kremlin does not want this.”

Although a strategic partnership agreement was signed between Moscow and Tehran this year, Suleymanov noted it does not mean Russia is obliged to step up to defend Iran.

“It is obvious that at any vote of the UN Security Council, Russia, along with China, will stand on the side of the Islamic Republic [of Iran],” he said. “However, we should not expect anything more.”

While the Western-oriented liberal opposition has been largely supportive of Israel, Russia is treading a fine line to uphold its ties with the administration of President Benjamin Netanyahu.

“One monkey got his grenade taken away. We’re waiting for the other one,” exiled Russian politician Dmitry Gudkov wrote on social media, referring to the Iranian and Russian leadership, respectively.

“Does Israel (or any country, for that matter) have the legal right to try to knock a nuclear grenade out of the hands of a big monkey playing with it next to it? And one that constantly growls in your direction? I think the answer is obvious.”

Russia’s relations with Israel are complicated.

Although the Soviet Union initially supported the creation of the state of Israel, it soon threw its weight behind Arab nations and backed the Palestinian cause.

Today, Russia refuses to blacklist Hamas as a “terrorist organisation” although its support for Palestine is balanced by its relationship with Israel. Israel, meanwhile, is concerned with the safety and survival of Russia’s Jewish community.

Regarding Syria, Russia and Israel shared an understanding whereby Moscow tacitly overlooked Israeli operations targeting its ally, Iranian-backed Hezbollah. Israel, for its part, avoided antagonising or sanctioning Moscow and arming Ukraine. However, the collapse of al-Assad’s regime has changed this calculus.

“Russia and Israel, by and large, proceed from different interests in Syria,” observed Alexey Malinin, founder of the Moscow-based Center for International Interaction and Cooperation and a member of the Digoria Expert Club.

“If Russia had the goal of ensuring the safety of Syrian citizens, ensuring the stability of legitimate power, then Israel sets itself the goal of maximally protecting itself from potential threats from Syria, not paying attention to the legality and legitimacy of such decisions. Therefore, Israel calmly went beyond the buffer zone on the Golan Heights and de facto occupied the territory of Syria after the fall of the Bashar al-Assad regime.”

“It was really important for Russia to have contact with Israel, being in Syria, because without interaction with Tel Aviv, it was very difficult to carry out any manoeuvres on Syrian territory,” Suleymanov added. “But now such a need simply does not exist. Russia does not require any close coordination with [Israel].”

Still, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Netanyahu have in the past enjoyed a friendly relationship, even being spotted at a ballet performance together in 2016.

Russia the powerbroker?

Some analysts believe the Israel-Iran crisis provides Putin with an opportunity to flex his diplomatic muscle.

“Vladimir Putin has already offered mediation, and Russia is objectively one of the platforms most open to compromise due to constructive relations with both countries,” Malinin stated.

However, Suleymanov said, the Kremlin’s influence over the Middle East has waned since the change of power in Syria and it already has its hands full.

“Russia itself needs intermediaries in Ukraine,” he said.

“The situation in the Middle East will not directly affect the war in Ukraine. But for the Kremlin, it is undoubtedly beneficial that the attention of the world community, starting with the West, is now diverted from Ukraine. Against this background, Putin can move on to a further offensive in Ukraine.”

Malinin acknowledged that Western support for Kyiv could drop in the short term “in favour of Israel”.

“But it is unlikely that in this context we can talk about something serious and large scale.”

US President Donald Trump left the G7 summit in Canada early, warning people in Tehran they should evacuate immediately. His departure fuelled speculation about US involvement in the Israel-Iran war. Al Jazeera’s Phil Lavelle unpacks what may lie ahead.

UN human rights chief Volker Türk condemned the “horrifying, unconscionable suffering” inflicted by Israel in Gaza. Speaking at a Human Rights Council session in Geneva, Switzerland, he accused Israel of blocking life-saving aid and called for impartial investigations on deadly attacks on civilians.

Israel has attacked the Iranian state broadcaster IRIB and interrupted a live broadcast with an explosion, marking another escalation in the conflict with Tehran and replicating its previous attacks on news media targets in Gaza, the occupied West Bank and Lebanon.

TV anchor Sahar Emami denounced Monday’s “aggression against the homeland” and the “truth” as a blast went off and smoke and debris filled the screen. The footage then showed her fleeing the studio as a voice is heard calling, “God is greatest.”

The attack came shortly after the Israeli military issued a threat for Tehran’s District Three, where IRIB’s headquarters is located, and Defence Minister Israel Katz said: “The Iranian propaganda and incitement mouthpiece is on its way to disappear.”

Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei accused Israel of committing a “wicked act” that constitutes a war crime and of being the number one “killer of journalists and media people”.

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has counted 178 journalists killed in Gaza by Israel since October 2023, making it the deadliest conflict for media workers ever recorded.

“The UNSC [United Nations Security Council] must act now to stop the genocidal aggressor from committing further atrocities against our people,” Baghaei wrote on X.

The CPJ said it was “appalled” by Israel’s attack on Iranian state TV and argued impunity for the killings of Palestinian journalists had “emboldened” the country to target media elsewhere. “This bloodshed must end now,” the organisation said on X.

Peyman Jebelli, the head of the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB), said the organisation’s headquarters was attacked because the Iranian media are “precisely targeting the depth of the enemy’s media strategy”.

In a statement quoted by the semiofficial Mehr News Agency, he said employees at the national media outlet “loudly declare” their determination to play their roles in the “hybrid war” initiated by Israel.

Iranian journalist Younes Shadlou said many of his colleagues were inside the building when the Israeli attack happened. “I don’t know how many of my colleagues are still inside right now,” he reported from outside the burning building in Tehran

“We had been given evacuation warnings, but everyone stayed until the very last moment to show the true face of the Zionist regime to the world.”

Al Jazeera’s Dorsa Jabbari said the strike was highly symbolic because it targeted an entity with close links to the Iranian government. “The head of the network is appointed by the supreme leader directly, so it is a significant part of the establishment,” Jabbari said.

“This is going to be a great shock for the Iranian people,” she continued. The station is located in a large, fortified complex that has a long history dating back to the 1940s. The channel is the most watched inside Iran, and Emami is a renowned anchor.

The attack should, therefore, be seen as “a huge message for Iran and the general public and [it] is going to create all kinds of fears”, Jabbari said.

Al Jazeera’s Tohid Asadi, reporting from Tehran, said Israel targeted a glass building known as the IRIB’s central building. The live broadcast was briefly disrupted, but Emami went back on TV shortly after the blast, which would likely increase her popularity, the journalist said.

The number of victims remains unclear.

Foad Izadi, professor of international relations at the University of Tehran, said he feared there would be “a lot of casualties” from the attack. “It’s a huge building,” he told Al Jazeera. “Iran’s news channel is located on the first floor. It has four floors, and on every floor, you have at least 200 to 300 people working.”

Izadi said he expected the attack to spark international outrage and be condemned by international media outlets.

The Israeli military confirmed in a statement that it has bombed the building of Iran’s state broadcaster in Tehran. “This centre was used by the armed forces to promote military operations under civilian cover, while using its own means and assets,” it said, without giving any evidence for its accusations.

Late on Monday, Iran issued evacuation warnings for Israeli news channels. “Iran has issued an evacuation warning for the N12 and N14 channels of Israel. This order comes in response to the hostile attack of Zionist enemy against the Islamic republic of Iran’s broadcasting service,” Iranian state TV said.

Israel has a dark history of attacking media organisations and journalists, most recently in Gaza.

In October, it targeted Hezbollah-affiliated al-Manar TV studios in southern Beirut during a wave of strikes on Lebanon.

In May 2021, it targeted and destroyed the 11-storey al-Jalaa building in Gaza City, housing Al Jazeera and The Associated Press.

Shireen Abu Akleh, the Palestinian American Al Jazeera journalist, was killed by Israeli forces in May 2022 in Jenin in the occupied West Bank. She was a veteran television correspondent who became a household name across the Arab world for her bold coverage of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Israel’s attacks on Tehran have not only targeted military bases and nuclear sites, but they also have penetrated the bedrooms, kitchens and living rooms of ordinary citizens. Children have been killed. Teachers have fallen silent. Athletes have been buried in the rubble. All of them were as far removed from politics as possible.

The attacks between Israel and Iran started on Friday, when Israel launched what it called preemptive air strikes targeting more than a dozen Iranian sites — including key nuclear facilities, nuclear scientists and military leaders — in an operation it said was aimed at preventing Iran from developing nuclear weapons.

According to the Iranian Ministry of Health and Medical Education, at least 224 people have been killed and 1,481 wounded.

Iran has retaliated with a wave of ballistic missile strikes against Israel, claiming the lives of at least 24 people and wounding 380, in an escalation that has raised fears of a broader regional conflict.

In Tehran, the full scale of the destruction remains to be seen. But in the streets, evidence of the lives lost emerges from the wreckage of bombed-out buildings. A child’s lifeless body in the rubble. A dirt-covered doll abandoned in the street. A sketchbook lost among the concrete and dust.

For many Iranians, these scenes evoke memories of the Iran-Iraq War. But this time, the war is not at the borders; it’s in the heart of the capital. Residents say the night sky in Tehran — now dotted with missiles and fires — is not the one they know.

In a mass panic, people are fleeing the city in droves. Petrol stations are overrun. Highways are jammed. Homes that once promised safety stand vulnerable with no emergency shelters or warning sirens.

Here are some of the victims who died in the recent attacks on Tehran.

The Pilates instructor

On Saturday morning, Tehran reeked of dust and smoke. Israeli missiles had landed on homes that were filled with laughter just hours before. One of the silenced voices belonged to Niloufar Ghalehvand, whose friend Ghazal* recalled the last time she saw her at a cafe sipping coffee, just one night before the bombs fell.

Ghalehvand, a 32-year-old Pilates instructor, was killed along with her father, Kamran Ghalehvand, and her mother, Fatemeh Sedighi, in their home on Ozgol Street in northern Tehran.

“We were at the cafe, having coffee, and she said, ‘Iran is so beautiful. I just wish we could live in peace, like people in other countries,’” Ghazal told Al Jazeera. “I still can’t believe she’s gone. We were making plans to celebrate her 32nd birthday on June 28. She was so full of hope.”

Ghazal said Ghalehvand lived near the residence of Iran’s highest-ranking military commander, General Mohammad Bagheri, the target of the strike.

“They were ordinary people,” Ghazal said of Ghalehvand’s family. “They didn’t engage in political activity.”

Ghalehvand dreamed of becoming a famous Pilates instructor.

“The last time we met, she asked me to help her launch an Instagram page to post her workout videos. She never imagined she would become famous for her death.”

Ghalehvand had been a professional instructor for eight years, but Ghazal said her income was never enough. She worked on commission at local gyms and was always seeking more private clients.

The athlete

On Friday morning, Parsa Mansour, a 27-year-old professional paddle tennis player, was asleep at home in Shahrara, a densely packed district in northern Tehran, when an Israeli missile struck nearby.

The blast shattered the windows, and debris collapsed on top of him, killing him instantly. His parents, who were in the next room, miraculously survived.

“Parsa was full of laughter and always joking,” said Saman*, his best friend. He noted that Parsa was a self-made athlete who trained alone without a coach.

“When I saw the Tennis Federation’s announcement of his death, I was in shock. I didn’t believe it at first. Then I went to his home. It was in ruins,” Saman said.

“Parsa’s father is in a terrible state. He still can’t believe his son is gone.”

The son who lost his father

On Sunday afternoon, Amin Ahmad, a 30-year-old taekwondo athlete, witnessed his father’s horrific death in eastern Tehran.

“I saw it with my own eyes,” said Ahmad. “My father was blasted out of the house. His face was burned, and his ears were torn off.”

Ahmad’s voice trembled as he recalled his father’s final moments.

“We were trapped inside. I had to force the window bars open and call out for help. Someone brought a ladder, and my mother and I escaped,” he said.

“My father was a teacher. He bought this home after a lifetime of hard work, so he could retire in peace. Now he’s dead, and the house is destroyed. What was his crime? I don’t know what to do.”

The photographer

On Sunday at midday, after two nights of Israeli fighter jets buzzing Iranian airspace, an explosion struck the relatively wealthy neighbourhood of Tajrish in northern Tehran. Water pipes burst, flooding the streets.

Ehsan Bayrami, a 35-year-old freelance photographer and graphic designer who was walking nearby, was killed instantly.

Ali*, a colleague, said Bayrami had just left a work meeting and was on his way home.

“He used to film videos for sports clubs and photograph sporting events,” Ali explained.

On Sunday morning, he recalled telling Bayrami to be careful.

“He told me not to worry because it’s safe during the day. ‘Israel only attacks at night when people are asleep,’ he said.”

Ali paused before adding, “Ehsan was incredibly talented and hardworking. He never let anything stop him from working.”

*Ghazal, Saman and Ali preferred not to use their full names while speaking with Al Jazeera to protect their identities.

This article is published in collaboration with the news consortium Egab.

Washington, DC – United States President Donald Trump has surrounded himself with a cabinet and inner circle that is markedly less hawkish on Iran than during his first term.

But analysts told Al Jazeera that it remains unclear whether the composition of Trump’s new cabinet will make a difference when it comes to how the administration responds to the escalating conflict between Iran and Israel.

Last week, fighting erupted when Israel launched surprise strikes on Tehran, prompting Iran to retaliate. That exchange of missiles and blasts has threatened to spiral into a wider regional war.

“I think there are fewer of the traditional Republican hawks in this administration,” said Brian Finucane, a senior analyst at the International Crisis Group, a think tank. “And you do have more prominent restraint-oriented or restraint-adjacent people.”

“The question is: How loud are they going to be?”

So far, the Trump administration has taken a relatively hands-off approach to Israel’s attacks, which Secretary of State Marco Rubio stressed were “unilateral”.

While the US has surged military assets to the region, it has avoided being directly involved in the confrontation. Trump also publicly opposed an Israeli strike on Iran in the weeks leading up to the attacks, saying he preferred diplomacy.

However, on Sunday, Trump told ABC News, “It’s possible we could get involved,” citing the risk to US forces in the region.

He has even framed Israel’s bombing campaign as an asset in the ongoing talks to curtail Iran’s nuclear programme, despite several top negotiators being killed by Israeli strikes.

Iran’s foreign minister, meanwhile, accused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of “playing” Trump and US taxpayers for “fools”, saying the US president could end the fighting with “one phone call” to the Israeli leader.

‘Our interest very much is in not going to war with Iran’

Analysts agree that any course of action Trump takes will likely transform the conflict. It will also reveal how Trump is responding to the deep ideological rift within his Republican base.

One side of that divide embraces Trump’s “America First” ideology: the idea that the US’s domestic interests come before all others. That perspective largely eschews foreign intervention.

The other side of Trump’s base supports a neoconservative approach to foreign policy: one that is more eager to pursue military intervention, sometimes with the aim of forcing regime change abroad.

Both viewpoints are represented among Trump’s closest advisers. Vice President JD Vance, for instance, stands out as an example of a Trump official who has called for restraint, both in terms of Iran and US support for Israel.

In March, Vance notably objected to US strikes on Yemen’s Houthis, as evidenced in leaked messages from a private chat with other officials on the app Signal. In that conversation, Vance argued that the bombing campaign was a “mistake” and “inconsistent” with Trump’s message of global disengagement.

During the 2024 presidential campaign, Vance also warned that the US and Israel’s interests are “sometimes distinct… and our interest very much is in not going to war with Iran”.

According to experts, that kind of statement is rare to hear from a top official in the Republican Party, where support for Israel remains largely sacrosanct. Finucane, for instance, called Vance’s statements “very notable”.

“I think his office may be a critical one in pushing for restraint,” he added.

Other Trump officials have similarly built careers railing against foreign intervention, including Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, who testified in March that the US “continues to assess that Iran is not building a nuclear weapon”.

Trump’s special envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, who had virtually no previous diplomatic experience, had also floated the possibility of normalising relations with Tehran in the early days of the US-led nuclear talks.

By contrast, Secretary of State and acting National Security Adviser Marco Rubio established himself as a traditional neoconservative, with a “tough on Iran” stance, during his years-long tenure in the Senate. But since joining the Trump administration, Rubio has not broken ranks with the president’s “America First” foreign policy platform.

That loyalty is indicative of a wider tendency among Trump’s inner circle during his second term, according to Brian Katulis, a senior fellow at the Middle East Institute.

“I think Trump 2.0 has a cabinet of chameleons whose primary qualification is loyalty and fealty to Trump more than anything else,” he told Al Jazeera.

Katulis noted that the days of officials who stood up to Trump, like former Secretary of Defense James Mattis, were mostly gone — a relic of Trump’s first term, from 2017 to 2021.

The current defence secretary, former Fox News host Pete Hegseth, has shown an appetite for conducting aerial strikes on groups aligned with Iran, including the Houthis in Yemen.

But Hegseth told Fox News on Saturday that the president continues to send the message “that he prefers peace, he prefers a solution to this that is resolved at the table”.

‘More hawkish than MAGA antiwar’

All told, Trump continues to operate in an administration that is “probably more hawkish than MAGA antiwar”, according to Ryan Costello, the policy director at the National Iranian American Council, a lobby group.

At least one official, US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee, has sought to equate Iran’s retaliation against Israel with the targeting of US interests, highlighting the large number of US citizens who live in Israel.

Costello acknowledges that Trump’s first term likewise had its fair share of foreign policy hawks. Back then, former National Security Adviser John Bolton, his replacement Robert O’Brien and former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo all advocated for militarised strategies to deal with Tehran.

“But there’s a big difference between Trump’s first term, when he elevated and very hawkish voices on Iran, and Trump’s second term,” Costello said.

He believes that this time, scepticism over US involvement in the Middle East extends throughout the ranks of the administration.

Costello pointed to a recent conflict between the head of US Central Command, General Michael Kurilla, and Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Elbridge Colby. The news outlet Semafor reported on Sunday that Kurilla was pushing to shift more military assets to the Middle East to defend Israel, but that Colby had opposed the move.

That schism, Costello argues, is part of a bigger shift in Trump’s administration and in the Republican Party at large.

“You have many prominent voices making the case that these wars of choice pursued by neoconservatives have been bankrupting Republican administrations and preventing them from focusing on issues that really matter,” Costello said.

Finucane has also observed a pivot from Trump’s first term to his second. In 2019, during his first four years as president, Finucane said that Trump’s national security team gave an “apparently unanimous recommendation” to strike Iran after it targeted a US surveillance drone.

Trump ultimately backed away from the plan in the final hours, according to multiple reports.

But a year later, the Trump administration assassinated Iranian General Qassem Soleimani in a drone strike in Iraq, another instance that brought the US to the brink of war.

Who will Trump listen to?

To be sure, experts say Trump has a notoriously mercurial approach to policy. The last person to speak to the president, observers have long said, will likely wield the most influence.

Trump also regularly seeks guidance from outside the White House when faced with consequential decisions, consulting mainstream media like Fox News, breakaway far-right pundits, social media personalities and top donors.

That was the case ahead of the possible 2019 US strike on Iran, with then-Fox News host Tucker Carlson reportedly among those urging Trump to back away from the attack.

Carlson has since been a leading voice calling for Trump to drop support for the “war-hungry government” of Netanyahu, urging the president to let Israeli officials “fight their own wars”.

But Carlson is not the only conservative media figure with influence over Trump. Conservative media host Mark Levin has advocated for military action against Iran, saying in recent days that Israel’s attacks should be the beginning of a campaign to overthrow Iran’s government.

Politico reported that Levin visited the White House for a private lunch with Trump in early June, just days before the US president offered his support for Iran’s strikes.

But Katulis at the Middle East Institute predicted that neither Trump’s cabinet nor media figures like Levin would prove to be the most consequential in guiding the president’s choices. Instead, Trump’s decision on whether to engage in the Israel-Iran conflict is likely to come down to which world leader gets his ear, and when.

“It’s a favourite Washington parlour game to pretend like the cabinet members and staffers matter more than they actually do,” Katulis told Al Jazeera.

“But I think, in the second Trump administration, it’s less who’s on his team formally and more who has he talked to most recently – whether it’s Netanyahu in Israel or some other leader in the region,” he said.

“I think that’s going to be more of a determining factor in what the United States decides to do next.”

Here’s where things stand on Monday, June 16:

Fighting

• Multiple blasts were reported in Tehran as Israel issued new evacuation threats to the capital’s residents and attacked a military base in the west of the city.
• The Israeli military intensified its bombing of civilian targets, striking the building of Iran’s state broadcaster in Tehran as well as the Farabi Hospital in Kermanshah in central Iran, damaging parts of it.
• In response, Iran later issued warnings for Israeli news channels N12 and N14.
• Iran launched a waves of attacks on Israel, hitting the Tel Aviv area and Haifa in the north.
• Israel’s Haifa-based Bazan Group said a power station producing steam and electricity was significantly damaged in an Iranian attack, with all refinery facilities shut down following the attack which also killed three people.
• The Israeli army claimed it destroyed one-third of Iran’s surface-to-surface missile launchers without providing evidence.
• Israeli Army Radio reported that eight people were killed – five in central Israel and three in the port city of Haifa.

Casualties and disruptions

• More than 220 Iranians have been killed. Iranian authorities said 54 women and children were killed in recent attacks and 75 women and children were injured.
• The Israeli military’s Home Front Command said more than 20 people have been killed since it attacked Iran and Tehran retaliated.
• Electronic interference with commercial ship navigation systems has surged in recent days around the Strait of Hormuz and the wider Gulf, impacting vessels sailing through the region.
• The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, the United Nations nuclear watchdog, said there was a possibility of both radiological and chemical contamination within Iran’s main nuclear enrichment facility in Natanz after Israeli air strikes.
• Pakistan shut all its border crossings with neighbouring Iran for an indefinite period, according to provincial officials. Airspace in the Middle East has also been affected.

Diplomacy

• Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian addressed parliament, saying the country is “not seeking nuclear weapons” and it “must stand strong against this genocidal criminal aggression”.
• Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi called Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “a war criminal” and said he was deliberately provoking war to block a diplomatic breakthrough between Iran and the United States.
• Netanyahu refused to rule out the possibility of targeting Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, saying, “It’s not going to escalate the conflict. It’s going to end the conflict.”
• US President Donald Trump, speaking on the sidelines of the G7 summit in Canada, said Iran should talk about de-escalating hostilities with Israel “before it’s too late”.

US President Donald Trump said Iran and Israel “should talk immediately” about de-escalating their conflict “before it’s too late.” Speaking at the G7 summit in Canada he said Tehran is “not winning this war.”

‘You hear the sound of the aggressor attacking the truth’ This is what Iran’s state TV presenter Sahar Emami said moments before an Israeli missile struck the studio, halting her broadcast. Al Jazeera’s Dorsa Jabbari breaks it down.

Washington, DC – A prominent Democratic senator has introduced a bill to require United States President Donald Trump to first seek authorisation from Congress before ordering military strikes against Iran.

The measure, put forward by Virginia Senator Tim Kaine on Monday, came amid growing calls by pro-Israel groups for the US to join the Israeli bombing campaign against Iran as the attacks between the two countries intensify.

“I am deeply concerned that the recent escalation of hostilities between Israel and Iran could quickly pull the United States into another endless conflict,” Kaine said in a statement.

“The American people have no interest in sending service-members to fight another forever war in the Middle East. This resolution will ensure that if we decide to place our nation’s men and women in uniform into harm’s way, we will have a debate and vote on it in Congress.”

The bill invokes the War Powers Resolution of 1973, passed during the Vietnam War to constrain unilateral presidential powers to engage in military hostilities.

The US Constitution gives Congress the power to declare war, but successive US presidents have used their positions as the commander-in-chief of the armed forces to mobilise troops, initiate attacks and start conflicts without clear congressional authorisation.

Kaine’s proposal adds to the pressure Trump is facing from antiwar advocates in both major parties, advocates said.

Hassan El-Tayyab, legislative director for Middle East policy at the Friends Committee on National Legislation, said the bill sends a message to Trump against going to war with Iran and to the Israelis that “they’re not going to just get blank-cheque US support”.

It could also gauge the level of opposition to war with Iran in Congress, especially among Republicans. A growing contingency of right-wing lawmakers has been warning Trump against being dragged into a conflict that they said does not serve US interests.

‘De-escalatory signal’

While Trump’s Republican Party controls both houses of the US Congress, the resolution may pass if conservative lawmakers who oppose foreign military interventions join the Democrats in backing it.

To become law, the bill needs to pass in the Senate and House of Representatives and be signed by Trump, who would likely block it. But Congress can override a presidential veto with two-thirds majorities in the House and the Senate.

During his first term, Trump successfully vetoed two war powers resolutions, including a 2020 bill that aimed to curb his authority to strike Iran, which was also led by Kaine.

El-Tayyab said the 2020 push helped warn Trump against further strikes against Iran after the killing of top Iranian General Qassem Soleimani despite the presidential veto, adding that the current measure may have a similar effect.

“Even if it passes and Trump vetoes it, it still sends a de-escalatory signal, and it reminds the administration that only Congress can declare war,” El-Tayyab told Al Jazeera.

Trump has not ruled out US strikes against Iran. “We’re not involved in it. It’s possible we could get involved,” he told ABC News on Sunday.

At the same time, the US president has called for ending the war.

Israel launched a bombardment campaign against Iran on Friday, targeting military and nuclear sites as well as residential buildings and civilian infrastructure, killing dozens of people, including top military officials and nuclear scientists.

The assault came just days before US and Iranian negotiators were to meet for a sixth round of nuclear talks in Oman.

Iran has responded with hundreds of ballistic missiles, many of which have penetrated Israel’s air defences, causing widespread damage across the country.

Hawks urge Trump to ‘go all-in’

With Israel under fire and seemingly unable on its own to take out Iran’s nuclear programme – including facilities buried deep underground and inside mountains – the US ally’s supporters are calling on Trump to come to its aid.

“The US has the bombers to carry deep-penetrating bombs that Israeli jets can’t. … This will be a missed opportunity if some of Iran’s uranium enrichment capacity survives when US participation could have made a difference,” The Wall Street Journal Editorial Board wrote on Saturday.

Republican Senator Lindsey Graham also said the US should “go all-in to help Israel finish the job”.

However, many US politicians have cautioned against American involvement in the war. Trump ran last year as a “peace” candidate, slamming his Democratic opponents as “warmongers”.

Right-wing Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene said in a social media post on Sunday that Americans are “sick and tired of foreign wars”.

“We have spent TRILLIONS in the Middle East and we have dealt with the aftermath of death, blown apart bodies, never ending suicides, and disabling PTSD,” she wrote in a post on X.

“All because they told us propaganda as to why we must sacrifice our own to defend some other country’s borders and some other country’s borders.”

Some US lawmakers have also stressed that war with Iran without the approval of Congress would be illegal.

“The president cannot circumvent congressional war powers and unilaterally send US troops to war with Iran,” Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib said last week.

“The American people do not want another endless war in the Middle East that will cost lives and tear their families apart.”

‘Devastating regional war’

Antiwar advocates have long called on Congress to assert its powers over conflict. On Monday, several groups expressed support for Kaine’s proposed legislation.

“This is a critical moment for Congress to step in and exercise its constitutional authority to prevent the US from being dragged into another war,” Raed Jarrar, advocacy director at Democracy for the Arab World Now, told Al Jazeera.

“Democrats and Republicans should unite in rejecting any US involvement in a devastating regional war launched by a genocidal maniac – one that would needlessly risk American lives and squander national interest,” he added, referring to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Israel, which is carrying out a military campaign in Gaza that major rights groups have described as a genocide, has been warning for years that Iran is on the verge of acquiring a nuclear weapon.

While Israel has portrayed its strikes as “preemptive” to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon, Tehran says the war was unprovoked and violates the United Nations Charter’s rules against aggression.

US intelligence chief Tulsi Gabbard had certified in March that Washington “continues to assess that Iran is not building a nuclear weapon”. Last week, the International Atomic Energy Agency accused Iran for the first time in 20 years of breaching its nonproliferation obligations. Israel is widely believed to have an undeclared nuclear arsenal.

A group of doctors is pleading with EU leaders to pressure Israel to end its siege on Gaza. Members of Doctors Without Borders revealed the extreme conditions they’re working under and said that the world didn’t want to believe them.

Pakistan closes its border with Iran while Jordan suspends flights but keeps land crossings with Israel operational.

Pakistan has closed all its border crossings with Iran for an indefinite period as travel continues to be heavily disrupted by the intensifying conflict between Israel and Iran, and airspace in the region has also been impacted with missiles flying through neighbouring countries in both directions.

Crossing into Iran “has been suspended until further notice”, Atta ul Munim, an official at one of the crossings in Pakistan’s Chaghi district, said on Monday. Qadir Bakhsh Pirkani, a senior official in Balochistan province, told the AFP news agency that border facilities along the more than 900km (560-mile) border have been shut.

Iranian airspace has been closed as it counters Israel’s attacks. The Civil Aviation Authority said Iran’s airspace would remain closed “until further notice” to “protect the safety of passengers”.

Israel’s Ben Gurion International Airport remained closed “until further notice”. The Israeli flag carrier El Al Airlines said it has suspended all flights until at least Thursday with additional cancellations to many European cities extending to June 23.

However, three land border crossings between Israel and Jordan – the Jordan River, the King Hussein (Allenby) Bridge and the Yitzhak Rabin crossings – remained functional.

The Israeli National Security Council advised its citizens to avoid travelling through Jordan and Egypt because of security risks. The Israel Airports Authority also said there was “no recommendation” for Israelis to travel to Greece or Cyprus because “passengers can expect to wait for days until a return flight is actually possible.”

Jordan on Sunday announced the closure of its airspace for a second time since Israel launched its surprise assault on Iran on Friday. Amman said the Jordanian military had intercepted some ballistic missiles that had entered Jordanian airspace.

Several countries were preparing to evacuate their nationals from the conflict zone. Poland’s deputy foreign minister said it planned to route about 200 of its citizens visiting Israel through Jordan’s capital.

India said its diplomats were helping some Indian students relocate out of harm’s way in Iran. “The Indian Embassy in Tehran is continuously monitoring the security situation and engaging Indian students in Iran to ensure their safety,” a Ministry of External Affairs statement said.

“In some cases, students are being relocated with [the] Embassy’s facilitation to safer places within Iran,” it added.

Several airlines have announced flight suspensions. Russia’s Aeroflot cancelled flights between Moscow and Tehran and made changes to other routes in the Middle East. Qatar Airways said it had temporarily cancelled flights to and from Iran, Iraq and Syria.

Greece’s Aegean Airlines cancelled all flights to and from Tel Aviv up to July 12 as well as all flights to and from Beirut, Amman and Erbil through June 28.

Many Israelis are in shock after the country’s air defence system failed to intercept Iranian missiles, shattering their sense of security. But Palestinian citizens of Israel say they never felt safe to begin with.