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Here’s where things stand on Sunday 15 June 2025:
- Iran launches missiles at targets across Israel, including the port city of Haifa, after Israeli forces bombed civilian and energy infrastructure across Iran.
- Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps says it targeted Israeli energy infrastructure, while Israeli emergency services said the attacks killed at least three people in northern parts of the country.
- Iranian state media say efforts are continuing to bring a massive fire at the Shahran oil facility in Tehran under control.
- Iranian media say Israeli attacks have killed at least 80 people and wounded 800 others over the past two days.
- US President Donald Trump says he and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, agree that the hostilities between Israel and Iran must end.
- Iran cancels a sixth round of nuclear talks with the United States, with Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi saying there is no justification for continuing negotiations in light of Israel’s continued attacks.
What’s the White House’s thinking on the Israel-Iran conflict?
Well, there’s no question that US President Trump did, in fact, campaign on being less interventionist.
He said that he wants to see an end to the Forever wars, and that’s what his supporters want as well. But the problem is the president is a member of the Republican Party that typically, particularly among the older generations, has been very hawkish. Now, there’s a faction known as the neoconservatives, or neocons, that are very much interventionist in nature. And as a result, the US president is finding himself in the midst of a bit of a schism in the political party.
And so what we know is that the US president, both privately as well as publicly, has urged Israel not to attack Iran while there was still the prospect of negotiations to limit Iran’s nuclear program, but the US watched as the rest of the world did, as Israel struck on the 61st day after that 60-day deadline for making an agreement that Trump put forward.
So the US president now, as he expressed to the Russian president in a phone call earlier today, said that he is committed to trying to find diplomacy and that the US mediators are ready to work with Iran at any time.
The problem is in the midst of all of this that we know, Iran is not willing to do that. So, that that is the conundrum that the US president finds himself in.
Photos: Aftermath of Iranian missile strikes near Tel Aviv
If you’re just joining us
Let’s bring you up to speed on the latest developments:
- At least seven people have been killed in Israel after Iran launched new waves of missile strikes on the country, according to medics and Israeli media outlets. Dozens more were wounded.
- The casualties come after Israel carried out several attacks across Iran, with the Israeli military saying it targeted nuclear sites, including the headquarters of the Iranian defence ministry.
- British Prime Minister Keir Starmer says the UK is moving more military assets, including fighter jets, to the Middle East to provide “contingency support in the region”.
- US President Donald Trump has issued a stern warning to the country’s enemies at a military parade in Washington, DC, in comments seen as a thinly veiled threat against Iran.
- The AP news agency, citing two unnamed US officials, says three drones that were launched towards the Ain al-Assad Airbase in western Iraq, which houses US troops, have been shot down. No group has claimed responsibility.
Nearly three dozen people missing after missile strike in Bat Yam: Report
Israeli news outlet Ynet is reporting that the Home Front Command estimates 35 people are missing at the site of the hit in Bat Yam, just south of Tel Aviv.
The number of people hurt in that strike has risen to 100, including four people with serious injuries, Ynet said.
Those killed included a 10-year-old boy and two elderly women, aged 69 and 80, the news outlet said, citing Israeli emergency service Magen David Adom.
Ynet added that in Rehovot, another city south of Tel Aviv, at least 37 people were injured in a separate missile strike.
Inter Milan striker stranded in Iran: Report
The AFP news agency is reporting that Inter Milan forward Mehdi Taremi has been stranded in Tehran due to the conflict between Iran and Israel and will miss the start of the FIFA Club World Cup.
The agency cited a source at the Italian football club.
It said Taremi was in Iran last week on international duty, scoring in a 3-0 victory over North Korea in a World Cup qualifying game. But the 32-year-old was unable to get a flight to join his Inter team-mates in Los Angeles due to the ongoing confrontation between Iran and Israel.
What air defences does Israel have, and how do they work?
As we’ve been reporting, Israel has intercepted many of the Iranian missiles fired towards its territory – but not all of them, with some causing major damage and casualties this evening across the country.
The Israeli air defence relies largely on what is known as the Iron Dome system, which is equipped with a radar that detects an incoming projectile, as well as its speed and direction.
The control centre then calculates whether the projectile poses a threat to Israeli towns, and if so, the missile-firing unit launches missiles to shoot them down. The launcher contains 20 interceptor missiles.
There are 10 Iron Dome batteries scattered around Israel.
Other systems intercept medium and long-range missiles. The David’s Sling intercepts missiles ranging between 40km (25 miles) and 300km (186 miles). The Arrow System intercepts missiles with a range of up to 2,400km (1,491 miles).
Threat to close Strait of Hormuz is Iran’s ‘trump card’
More on Iran’s threat to close off the Strait of Hormuz, a vital point in global energy transportation.
Jamal Abdi, the president of the National Iranian American Council, described the threat as “Iran’s trump card”.
“It’s a major form of deterrent, and it’s a threat that Iran has made before, but obviously never put into action. The view is [that] this would sort of strangle the global economy, have massive economic impacts, and it’s a very small body of water, so the type of sabotage necessary to make that a choke point, Iran likely does have,” he told Al Jazeera.
“We’re seeing the checklist of bad things that people have warned about for years, about what this war could look like, potentially coming into reality, and the Strait of Hormuz would be, I think, an action that would in the minds of a lot of world leaders, and in US minds, would be something that would then be used to say, ‘OK, you need to get involved and help support the Israelis against the Iranians’,” he added.
Trump sends strong message to Iran at US military parade
The US president has spoken at a military parade held here in Washington, DC, celebrating the country’s army’s 250th anniversary.
He issued a thinly veiled threat to anyone that attacks US interests.
He said that our American enemies have learned time and time again that if they threaten the American people, our soldiers are coming for you, defeat will be certain.
And you have to remember, in light of the conflict that is going on between Israel and Iran right now, the United States has a significant presence in the Middle East. Tens of thousands of soldiers are spread across various sites, and as a result, we know that the US president, as well as his secretary of defence and his secretary of state, have all said that if there is any sort of retaliatory attack for Israeli strikes into Iran against US interests, that there will be repercussions for that.
So while Trump did not address the situation or the conflict that is ongoing and continuing to escalate between Israel and Iran, the US president did again make that reference that many people are interpreting as another strong message towards anyone who has any idea of attacking US interests, namely, Iran.
How military escalation with Iran divides Trump’s base
After taking the oath of office for his second term in January, United States President Donald Trump said he would push to “stop all wars” and leave a legacy of a “peacemaker and unifier”.
But six months in, missiles are flying across the Middle East after Israel attacked Iran, risking an all-out regional war that could drag US troops into the conflict.
The Israeli strikes on Iran, which Trump has all but explicitly endorsed, are now testing the president’s promise to be a harbinger of peace.
They are also dividing his base, with many right-wing politicians and commentators stressing that unconditional support for Israel is at odds with the “America First” platform on which Trump was elected.
“There is a very strong sense of betrayal and anger in many parts of the ‘America First’ base because they have truly turned against the idea of the US being involved in or supporting any such wars,” said Trita Parsi, executive vice president at the Quincy Institute, a US think tank that promotes diplomacy.
Read more here.
Photos: Iranian missiles over Israel and occupied Palestinian territory
Israel-Iran conflict could spread to Middle Eastern countries hosting foreign military bases
Iran has threatened to attack Western bases [in the Middle East] if those countries provide further support to Israel. If that happens, then Western military assets, the US in particular, but also that of the UK – it really could expand what is such a serious situation to other countries.
Just to give you a list of where the UK have forces based: in Iraq and in Syria, where they were fighting ISIL – they still have forces there.
In the Gulf and the UAE and Qatar, in Bahrain and in Oman, and the big UK sovereign base in Cyprus.
So it shows the spread of the UK, a similar spread of the US, and I think that’s the big worry of further escalation. A big worry politically in terms of militarily what could happen, and real concern about what that could mean for the global economy, given this is the centre of oil and gas in the world.
Death toll in central Israel rises to 3: Reports
Israeli news outlet Haaretz, citing emergency services, says three people have now been confirmed killed after an Iranian missile hit a building in the central Israeli town of Bat Yam.
Israel’s Ynet also reported on the increased death toll.
Dozens of people have also been injured in the latest round of Iranian missile strikes.
Death toll in Israel rises to five: Report
The Times of Israel is reporting that the death toll from an Iranian missile attack on northern Israel has risen to five.
The attack hit the city of Tamra, near Haifa, and all the fatalities were members of the Khatib family, it added.
Tamra is a predominantly Palestinian city.
What’s the impact if Iran closes the Strait of Hormuz?
Ed Hirs, an energy expert and professor at the University of Houston in the US, says the potential closure of the Strait of Hormuz would have a significant effect on global oil prices.
As we’ve been reporting, Iran’s IRINN news agency reported that Esmail Kosari, a member of the Iranian parliament’s security commission, said the country was seriously reviewing the possible closure of the Strait in response to Israel’s attacks.
“The Strait carries between 18 and 20 million barrels per day, so almost 20 percent of the global oil market passes through the Strait of Hormuz,” Hirs told Al Jazeera. “There is no real easy alternative route out of that area for Saudi Arabia, for Kuwait.”
Cutting that traffic by half, Hirs explained, “would lead to a global oil price spike [of] probably over $120/barrel – that impact would hit everyone across the world very quickly.”
Closing the strait could give Trump – who has kept up tough rhetoric against Tehran but said he wants the conflict with Israel to end – “an excuse to attack Iran”, Hirs added.
“Attacking the global economy, attacking the US economy directly by cutting off the flow of oil to the global market, [that] would probably be the catalyst necessary to engage the US directly against Iran.”
Drones target Iraqi base hosting US troops: Report
The Associated Press news agency is reporting that three drones launched towards the Ain al-Assad Airbase in western Iraq, which houses US troops, have been shot down.
The agency, which cited two anonymous US officials, said that no group has claimed responsibility for the launches.
The reported assault comes amid fears in the US that Iran-backed groups could attack US forces across the Middle East as the Israel-Iran conflict escalates.
What’s the US’s role in the Israel-Iran conflict?
As Iran and Israel continue to exchange attacks, analysts say the US is worried that it could get drawn into the conflict.
“They’re worried they’re going to get caught up in this war, that the Iranians and the international community will view the US as complicit or aiding and abetting Israel’s actions, so the idea of a war spreading and involving US assets in the region is a real risk,” says David Phillips, professor of security studies at Georgetown University.
He told Al Jazeera that the US needs to take urgent action to defuse the tensions.
“Take a step back, de-escalate, send a clear message to the Arab and Muslim world that the US will not tolerate any reprisals against US assets or interests, and continue to work diplomatically to defuse the situation,” he said.
One killed, dozens wounded in Iran’s latest attacks on Israel
Israel’s emergency medical service, Magen David Adom, has released details of casualties in some of the latest missile strikes.
In the Tel Aviv area, a 60-year-old woman was killed while 20 others suffered moderate and minor injuries.
In the Shfela region near Jerusalem, 24 people were wounded near a building, including two who suffered serious injuries.
Magen David Adom added that rescue operations were continuing.
Earlier, The Times of Israel reported that five people had been killed in northern Israel in a previous round of Iranian attacks. YNet News put the figure at four.
Iran says it will limit cooperation with IAEA over its nuclear sites
A senior Iranian official says his country will “no longer cooperate” with the UN’s nuclear watchdog, while criticising it for its silence over Israeli strikes on Iranian nuclear sites.
“It makes no sense that these peaceful sites come under attack and that the agency remains silent,” Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi said, referring to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
“Iran will no longer cooperate with the agency… as it once did,” he said, adding that his government would not inform the IAEA of the “special measures” it intended to take to protect its nuclear materials and equipment.
Iran cancels talks, but Trump says US negotiators still ready
The US president seems to be operating on the assumption that there still can be these indirect talks. Now, obviously, Sunday has already arrived in some parts of the world, and what we know is that it doesn’t appear that there’s any sign of those talks.
Still, the Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, is at the ready – ready to talk from a US standpoint.
The US president, for his part, was very active on social media on Friday, but as of Saturday, he didn’t reappear for almost 24 hours, after we saw the retaliatory attacks on Israel.
Then he posted on Truth Social that he had spoken with Vladimir Putin, the Russian president. They had talked extensively about the war, and the US president said he found the situation very alarming. We know that Putin, for his part, offered to mediate, and the US President responded by saying that Putin’s war should end, of course, referring to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, one that the US president promised to end on day one [of his presidency].
But, of course, that has not happened.
Can Iran confront Israel on its own?
Since Israel’s war on Gaza began in October 2023, Israel has damaged Iran not just at home, but also outside its territory – by striking its allies.
Longtime Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah was assassinated in Beirut while Yemen’s Houthis and militias in Iraq have taken hits. In Syria, former President Bashar al-Assad – a longtime ally of Iran – was removed from power late last year.
So as Tehran launches several rounds of missile strikes against Israel, is the country fighting from a weakened position?
As Israel and Iran trade blows, Palestinian citizens of Israel have limited access to bomb shelters
As Iranian missiles strike cities and communities across Israel, Palestinian citizens live with less access to protective structures than their Jewish counterparts.
A 2024 report by the Israel Democracy Institute (IDI) stated that Arab communities in Israel were less likely to have access to shelters, with communities near Israel’s borders and separation walls, among those most exposed to possible attacks, even less so.
“Among the Jewish population, close to 100 percent of residents in localities within 9km [about 6 miles] of the border have protective structures, while more than 50 percent of Arab residents within the same distance of the border do not have protective structures,” the report said, citing a 2018 report by the State Comptroller.
The report also cited polling figures that nearly 60 percent of Palestinian citizens of Israel say the Israeli state does not provide them with the same level of protective structures as Jewish communities.
Iran could shut Strait of Hormuz if Israel ramps up attacks on energy
Sina Toossi, a senior fellow at the Center for International Policy, a US-based think tank, says that if Israel carries out even more “dramatic” attacks on Iranian oil and energy infrastructure, Iran could shut the critical Strait of Hormuz.
“That is their ultimate level of escalation,” Toossi told Al Jazeera, of the potential move by Iran.
Iranian news agency IRINN reported on Saturday that the country was considering shutting the Strait, which is the only marine entryway into the Persian Gulf.
According to the US Energy Information Administration, about 20 percent of global oil consumption flows through the Strait of Hormuz.
“We’re not there yet, but today, Israel struck a gas field in southern Iran. And Iran in the attacks on Haifa has reportedly struck some energy facilities there,” Toossi noted.
“So there has been a tit-for-tat on energy facilities today, and if this escalates, that’s going to potentially threaten all the energy coming out of the Persian Gulf.”
Death toll in northern Israel rises: Report
The Times of Israel is reporting that the death toll from an Iranian missile attack on northern Israel has risen to five, while the YNet news said the figure was four.
The attack hit the city of Tamra, near Haifa, and all the deaths were of members of the Khatib family, the Times reported. The victims were a mother, her teenage daughters and a relative, YNet reported.
Tamra is a predominantly Palestinian city.
Fresh air raid sirens in Israel after missile from Yemen: Report
The Times of Israel is reporting fresh sirens in the city of Tel Aviv following the launch of a new missile, this time from Yemen.
The newspaper cited the Israeli military.
We’ll bring you more soon.
Extent of damage from latest Iranian missile barrage unclear
The Israelis are reporting that sirens have gone off in Jerusalem, as well as Haifa earlier and in Tel Aviv, and that people have been ordered to go to their shelters.
We don’t know yet what the scale of damage of these missiles that are just coming in, is.
We know from the first of this evening’s barrage that three people were killed in northern Israel. There have been some other injuries, as well.
Again, ordinarily Israel’s missile defence system – the Iron Dome – has generally been effective in intercepting and destroying most of the missiles that are coming from Iran, but not all of them.
It’s also worth pointing out that there is military censorship of the press in Israel, as there is in almost any country when it’s in a state of war. And that means that journalists based in Israel are restricted from reporting whether there have been any hits on strategic locations.
So we only hear about civilian places that have been hit, and military bases, strategic locations are not reported on. So we don’t know what’s happened there.
‘Unprecedented’ escalation between Israel, Iran continues
Tensions and escalations are ramping up to an unprecedented level between Iran and Israel.
Iran is now striking back after the Israelis started military operations – strikes across the country targeting different, nuclear, military and civilian infrastructure inside Iran and here, in the capital.
From time to time, we’ve been hearing explosions, and tonight, the Iranian forces, and in particular, the IRGC announced that they have started a new round of attacks on the Israeli territories, using drones and ballistic missiles. We also heard from an Iranian high-ranking security official saying that Iran has prepared itself for a prolonged confrontation and that it’s going to increase its attacks on Israeli territories.
This situation looks highly complicated, as both sides are talking about their intention to increase attacks, but how the future could unfurl is something for which we have to wait and see.
Photos: Destruction in northern Israel after missile strikes
Starmer says UK moving military assets to Middle East
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has said the United Kingdom is moving more military assets, including fighter jets, to the Middle East to provide “contingency support in the region”.
Crews began deployment preparations on Friday morning, when it was clear the situation in the region was deteriorating, a spokesperson for the prime minister said.
Further refuelling aircraft from British bases have been deployed, and additional fighter jets will be sent, the spokesperson added.
Separately, Starmer discussed the escalating Israel-Iran conflict in a call with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
Starmer’s office said in a statement that the two leaders had discussed the “gravely concerning situation in the Middle East” and agreed on the need to de-escalate.
Explosions in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem: Reports
Several explosions have been heard in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem after the Israeli military announced a new round of attacks by Iran.
Reuters reported a series of explosions in both cities, citing witnesses.
“Heavy bombardment of Tel Aviv right now, with multiple massive explotions [sic] heard,” Israeli reporter Haggai Matar said in a social media post.
Israeli military activates air raid sirens amid another round of Iranian missiles
“A short time ago, alerts were activated in several areas of the country following the discovery of missiles launched from Iran into the territory of the State of Israel,” a spokesperson for the military said in a statement.
“The public is asked to obey the instructions of the Home Front Command. At this time, the Air Force is working to intercept and attack wherever necessary to eliminate the threat. The defence is not hermetic, and therefore the instructions of the Home Front Command must continue to be obeyed.”
A recap of recent developments
- Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps says it targeted Israeli energy infrastructure with a new wave of missiles, warning that its retaliatory attacks “will continue more fiercely and widely if the evils and aggressions continue” by Israel.
- At least three people have been killed in Israel in the latest Iranian missile salvo, which targeted several cities, including Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and Haifa.
- The assault came after Israeli forces bombed the Shahran oil facility in the Iranian capital, Tehran, triggering large fires. Earlier on Saturday, Israel also attacked a gas field close to Bushehr and an oil refinery in Abadan, but the UN’s International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) says there is no damage at Fordow, one of Iran’s main uranium enrichment facilities.
- US President Donald Trump says he and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, agreed in a phone call that the Israel-Iran conflict must end.
- Iran has cancelled a sixth round of nuclear talks with the US, which were scheduled for Sunday, saying there is no justification for continuing negotiations in light of Israel’s continued attacks.
- An Iranian member of parliament now says the country is considering shutting the Strait of Hormuz, an important transit route for major energy-producing countries in the Gulf.
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Stay here for up-to-the-minute coverage of Israel’s attacks on Iran and Iran’s barrages of missiles in reply.
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![A ballistic missiles over Israel, 14 June 2025. Israel's military has identified missiles being launched from Iran towards the territory of Israel in retaliation following airstrikes on Iranian targets. [Abir Sultan/EPA-EFE]](https://www.aljazeera.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/13125337-1749939758.jpg?w=770&resize=770%2C513&quality=80)