strikes

Lou Christie, the singer and songwriter who set teen fans screaming in the 1960s with hits like “Lightnin’ Strikes” and “Two Faces Have I,” has died. He was 82.

Christie died at his home in Pittsburgh after a short illness, his family said Wednesday in an announcement on social media.

“He was cherished not only by his family and close friends, but also by countless fans whose lives he touched with his kindness and generosity, artistic and musical talent, humor and spirit. His absence leaves a profound void in all our hearts. He will be greatly missed, always remembered, and forever loved,” the statement read.

Christie was born Lugee Alfredo Giovanni Sacco on Feb. 19, 1943, in Glenwillard, Pa., and took on his stage name, courtesy of a local music producer, when he was a still a teen. Soon he would meet his decades-older songwriting collaborator Twyla Herbert, a classically trained but eccentric musician who died in 2009, and together they would write almost all of his songs and hundreds more for other artists.

In Pennsylvania, Christie recorded and released a single, “The Gypsy Cried,” that became a local hit in the Pittsburgh area. He moved to New York, got work as a backup singer and eventually wound up touring with Dick Clark’s Cavalcade of Stars, sitting on a bus with Diana Ross and other standouts.

“I was with Gene Pitney and Johnny Tillotson, the Supremes, Paul and Paula, Dick and Dee Dee, the Crystals, the Ronettes, Fabian, Frankie Avalon,” the singer told writer Gary James for ClassicBands.com. “To me, this was my graduating class and still is today.”

Christie’s fans screamed over his signature falsetto when “Two Faces Have I” made it to No. 6 on the Billboard 100 in 1963, the year he released his self-titled first album. He spent two years in the U.S. Army and upon his return released the single “Lightnin’ Strikes.” The song, off the 1965 album of the same name, hit No. 1 on that chart in 1966.

He stirred up a bit of scandal with the 1966 song “Rhapsody in Rain,” with lyrics that at the time were considered explicit: Baby the raindrops play for me / A lonely rhapsody ‘cause on our first date / We were makin’ out in the rain / And in this car our love went much too far / It was exciting as thunder / Tonight I wonder where you are” and “Baby, I’m parked outside your door / Remember makin’ love, makin’ love, we were makin’ love in the storm.” The tune topped out at No. 16 on the charts.

His array of album releases grew with “I’m Gonna Make You Mine” in 1969, “Paint America Love” in 1971, “Pledging My Love” in 1997 and more records over the years.

The life of a teen idol in the early 1960s was a mix of dismissal and adulation, according to peer Fabian Forte, who performed as Fabian and toured with Christie in rock ‘n’ roll revival shows in the 1980s.

“They laughed at us. They wouldn’t take us seriously as artists,” Forte told The Times in 1985, talking about music critics in the 1950s and early ‘60s. But, he added, “Don’t get me wrong. It wasn’t all bad. For a teen-age boy, you can imagine what it was like having all those girls drooling over you. That was heaven.”

The teen idols of that era faded with the British Invasion, but Christie didn’t fade with them.

“I hit the end of that whole era,” Christie told writer James for ClassicBands.com. “I’ve always been between the cracks of rock ‘n’ roll, I felt. The missing link. … We had the teenage idols. We had Frankie Avalon. We had Fabian. That thing was just about closing down when a lot of my records started hitting. … They all disappeared, but my records kept going through that English Invasion.”

In addition to releasing more music later in life, Christie would offer up his vocal talents to help raise money for causes including the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation and a rock ‘n’ roll retirement home for artists from the ‘50s and ‘60s planned by the Starlight Starbright foundation.

And in those years after his No. 1 spotlight had dimmed, Christie still knew how to put smiles on fans’ faces, as evidenced after a performance at a festival at Magic Mountain in 1985.

The event began late on one of the hottest days of the year after its lineup and schedule had switched around repeatedly leading up to the concert and the promoter had gone missing. Some acts that concert-goers expected to see wound up not performing — but Christie was not one of them.

“I’m really glad the show turned out well,” Christie told The Times in 1985, lounging in his trailer after his set at the “Spirit of the ‘60s” festival. “I tell you, I was going crazy with this thing — on, off, on again, off again. I had to cancel some dates I had arranged for after this was canceled the first time. But” — and a big smile crossed his face — ”they got their show, all right. The baby boomers really dug it. Even people backstage enjoyed it.”

A representative for the singer did not immediately respond Thursday to The Times’ request for comment.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Major hospital

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said he wanted a return to a tariff-free agreement for civil aviation.

Airbus has struck a deal with Vietnamese budget airline Vietjet for up to 150 single-aisle jets at the Paris Air Show as the aviation industry’s hopes to return to a tariff-free trade agreement were given a boost by United States Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy.

The French planemaker announced the deal on Tuesday.

Airbus is the main supplier of jets to Vietnam, accounting for 86 percent of the planes currently operated by Vietnamese airlines. The export-dependent Southeast Asian country is under pressure from Washington to buy more US goods.

Vietjet Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Phuong Thao said the scale of the airline’s orders was backed by plans to develop a major aviation hub in Vietnam, which Airbus says has seen its aviation market grow by 7.5 percent a year.

A deal for 150 A321neos could be worth around $9.4bn, according to estimated prices provided by Cirium Ascend.

The agreement was the latest in a flurry of business announced by Airbus at the world’s biggest aviation trade fair in Paris, France.

Airbus has made gains against its chief competitor Boeing as airlines reconsider purchases of the US-made jets amid ongoing tariff threats in recent months. In May, budget airline Ryanair threatened to pull orders of Boeing aircraft amid tariff threats.

A tariff truce?

Duffy said he wanted civil aviation to return to a 1979 zero-tariff trade agreement, in one of the clearest signs yet that the administration of US President Donald Trump might favour such a move. However, Duffy added that while the White House was aware that the US is a net exporter in aerospace, it was also dealing with a complex tariff situation.

“Now, again, you look at what free trade has done for aviation. It’s been remarkable for them. It’s a great space of net exporters,” Duffy said. “And so the White House understands that, but if you go over there and you see the moving parts of what they’re dealing with, it is pretty intense and it’s a lot.”

Trump’s sweeping 10 percent import tariffs are a headache for an industry already battling supply chain challenges and facing fresh turbulence from last week’s deadly Air India crash and conflict in the Middle East.

In early May, the US Commerce Department launched a “Section 232” national security investigation into imports of commercial aircraft, jet engines and parts that could form the basis for even higher tariffs on such imports.

Airlines, planemakers and several US trading partners have been lobbying Trump to restore the tariff-free regime under the 1979 agreement.

Boeing was having a subdued show and parking announcements while focusing on the probe into last week’s fatal crash of an Air India Boeing 787 and after it racked up huge deals during Trump’s recent tour of the Middle East.

Attention turned to another big Airbus customer, AirAsia, long associated with buzzy show finales and looking at buying 100 A220s, with Brazil’s Embraer seeking to wrest away the deal after losing a key contest in Poland, delegates said. Airbus was also expected to reveal Egyptair as the airline behind a recent unidentified order for six more A350s.

Even so, Airbus’s hopes of using the event as a showcase for its first significant deal with Royal Air Maroc faded after the airline postponed plans to announce a larger Boeing deal, delegates said.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Israel pounded Iran for a fifth day in an air campaign against its longstanding foe’s military and nuclear program, as U.S. President Trump warned residents of Tehran to evacuate and suggested the United States was working on something “better than a ceasefire.”

Trump left the Group of Seven summit in Canada a day early to deal with the conflict between Israel and Iran, telling reporters on Air Force One during the flight back to Washington: “I’m not looking at a ceasefire. We’re looking at better than a ceasefire.”

When asked to explain, he said the U.S. wanted to see “a real end” to the conflict that could involve Iran “giving up entirely.” He added: “I’m not too much in the mood to negotiate.”

Trump’s cryptic messages added to the uncertainty roiling the region as residents of Tehran fled their homes in droves and the U.N. nuclear watchdog for the first time said Israeli strikes on Iran’s main enrichment facility at Natanz had also damaged its underground section, and not just the suface area.

Israel says its sweeping assault on Iran’s top military leaders, nuclear scientists, uranium enrichment sites and ballistic missile program is necessary to prevent its adversary from getting any closer to building an atomic weapon. The strikes have killed at least 224 people in Iran.

Iran has retaliated by launching more than 370 missiles and hundreds of drones at Israel. So far, 24 people have been killed in Israel. The Israeli military said a new barrage of missiles was launched on Tuesday.

Damage at Natanz

The International Atomic Energy Agency said on Tuesday it believes that Israel’s first aerial attacks on Iran’s Natanz enrichment site had “direct impacts” on the facility’s underground centrifuge halls.

“Based on continued analysis of high-resolution satellite imagery collected after Friday’s attacks, the IAEA has identified additional elements that indicate direct impacts on the underground enrichment halls at Natanz,” the watchdog said.

Located 135 miles southeast of Tehran, the Natanz facility was protected by anti-aircraft batteries, fencing and Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard.

The underground part of the facility is buried to protect it from airstrikes and contains the bulk of the enrichment facilities at Natanz, with 10,000 centrifuges that enrich uranium up to 5%, experts assess.

The IAEA had earlier reported that Israeli strikes had destroyed an above-ground enrichment hall at Natanz and knocked out electrical equipment that powered the facility.

However, most of Iran’s enrichment takes place underground.

Although Israel has struck Natanz repeatedly and claims to have inflicted significant damage on its underground facilities, Tuesday’s IAEA statement marked the first time the agency has acknowledged impacts there.

Iran maintains its nuclear program is peaceful, and the United States and others have assessed Tehran has not had an organized effort to pursue a nuclear weapon since 2003. But the head of the IAEA has repeatedly warned that the country has enough enriched uranium to make several nuclear bombs should it choose to do so.

While Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed on Tuesday that Israeli strikes on Iran’s nuclear sites have set the country’s nuclear program back a “very, very long time,” Israel has not been able to reach Iran’s Fordo uranium enrichment facility, which is buried deep underground.

Shops closed, lines for gas in Iran’s capital

Echoing an earlier Israeli military call for some 330,000 residents of a neighborhood in downtown Tehran to evacuate, Trump on Tuesday warned on social media that “everyone should immediately evacuate Tehran!”

Tehran is one of the largest cities in the Middle East, with around 10 million people, roughly equivalent to the entire population of Israel. People have been fleeing since hostilities began.

Asked why he had urged for the evacuation of Tehran, Trump said: “I just want people to be safe.”

Downtown Tehran appeared to be emptying out early Tuesday, with many shops closed. The ancient Grand Bazaar was also closed, something that only happened in the past during anti-government demonstrations or at the height of the coronavirus pandemic.

On the roads out of Tehran to the west, traffic stood bumper to bumper. Many appeared to be heading to the Caspian Sea, a popular vacation spot where a large number of middle- and upper-class Iranians have second homes.

Long lines also could be seen at gas stations in Tehran. Printed placards and billboards calling for a “severe” response to Israel were visible across the city. Authorities cancelled leave for doctors and nurses, while insisting everything was under control.

The Israeli military meanwhile claimed to have killed someone it described as Iran’s top general in a strike on Tehran. Iran did not immediately comment on the reported killing of Gen. Ali Shadmani, who had just been named as the head of the Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters, part of the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard.

Iran has named other generals to replace the top leaders of the Guard and the regular armed forces after they were killed in earlier strikes.

Trump leaves G7 early to focus on conflict

Before leaving the summit in Canada, Trump joined the other leaders in a joint statement saying Iran “can never have a nuclear weapon” and calling for a “de-escalation of hostilities in the Middle East, including a ceasefire in Gaza.”

French President Emmanuel Macron told reporters that discussions were underway on a ceasefire between Israel and Iran, but Trump appeared to shoot that down in his comments on social media.

Macron “mistakenly said that I left the G7 Summit, in Canada, to go back to D.C. to work on a ‘cease fire’ between Israel and Iran,” Trump wrote. “Wrong! He has no idea why I am now on my way to Washington, but it certainly has nothing to do with a Cease Fire. Much bigger than that.”

Trump said he wasn’t ready to give up on diplomatic talks, and could send Vice President JD Vance and special envoy Steve Witkoff to meet with the Iranians.

“I may,” he said. “It depends on what happens when I get back.”

Israel says it has ‘aerial superiority’ over Tehran

Israeli military spokesperson Brig. Gen. Effie Defrin said Monday his country’s forces had “achieved full aerial superiority over Tehran’s skies.”

The military said it destroyed more than 120 surface-to-surface missile launchers in central Iran, a third of Iran’s total, including multiple launchers just before they launched ballistic missiles towards Israel. It also destroyed two F-14 fighter planes that Iran used to target Israeli aircraft, the military said.

Israeli military officials also said fighter jets had struck 10 command centers in Tehran belonging to Iran’s Quds Force, an elite arm of its paramilitary Revolutionary Guard that conducts military and intelligence operations outside Iran.

Israel’s military issued an evacuation warning for a part of central Tehran that houses state TV and police headquarters, as well as three large hospitals, including one owned by the Guard. It has issued similar evacuation warnings for parts of the Gaza Strip and Lebanon ahead of strikes.

Krauss, Gambrell and Melzer write for the Associated Press. Melzer reported from Nahariya, Israel. AP writers Nasser Karimi and Amir Vahdat in Tehran; Melanie Lidman in Tel Aviv; and Tara Copp in Washington contributed to this report.

Israel has carried out strikes across Iran while Tehran returned fire with missiles as the foes traded attacks for a fifth straight day.

The ongoing violence on Tuesday came after United States President Donald Trump struck an ominous note, calling for the immediate evacuation of Tehran. Concerns that the US could spark a wider regional war should it enter direct conflict with Iran continue to build.

The Israeli military reported early on Tuesday that it carried out “several extensive strikes” on what it said were missile sites and other military targets in western Iran, striking dozens of missile and drone facilities.

Iranian media reported that loud explosions were heard in the northwestern city of Tabriz, home to an air force base that Israel has repeatedly targeted since it launched a surprise assault on Iran’s military and nuclear facilities on Friday.

Three people were killed and four injured in strikes on the central city of Kashan, Iran’s state-run Nour News reported.

A residential building was struck in Tehran, and three people were rescued from the rubble, the reports added.

Israel’s military said Iran had also fired more missiles, reporting that its forces were working to intercept them.

Explosions were heard over Tel Aviv and Jerusalem among other areas. Images showed plumes of dark smoke rising from the site of a strike in Herzliya as emergency services were deployed at the scene.

Israel’s national emergency service said 10 people were injured while running to shelters after air raid sirens sounded in Tel Aviv.

Israel claims another general

Amid the strikes, the Israeli military claimed that it had assassinated another senior Iranian military official.

General Ali Shadmani was killed in a strike by the Israeli air force in central Tehran through the use of precise intelligence, the military said, describing him as Iran’s wartime chief of staff, “senior-most military official” ​​and the closest military adviser to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.

Shadmani was reportedly appointed to his new post after Israel assassinated the former commander of the Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters, Gholam Ali Rashid, on Friday.

Iran did not immediately comment on the claim, which came days after Israel assassinated a slew of Iran’s top generals as well as nuclear scientists.

‘Evacuate Tehran’

The attacks unfolded in the face of growing calls internationally for the bitter foes to de-escalate.

However, Trump, who left the Group of Seven summit in Canada on Monday, one day early, due to the situation in the Middle East, appears to be increasingly backing Israel, issuing ominous messages.

In a post on social media overnight, he warned that “everyone should evacuate Tehran immediately,” lamenting the “waste of human life” in the conflict and reiterating that Iran could not be allowed to develop a nuclear weapon.

He denied his exit from the G7 was to arrange a ceasefire.

“Publicity seeking President Emmanuel Macron, of France, mistakenly said that I left the G7 Summit, in Canada, to go back to D.C. to work on a ‘cease fire’ between Israel and Iran,” he wrote.

“Wrong! He has no idea why I am now on my way to Washington, but it certainly has nothing to do with a Cease Fire. Much bigger than that.”

Macron had said, in light of Trump’s early departure from the summit, that talks were under way and stated that an offer for a ceasefire had been made, but he did not specify by whom.

In a statement agreed at the summit before Trump’s departure, G7 leaders described Iran as “the principal source of regional instability and terror”, adding that Israel “has a right to defend itself”.

Israel said its attacks are necessary to prevent its longtime adversary from getting any closer to building a nuclear weapon. Iran has retaliated by launching hundreds of missiles and drones at Israel.

Robert and John Sugden’s rivalry is getting out of control next week in Emmerdale while, in Corrie, the Weatherfield teens are forever changed by a night of partying.

Soap fans are set for another rollercoaster next week as some fan favourite characters will be left in the balance.

In Emmerdale, John Sugden (Oliver Farnworth) is determined to keep half-brother Robert (Ryan Hawley) away from his marriage with Aaron Dingle – but could he claim another life as a result?

Over in Coronation Street, Weatherfield residents are trying to move on from the shocking death of PC Craig Tinker, prompting Bernie Winter (Jane Hazlegrove) to urge Aadi Alahan (Adam Hussain) to throw a party on the cobbles. But in true Corrie fashion, the night is set to spiral.

Much like ITV viewers, BBC One regulars will face their fair share of ups and downs in EastEnders with Phil Mitchell (Steve McFadden) struggling to help Nigel Bates (Paul Bradley). But there’s more drama on the way in Neighbours, Hollyoaks and Home and Away.

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Emmerdale

Robert feels guilty about hurting Victoria (Isabel Hodgins) and decides to move out. John pressures Caleb (Will Ash) to end Robert’s trial employment. Caleb invents a cover story, leaving Robert disappointed – Jai (Chris Bisson) later confirms John’s interference.

After a tense confrontation with Robert, John tries to convince Victoria to report Robert for hitting her. Overhearing them, Robert is upset and seeks comfort in Aaron (Danny Miller), who rejects him.

Distraught, Robert tries to distract himself – only for John to intervene when Robert’s date drugs him. John drives off with unconscious Robert in his van, before towering over him with a syringe in hand.

Jacob (Joe-Warren Plant) mentions Sarah’s (Katie Hill) IVF to Cain (Jeff Hordley), assuming he knows and Cain is furious that Jacob is more in the loop than he is. But his angry reaction leaves him at odds with Sarah.

She later admits to Jacob that Cain’s behaviour has caused her to question herself. Jacob tries to reassure her and when she shares her fears over her mortality, he makes a bombshell proposition. Later, the seriousness of Sarah’s cancer operation becomes an unavoidable reality.

Elsewhere, Joe (Ned Porteous) hatches a plan to get revenge on Billy (Jay Kontzle) with the help of a newcomer. Belle (Eden Taylor-Draper) overhears Tracy (Amy Walsh) making preparations for Nate’s funeral and seizes the opportunity to get the Dingles an invite.

Coronation Street

At Bernie’s suggestion, Aadi throws a midsummer party. Carla (Alison King) hands Betsy (Sydney Martin) the keys to the Underworld factory, asking her to lock up. But when Brody (Ryan Mulvey), Dylan (Liam McCheyne) and Lauren (Cait Fitton) walk in, she gets distracted and forgets.

The group heads to the party but when Brody shows Dylan a bottle of LSD, telling him he intends to make some money, Dylan is concerned. Meanwhile, romance is in the air for Amy and Aadi but a misunderstanding leaves him hurt.

Later, he kicks Brody out of the party after spotting him with LSD but when Brody’s gone, Aadi splits the LSD into three cups – and the night takes a devastating turn.

High on LSD, Summer (Harriet Bibby) and Nina (Mollie Gallagher) let themselves into the darkened café. When they hear the sound of sirens, they cling on to each other, terrified.

Confused, they then try to retrace their steps for answers. But when discussing what they witnessed that night, they agree to stay quiet. Kit (Jacob Roberts) tells Bernie he’s had the DNA results through and confirms he’s Brody’s biological father. Will he keep the news to himself?

Elsewhere, Liam (Charlie Wrenshall) confides in Maria (Samia Longchambon) that Gary (Mikey North) isn’t answering his calls, after expecting him to return from his mother’s. Maria masks her concerns for Liam – but where is Gary?

EastEnders

Phil worries about Nigel when he goes out barefoot but fears grow when Phil returns home to find chaos. Danger then strikes as Nigel and Phil bicker over a pan of boiling water.

Kat (Jessie Wallace) later clocks Phil is injured and, realising something is wrong, presses him to be honest about Nigel’s condition. Realising he’s in over his head, she visits Phil and suggests he needs extra support to take care of Nigel. Meanwhile, Nigel spirals as he helps Lexi (Isabella Brown) with her homework.

Yolande (Angela Wynter) organises a party for Patrick’s (Rudolph Walker) birthday and asks Elaine (Harriet Thorpe) to host at The Vic. Elaine agrees, roping in an overwhelmed Linda (Kellie Bright). When Linda is left to hold the first alone, George (Colin Salmon) steps in to help, causing Elaine to lash out.

Later, Elaine goes big for Patrick’s party, while Denzel (Jaden Ladega) welcomes his friends at the house. After trying to bribe his way in, Joel (Max Murray) takes Denzel to The Vic, where Elaine agrees to let them have a glass of punch each. But things go awry when the teens are left unsupervised.

Elsewhere, Nicola (Laura Doddington) and Teddy (Roland Manookian) are concerned for Barney (Lewis Bridgeman) when he fails a chemistry test because of the stress. Nicola tries to cheer him up, but scathing Harry (Elijah Holloway) throws a spanner in the works.

Hollyoaks

Prince has doubts over throwing a party for Mercedes but she tells her family to continue organising it. Jez is concerned to hear Dodger has planned to meet with Tori’s former social worker.

Later, Dodger investigates what happened to Dennis. After tracking him down, Jez meets with the social worker, who drops a bombshell about Dennis.

Donny arrives on police duty and privately informs Mercedes and Myra that Bobby has escaped the secure home, suspectedly in a social worker’s car.

Neighbours

Andrew and Holly embark on a road trip in search of answers about his biological family while Wendy rushes home for a job interview at the school.

She’s thrown to learn about Holly’s involvement in Andrew’s journey for clarity. Meanwhile, Karl is in hospital, subdued and introspective, as Jane secures an interview with Darcy in prison.

Elsewhere, Max’s mother, Yvette, and sister, Saskia, pay him a visit. But he’s shocked when Yvette announces she’d like Saskia to stay in Erinsborough.

Home and Away

Justin runs into Bree and Remi, desperate to get a message to Theo. Remi agrees – as long as he helps Kirby through her songwriting. When Kirby plays him some of her songs, Justin’s feedback is limited. His apparent lack of interest sends her spiralling.

Cash is desperate for Eden to go away with him, but she has other ideas, telling Mackenzie to decline on her behalf. But Cash gets Mackenzie on his side with a bombshell. Another shock then rattles the Bay – Eden’s mum, Deb.

Like this story? For more of the latest showbiz news and gossip, follow Mirror Celebs on TikTok, Snapchat, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Threads.

The Finnish Aviation Union (IAU) has held strikes on on May 2, 5, 16, 19, 30, June 2, 4, with June 17 and 19, with the likes of Ryanair, British Airways and Norwegian impacted

A country is to be hit with a tenth walkout of staff in 45 days.

Yet more flights are set to be cancelled on 17 and 19 June in airports across Finland, with as many as 64 UK flights impacted by the disruption, and as many as 11,520 impacted.

The Finnish Aviation Union (IAU) has held strikes on on May 2, 5, 16, 19, 30, June 2, 4, with June 17 and 19. Fourteen direct flights (eight Finnair, four British Airways, one Ryanair and one Norwegian) and as many as 50 indirect flights on airlines such as KLM, easyJet, Lufthansa, Air Baltic will be impacted later this week.

Key routes impacted include London, Manchester, and Edinburgh to Helsinki, which have 14 direct flights on the two days earmarked for industrial action. Other routes with one or two stops include Birmingham, Bristol, Belfast, Nottingham, Southampton, and Leeds to Helsinki via Amsterdam, Stockholm, Copenhagen, and Latvia.

Have you been impacted by the strikes? Email [email protected]

READ MORE: Huge number of Brits face holiday chaos as travel firm loses licence

Each strike day costs Finnair and Finavia (Helsinki Airport operator) €10 to €20 million (£8.5million to £17 million) in lost revenue, with broader economic ripple effects on tourism and hospitality. By summer’s end, the sector could lose €100-€150 million, according to air passenger rights company AirAdvisor.

Based on the analysis of booking trends, there’s a 7–12% drop in UK bookings to Finland for the summer season, with passengers shifting travel plans to alternatives like Sweden, Norway, or Estonia.

Passengers impacted by these strikes don’t qualify for EU261 compensation; however, they are still entitled to meals, accommodation, and assistance. Check out our refund rights guide if you’re caught up in strike action while flying.

Passengers concerned about being caught up in the travel disruption can buy strike-cover insurance for as little as £20, use websites such as FlightRadar24 for real-time flight tracking, and avoid Helsinki connections by taking other routes such as vua Stockholm.

Anton Radchenko, aviation expert and founder of AirAdvisor, said: “We’ve reached a point where UK travellers no longer need to be warned about Finnish aviation strikes, they expect them, which is a serious reputational crisis. For many Brits, Finland is no longer seen as a safe or reliable part of the travel map.

“These aren’t isolated events anymore; they’re stacking disruptions. Passengers are missing connections, losing confidence, and taking their business elsewhere.

“The deeper issue here is one of trust. Travellers don’t just book tickets, they plan around reliability. And what we’re seeing is a full-scale erosion of that trust. When people start rebooking through Stockholm or rerouting Asia trips via Frankfurt instead of Helsinki, the damage isn’t temporary; it becomes structural. Airlines eventually follow those behaviours, shifting routes and investing in more stable hubs.”

The IAU, which represents ground handling, baggage, catering, maintenance, and customer service staff, has called the strikes over pay disputes with PALTA. According to the IAU, the average earnings of Finnair Group employees increased by 6.4 percent between 2020 and 2023. During that same period, the national average increase across all sectors was 10.4 percent.

At the beginning of June a spokesperson for Finnair told the Mirror: “We are deeply sorry that our customers’ important travel plans were disrupted.” The airline has been contacted for additional comment.

Israel and Iran have launched more strikes on one another overnight and into the morning as the military confrontation between the two traditional adversaries persists.

Iranian attacks on Israel on Monday morning killed at least eight people and wounded dozens, officials reported, while Tehran said Israeli attacks overnight hit military and civilian targets.

The mutual strikes pushed the death toll from four days of open conflict between the foes close to 250.

Raised rhetoric emanating from both countries following the strikes suggested there is little prospect of the hostilities halting soon, with the risk of an escalation into a wider regional conflict persisting.

Iran announced it had launched some 100 missiles and pledged further retaliation for Israel’s sweeping attacks on its military and nuclear infrastructure, which have killed at least 224 people in the country since Friday.

In Israel, state broadcaster Israeli Army Radio reported that eight people were killed – five in the central part and three in the port city of Haifa.

That takes the total death toll in Israel to more than 20 since it launched air attacks on Iran four days ago. More than 300 others are reported wounded.

A branch of the United States Embassy in Tel Aviv sustained “minor damage” as a result of the attack, US Ambassador Mike Huckabee said.

Earlier, Israel carried out further strikes on Iran. The Israeli military said its jets struck several command centres in Tehran belonging to Quds Force, an elite arm of its Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) that conducts military and intelligence operations outside Iran.

“In these command centers, Quds operatives advanced terrorist attacks against the State of Israel using the proxies of the Iranian Regime in the Middle East,” it wrote in a post on X.

On Sunday, Iran said Israel had struck oil refineries, killed the IRGC’s intelligence chief and hit population centres in intensive aerial attacks.

‘Make a deal’

Much of the world has urged restraint since the conflict broke out on Friday when Israel launched an attack on Iran’s nuclear and missile facilities, killing military commanders and scientists.

Israel said the action was necessary to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons that would threaten its survival.

Iran retaliated with ballistic missiles, and the countries have been engaged in an exchange of strikes since.

US President Donald Trump said on Sunday he hoped the adversaries would “make a deal”, but added that they might have to “fight it out” first.

A staunch ally of Israel, Trump has maintained erratic messaging since the strikes began, raising concern that the conflict could escalate.

Iran has said the US is complicit in the Israeli military action, and suggested it could target US forces in Syria and elsewhere in retaliation.

Trump has insisted that Washington has “nothing to do” with Israel’s bombing campaign, but also threatened to unleash “the full strength and might” of the US military if Iran attacked its interests in the Middle East.

That has helped encourage a rise in the hardline rhetoric emerging from Tel Aviv and Tehran, which continued on Monday, suggesting there is little chance either side is ready to step back.

Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz warned on Monday that residents in Tehran would “pay the price” for Iran’s killing of Israeli civilians in its overnight missile attacks.

“The boastful dictator from Tehran has turned into a cowardly murderer, deliberately firing at Israel’s civilian home front in an attempt to deter the (Israeli military) from continuing the offensive that is crippling his capabilities,” Katz wrote on his Telegram channel. “The residents of Tehran will pay the price – and soon.”

Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian, meanwhile, urged people to put aside differences and unite against Israel.

“Every difference, issue, and problem that has existed must be put aside today, and we must stand strong against this genocidal criminal aggression with unity and coherence,” he said, addressing parliament.

Israel has suggested that regime change in Iran could be one result of the conflict, hoping to press opposition to the regime in Tehran to rise.

Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Iran’s response will stop when Israel halts its attacks.

The IRGC warned through a statement to the official IRNA news agency, “effective, targeted and more devastating operations against the vital targets” in Israel “will continue until its complete destruction”.

Elijah Magnier, a military and political analyst, told Al Jazeera that few signs of a let up have been seen.

“I think it’s going to continue escalating because we are just in the first days of the war,” he said. “The Israeli officials, the prime minister and the army, have all warned Israeli society that this war is going to be heavy and … the price is going to be extremely high.”

Meanwhile, Alex Vatanka, a senior fellow at the Middle East Institute, told Al Jazeera that Iran would likely welcome an end to hostilities in the non-too-distant future.

“I don’t sense they have the confidence that they can stay in this game for long. Remember, Iran is alone. It’s got no friends, it’s on its own. Israel’s got the US, most of Europe and plenty of other friends … and that should obviously be of concern for Tehran.”

Five people have been killed and dozens injured as Iran launched fresh strikes across central Israel overnight, according to Israel’s national emergency service. Footage shows explosions and damage in Tel Aviv and Haifia. Officials say at least 19 people have been killed in Israel and 224 people in Iran since Friday, when the two countries began launching attacks.

Iran has launched a new wave of ballistic missiles against Israel soon after loud explosions were heard in its capital Tehran, as the two countries continue to trade heavy fire for a third consecutive day and as US President Donald Trump hints both at peace coming “soon” and at the possibility of the United States joining the conflict.

On Sunday, residents in Tehran reported shuddering blasts in different areas in the heart of the city. Reports say missiles struck in Niavaran and Tajrish, in the capital’s north, and around the Valiasr and Hafte Tir squares in the city centre.

Other cities attacked by Israel included Shiraz and Isfahan, where a military base of the Defence Ministry was hit. The Israeli army said it struck an aerial refuelling aircraft at Mashhad Airport in eastern Iran, describing it as its longest-range attack since launching operations against Iran last week.

Reporting from Tehran, Al Jazeera’s Tohid Asadi said, “Iran has not experienced a war to this extent since the Iran-Iraq War ended in 1988. There were similar Israeli strikes last year, of course, but nothing compared to what’s been happening since Friday.”

“The government said earlier today that metro stations, schools and mosques are going to be ready to host people. But parts of these facilities, including mosques and schools, do not seem safe enough to be used as a sort of shelter,” he added.

Iranian officials say at least 138 people have been killed in Israel’s onslaught since Friday, including 60 on Saturday, half of them children, when a missile brought down a 14-storey apartment block in Tehran. There were no reports as yet of casualties from Sunday’s attacks.

In Israel, authorities said on Sunday that several missiles were launched from Iran, most of which were intercepted.

Rescue workers were searching for survivors in the rubble from the previous night’s wave of Iranian strikes. The hardest hit area was the town of Bat Yam, where more than 60 buildings were damaged. “Iran will pay a heavy price for the murder of civilians, women and children,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said from a balcony overlooking blown-out apartments in Bat Yam, a city just south of Tel Aviv.

Overnight, Iran struck the port city of Haifa and neighbouring Tamra, where at least four women were killed. Since the start of the conflict on Thursday, at least 13 people have been killed and 380 have been wounded in Israel.

Al Jazeera’s Nour Odeh, reporting from Amman, Jordan, said, “The damage from Iranian attacks is certainly extensive and unprecedented. This is the first time that Israel has confronted a state with a formidable army in the region, certainly the first time since 1973 [against Egypt]”.

“To the north, in Haifa, oil and gas pipelines were damaged, but activities continue at the oil refineries”, she added.

Israel launched its operation with a surprise attack on Friday that killed several members of the Iranian military’s top echelon, killed several nuclear scientists, and damaged the country’s nuclear sites. Since then, Israel’s attacks have been broadening in their scope, hitting residential areas and Iran’s civilian and energy sectors and raising the stakes for the global economy and the functioning of the Iranian state.

Diplomacy

As both parties continue to pound each other with strikes, hopes for a diplomatic solution seem distant for now, though they will no doubt be high on the agenda of the Group of Seven summit beginning Monday in Canada.

Speaking at a press conference in Tehran on Sunday, Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Tehran does not seek to expand the conflict to neighbouring countries unless forced to.

Araghchi reaffirmed Iran’s opposition to nuclear weapons but defended its right to peaceful nuclear development. He said Iran had been ready to offer assurances in the now-cancelled sixth round of US talks, which could have led to an agreement, though Israel derailed the diplomatic progress.

The US and Iran have held five rounds of talks since April to try to find a path to a new nuclear deal that would replace a 2015 accord that Trump abandoned during his first term in office.

Araghchi also said Israel’s attacks on his country could not have materialised without the agreement and support of the US.

“We have well-documented and solid evidence of the support provided by American forces in the region and their bases for the military attacks of the Zionist regime”.

He said Trump has publicly and explicitly confirmed he knew about the attacks, that they could not have happened without US weapons and equipment, and that more attacks are coming. “Therefore, the US, in our opinion, is a partner in these attacks and must accept its responsibility.”

Talking to Fox News, Netanyahu seemed to clearly confirm that, saying he informed Trump ahead of launching the attacks.

He described the cooperation with the Trump administration as “unprecedented”, adding that the Israeli intelligence shares “every bit of information” with Washington. Netanyahu projected that regime change in Iran could be a result of Israel’s attacks.

Trump has denied any involvement and warned Tehran not to widen its retaliation to include US targets, but also didn’t rule out more direct US involvement beyond the vast arsenal and intelligence the US provides to Israel.

“If we are attacked in any way, shape or form by Iran, the full strength and might of the U.S. Armed Forces will come down on you at levels never seen before,” the US president said in a message on Truth Social.

He also claimed peace could be reached “soon”, suggesting that many diplomatic meetings were taking place.

“We can easily get a deal done between Iran and Israel, and end this bloody conflict,” he said.

Trump has repeatedly said Iran could end the war by agreeing to tough restrictions on its nuclear programme, which Iran says is for peaceful purposes but Western countries say could be used to make a bomb.

Trump told ABC he would be “open” to Russian President Vladimir Putin being a mediator. “He is ready. He called me about it. We had a long talk about it”.

The US president’s words were a first hint at Washington’s diplomatic involvement in the ongoing conflict. In recent days, the US has ratcheted down its diplomatic presence in countries in the region, anticipating that air strikes on Iranian military sites would be taking place.

Israel has unleashed air attacks across Iran for a third day and threatened even greater attacks, while some Iranian missiles have evaded Israeli air defences to strike buildings in the heart of the country.

The region braced for a protracted conflict after Israel’s surprise bombardment of Iran’s nuclear and military sites on Friday killed top generals and nuclear scientists, and neither side has showed any sign of backing down since.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on Sunday that if the Israeli strikes on Iran stop, then “our responses will also stop”.

Araghchi said Israel had targeted an oil refinery near Tehran and another in the country’s Bushehr province on the Gulf. He said Iran’s retaliatory strikes also targeted “economic” sites in Israel, without elaborating.

The conflict has raised prospects of a broader assault on Iran’s heavily sanctioned energy industry that could affect global markets.

United States President Donald Trump has expressed full support for Israel’s actions while warning Iran that it can avoid further destruction only by agreeing to a new nuclear deal. But talks scheduled on Sunday in Oman were called off, with Tehran calling the dialogue “meaningless”.

Meanwhile, Israeli attacks have killed at least 80 people and wounded 800 others in Iran over the past two days, including 20 children. In Israel, at least 10 people were killed in overnight strikes by Iran, bringing the country’s total death toll to 13.

Israel’s main international airport and airspace remained closed for a third day.

Iran has struck Israel with barrages of missiles, a day after an Israeli onslaught against its nuclear and military facilities killed top generals and scientists.

Iranian missiles have targeted sites across Israel, killing at least three people and injuring dozens, in retaliation for continuing Israeli attacks on Iran.

Iran called on its citizens to unite in defence of the country as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu urged them to rise up against their government.

Air raid sirens and explosions rang out across Israel through the night, with many residents holed up in bomb shelters until home defence commanders stood down alerts.

Israel said dozens of missiles – some intercepted – had been fired in the latest salvoes from Iran, with images of the city of Ramat Gan near Tel Aviv showing blown-out buildings, destroyed vehicles and streets strewn with debris.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said they attacked dozens of targets in Israel.

Iran’s missile barrages came in response to intense Israeli strikes on Friday that killed several top Iranian generals and most of the senior leadership of the Revolutionary Guards’ air arm.

The United Nations Security Council convened an emergency meeting on Friday after Israeli attacks on Iran. China and Russia condemned the bombings, while Israel’s allies, including France, doubled down on support for Israel.

Israel’s attacks on Iranian nuclear and military sites mark a significant escalation in regional tensions, and may reshape Tehran’s nuclear calculus.

The coordinated strikes killed several senior military and security officials, including the head of Iran’s military Mohammad Bagheri, and the head of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), Hossein Salami.

“One of the concerns in attacking the nuclear sites has been that setbacks could lead Iran to reconstitute their operations with a more determined effort to obtain a nuclear deterrent,” said Ali Vaez, an expert on Iran for the International Crisis Group (ICG).

Sceptics validated

Iran has long had an internal debate among reformers and hardliners about whether to reach an agreement with the United States on its nuclear programme.

“[The attacks] likely confirmed the position of hardliners and ultra hardliners who said that Iran was wasting its time to try and negotiate with the West … they said Iran can never negotiate from a position of weakness and appeasement,” said Reza H Akbari, an analyst on Iran and the Middle East and North Africa Programme Manager at the Institute for War and Peace Reporting.

Talks between Iran and the US have suffered from a large trust deficit after President Donald Trump unilaterally pulled out of the nuclear deal between Iran and several Western nations, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), during his first term in 2018.

The JCPOA was orchestrated by Trump’s predecessor Barack Obama and endorsed by the United Nations Security Council in 2015.

It aimed to monitor Iran’s nuclear programme to ensure it did not approach weaponisation levels. In exchange, some sanctions were lifted from Iran.

While the deal was lauded as an achievement of diplomacy, Israel disapproved of the JCPOA. Ten years later, the US and Iran appeared interested in striking another similar deal.

The former ostensibly did not want to get dragged into a regional war as tensions mounted across the Middle East, while the latter was again looking for much-needed sanction relief.

But Israel’s strikes on Iran, which were reportedly planned months in advance and with US approval, have scuttled any diplomatic solution in the short term, said Akbari.

“It’s hard to imagine that someone in the shoes of Iran’s supreme leader [Ali Khamenei] is not taking the side of hardliners after this,” he told Al Jazeera.

No other options

In response to Israel’s strikes, Iran has launched drones and ballistic missiles at Israel, with some hitting targets on the ground.

In the past, Iran’s deterrence against external aggression relied primarily on its self-described “Axis of Resistance”.

The axis consisted of powerful armed groups across the region, such as Lebanon’s Hezbollah, as well as Syria under former President Bashar al-Assad.

However, Hezbollah’s capabilities were degraded significantly during the peak of its recent war with Israel, which lasted from September to late November last year.

Al-Assad’s fall in December, the culmination of a more than decade-long civil war in Syria, also compromised Iran’s ability to resupply Hezbollah through Syria, as it used to do.

Trump is now exploiting Iran’s weakness by urging it to capitulate to a deal that would see it give up its nuclear programme, said Michael Stephens, an expert on regional response to Iran’s nuclear programme with the Royal United Service Institute (RUSI), a defence think tank.

On Friday, Trump posted on Truth Social that Iran must make a deal before there is “nothing left” of the country and that the next Israeli attacks will be even “more brutal”.

Later that evening, Israel carried out more air strikes on Iran’s military sites and nuclear facilities.

“There are no good options for [Iran] really,” said Stephens.

“Either Khamenei … orders his negotiators to compromise on the nuclear file or … he holds firm [and] more sites are hit and further targeted assassinations of high-level officials take place,” he told Al Jazeera.

“Either way, if Iran decides to sprint towards a bomb, it’s going to be very, very difficult to do that now,” he added.

Last stand

Despite Iran’s military weakness compared with the US and Israel, it is wary of giving up its nuclear programme, analysts told Al Jazeera.

Negar Mortazavi, an expert on Iran with the Centre for International Policy (CIP), said Iranian officials have long referred to the fate of former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, who agreed to give up his nuclear weapons programme in exchange for US sanction relief in 2003.

The deal came after the US President George W Bush had launched his so-called “War on Terror” after the September 11, 2001, attacks, which led to the invasion and prolonged occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan.

At the time, Bush warned his partners and foes in the region that they were either “with us or against us”.

Eight years after Gaddafi gave up his nuclear programme, the US backed a pro-democracy uprising in Libya, which spiralled into an armed rebellion and led to Gaddafi’s overthrow and eventual death.

“The [Libya] scenario is something that Iran has taken notice of, and they don’t want to go down that path,” Mortazavi explained.

She added that Iran may likely pull out from the JCPOA and try to quickly expand its nuclear programme in reaction to Israel’s ongoing assault.

“Just how far and how soon Iran will expand its nuclear programme is unclear,” Mortazavi told Al Jazeera.

June 13 (UPI) — Israel said Friday morning its air defenses had successfully repelled an Iranian airborne assault in retaliation for overnight Israeli airstrikes targeting Iran’s nuclear development program.

Israel Defense Forces said Iran had launched more than 100 drones toward Israel, prompting the Home Front Command to order the public to remain close to air-raid shelters, but the warnings were later scaled back after Air Force interceptor fighter jets and anti-missile systems downed or disabled the majority.

The IDF said it was unable to confirm the threat had been completely eliminated as more UAVs could have been launched since and en route toward Israel, but that sufficient numbers had been downed to allow the Home Front Command to temporarily ease the emergency measures.

Schools, government offices and most offices were shut for the weekend, but Israeli airspace was closed and all flights grounded until further notice, with flights already en route diverted. Jordan and Iraq also closed their airspace.

However, there were fears the missiles could follow and that the drones were just the beginning of a much more significant retaliation in line with Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei warning Israel “should anticipate a severe punishment” in response to its deadly strikes overnight.

The Jerusalem Post reported that airstrikes by the Israeli Air Force targeting Iran’s radar systems and air defenses were still ongoing late Friday morning.

“This operation will continue for as many days as it takes to remove this threat,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement posted on X.

He said the “Operation Rising Lion” he had ordered was a “targeted military operation to roll back the Iranian threat to Israel’s very survival” from Iran’s advancing nuclear program, which he said was close to being able to manufacture a nuclear bomb unless it was stopped.

The Iranian foreign ministry vowed Friday to hit back saying the Israeli strikes on Iran were “a blatant act of aggression in violation of the U.N. Charter.

“In accordance with Article 51 of the U.N. Charter, Iran reserves the legitimate and legal right to respond to this aggression. The Armed Forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran will not hesitate to defend Iran’s sovereignty with full strength and in the manner they deem appropriate,” the ministry said in a statement.

It also threatened the United States, alleging the attacks could not have taken place without its backing and that as Israel’s “primary patron,” the U.S. government would “also bear responsibility for the dangerous repercussions of the Zionist regime’s reckless actions.”

Internationally, leaders have appealed for calm.

U.S. President Trump, who confirmed he was notified of the strikes in advance but that the United States was not involved, said he hoped that U.S.-Iran negotiations on Tehran’s nuclear program could continue.

“Iran cannot have a nuclear bomb, and we are hoping to get back to the negotiating table. We will see. There are several people in leadership in Iran that will not be coming back,” Trump told Fox News.

The independent London-based Iran International news outlet reported on X that Aladdin Boroujerdi, a member of the Iranian parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Commission, saying a sixth round of nuclear talks in Oman scheduled for Sunday would now not go ahead.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen expressed “deep alarm” and called for restraint, de-escalation and for military forces on all sides to stand down.

“A diplomatic resolution is now more urgent than ever, for the sake of the region’s stability and global security,’ she wrote on social media.

NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte, speaking in Stockholm, told reporters it was critical that Israel’s allies stepped in to de-escalate the crisis.

“I think that is now the first order of the day,” he said.

International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Rafael Grossi told the U.N nuclear watchdog’s board which is meeting in Vienna, that nuclear facilities must never be attacked under any circumstances due to the risk to people and the environment.

“Such attacks have serious implications for nuclear safety, security and safeguards, as well as regional and international peace and security,” Grossi warned, noting that the IAEA has repeatedly stated that military strikes on nuclear facilities could result in radioactive releases that would not be contained within international borders.

“I call on all parties to exercise maximum restraint to avoid further escalation. I reiterate that any military action that jeopardizes the safety and security of nuclear facilities risks grave consequences for the people of Iran, the region, and beyond,” he said.