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Here’s where things stand on Thursday 19 June 2025:
- Israel says it’s destroyed Iran’s internal security headquarters in Tehran, as Iran fires more missiles towards Israeli territory.
- US President Donald Trump says he’s still weighing his options on US military intervention in the escalating hostilities.
- Earlier, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei said Iran won’t accept “imposed war”, and warns the US that any strikes on its territory will have “serious irreparable consequences”.
- The death toll from Israel’s attacks on Iran has risen to more than 240, including 70 women and children. At least 24 people have been killed in Iranian attacks on Israel.
- Israel’s war on Gaza has killed at least 55,493 people and wounded 129,320, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. An estimated 1,139 people were killed in Israel during the October 7 attacks and more than 200 were taken captive.
Iranian TV shows downing of Israel’s Hermes 900 drone
Iranian TV has aired footage of what it says is Iran’s air defences shooting down an Israeli Hermes 900 drone near the city of Isfahan. It’s the first time Iran has aired footage of a drone takedown.
Protesters in New York rally against Israel’s attacks on Iran
We’ve been reporting on a protest outside the White House where demonstrators rallied against Israel’s attacks on Iran and urged the US not to get involved in the conflict.
We are now getting reports of a similar protest in New York City.
According to videos posted online by activists, hundreds of people marched in Manhattan, holding signs condemning US threats to strike Iran as well as its support for Israel’s war on Gaza.
The placards read, “Hands off Iran now” and “Stop funding genocide”.
Top Republican senator calls for US strike on Iran’s Fordow facility
Senator Lindsey Graham is urging Trump to “go all in” and attack Iran’s Fordow nuclear site, which is dug deep into a mountain in central Iran.
“Israel dominates the skies and has destroyed Iran’s military and scientific leadership. They have also done great damage to Iran’s nuclear infrastructure. However the one site left standing – the deep underground Fordow site – must be dealt with to achieve the common objective of making sure Iran’s nuclear enrichment program ends,” Graham wrote.
“The capabilities possessed by the United States for such a deep underground attack are unique to us and us alone,” he wrote, adding, “Finish the job.”
The Fordow site is located an estimated 80 metres (260 feet) under rock and soil, and analysts say only the US has the bunker-busting bombs that could penetrate the mountain and cause damage to the facility.
It’s important to note that Iran has denied seeking a nuclear weapon, and the UN nuclear agency has said it had no indication that the country was building one.
Iranian foreign minister scheduled to meet European counterparts in Geneva
We did hear President Trump say during his media briefing that he was keen on maintaining talks about ending Iran’s nuclear programme.
The possibility of Iranians coming to the White House was floated. Obviously, no conformation whatsoever of such a statement.
However, there is a tangible thing happening on Friday and that is European foreign ministers will be meeting in Geneva with the Iranian foreign minister.
The leaders of France, Germany and Britain will be meeting the Iranian foreign minister, and this, we are told, is a meeting being coordinated by the United States … which could possibly be a window for President Trump to continue to push for some form of agreement to come out of Iran.
The European foreign ministers are seeking assurances from Iran that its nuclear development will remain a peaceful one and that there is no intent to create a nuclear weapon.
And, as we’ve heard, the US will be playing a role, albeit indirect, in those particular discussions.
US preparing for ‘possible strike on Iran in coming days’: Report
As Trump keeps the world guessing about US military intervention in Israel’s attacks against Iran, more reports are emerging of preparations in Washington, DC, for such action.
Bloomberg News, citing anonymous sources, is reporting that senior US officials are “preparing for the possibility of a strike on Iran in the coming days”. It says the development is a sign that Washington “is assembling the infrastructure to directly enter a conflict with Tehran”.
The people said the situation is still evolving and could change, with some of them pointing to potential plans for a weekend strike.
“Top leaders at a handful of federal agencies have also begun getting ready for an attack, one person said,” the report added.
There were no further details.
Israeli evacuation threat targets area around Iran’s Arak heavy-water nuclear reactor
The Associated Press (AP) news agency reports that the target of Israel’s recent evacuation threat in the vicinity of Arak and Khondab cities is Iran’s Arak heavy-water nuclear reactor.
According to AP, Iran had agreed under its 2015 nuclear deal with world powers to redesign the Arak facility to relieve proliferation concerns. Heavy water helps cool nuclear reactors, but it produces plutonium as a byproduct that can potentially be used in nuclear weapons.
Iran has said its nuclear programme is for civilian purposes, and Britain had previously been helping the Iranian government to redesign the Arak reactor to limit the amount of plutonium it produces, AP reports.
As part of negotiations around the 2015 deal, Iran agreed to sell off its heavy water to Western countries. Even the US purchased some 32 tonnes of heavy water for more than $8m in one deal, according to AP.
Israel’s air strikes have already targeted Iran’s nuclear site at Natanz, centrifuge workshops around Tehran and a nuclear site in Isfahan.
The United Nations International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has urged Israel not to strike Iranian nuclear sites.
IAEA inspectors reportedly last visited Arak on May 14.
Iran again extends airspace closure
The IRIB state broadcaster says Iranian authorities have extended the cancellation of takeoffs and landings of domestic and international flights until 2pm today (10:30 GMT).
Iran’s airspace has been closed since Israel launched its attacks on Friday. Israel, too, has closed its airspace.
The closures have forced other governments to evacuate their citizens by land via neighbouring countries.
More than 100 injured in aid seeker attack, casualties reported in north Gaza strike
We have been reporting on the Israeli military’s attack tonight on aid seekers near the Netzarim Junction in central Gaza, which has killed at least 16 people.
Citing medical sources at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital and al-Awda Hospital, our Al Jazeera Arabic colleagues now report that more than 100 Palestinians have also been injured in the attack.
In Gaza City’s Zeitoun neighbourhood in northern Gaza, an unspecified number of Palestinians have also been killed and injured after Israeli forces bombed a home, according to Al Jazeera correspondents.
We will bring you more information when we have it.
Photos: Protest at White House against Israel-Iran war
Protesters rally against US involvement in Israel’s attacks on Iran
As the Trump administration considers deeper involvement in Israel’s war in Iran, these demonstrators have come out in front of the White House to urge the US not to get more involved.
They’re demonstrating against the Israeli bombing of Iran, against the US involvement in the form of funding billions of dollars in military aid to Israel, and they’re urging Trump not to get directly involved in the kinetic part of that war.
There are already three aircraft carrier groups from the US in the Middle East. The demonstrators want to make sure those remain there for defensive purposes, not offensive purposes.
Israel calls on Iranians to ‘evacuate’ targeted area in northwest
Residents, workers and others present in an area in the vicinity of the cities of Arak and Khondab in the northwest of Iran have been threatened with attack by Israeli forces and told to flee or their lives will be “at risk”.
Publishing a satellite map with a large red target area covering buildings on the ground, the Israeli military said it was active in the area, targeting Iranian “military infrastructure”.
People within the targeted area should “evacuate … as soon as possible”, the military said.
“Your presence in this area puts your life at risk,” it adds.
Death toll rises again following Israeli attack on Gaza aid seekers
At least 16 Palestinians are now confirmed dead, while dozens have been injured, following an Israeli military attack on aid seekers near the Wadi Gaza Bridge, north of Nuseirat in central Gaza, the Quds News Network and the Palestinian Information Center report.
More than 80 percent of Jewish Israelis support war on Iran
Eighty-three percent of Jewish Israelis support the government’s war on Iran.
Before Benjamin Netanyahu launched those missiles towards Iran on Friday, his government was under enormous pressure over the war in Gaza – internationally, because of the number of Palestinians the Israelis were killing in Gaza, and domestically, because the Israeli government wasn’t getting the Israeli captives out of Gaza
But now the focus has moved for Netanyahu to Iran, taking the pressure off him.
People like Avigdor Lieberman, hawkish on the right, who quit his cabinet post in 2018, is now saying Netanyahu is doing the right thing.
Benny Gantz, who quit the cabinet last summer over the war in Gaza, now says on Iran there is no right or left – only right or wrong, and “we are right”.
Macron urges Israel to stop attacks on sites not linked to Iran’s nuclear, missiles programme
French President Emmanuel Macron’s office says Paris is planning, along with European partners, to suggest a negotiated solution to end the conflict between Iran and Israel.
At a national security council meeting, Macron ordered Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot to draw up in the coming days “an initiative with close European partners that would propose a demanding negotiated settlement to put an end to the conflict”, it said, without giving details on the nature of the plan.
The Elysee said Macron also urged Israel to end strikes on targets in Iran not linked to nuclear activities or ballistic missiles.
He voiced “concern over the current escalation, with Israeli strikes increasingly hitting targets not linked to Iran’s nuclear or ballistic programme, and a mounting number of civilian victims in Iran and Israel”. The French leader said it was “necessary to urgently end these military operations, which pose significant threats to regional security”, according to his office.
Macron also urged the French Foreign Ministry to take measures to help French citizens leave Israel or Iran if they wished to do so, the Elysee added, without providing further details.
Explosions reported in Iranian cities Tehran, Karaj
As we reported a short while ago, the Israeli military has announced that it is carrying out a new wave of attacks on Iran.
Strikes have been reported in the capital, Tehran, while explosions have also been heard near the city of Karaj, west of Tehran, according to a reporter on the ground with Lebanese news outlet Al Mayadeen.
The correspondent added that Iranian air defences are currently intercepting Israeli targets in the skies over Karaj and its outskirts.
Israeli attacks on Iran kill at least 639, injure more than 1,320: Rights group
The Washington-based group Human Rights Activists said at least 639 people have been killed in Israeli attacks across Iran as the conflict enters its seventh day.
The group, which also provided detailed casualty figures during the 2022 antigovernment protests in Iran over the death of Mahsa Amin, said it had identified 263 civilians and 154 security force personnel among the total number of those killed so far in Israel’s attacks.
Casualty figures were crosschecked with local reports in Iran against a network of sources developed in the country, the group said.
Iran has not given regular death toll figures during the ongoing intense attacks by Israel. Its last update put the death toll at 224 people killed and 1,277 others wounded in Israeli strikes.
Israeli military says its beginning ‘wave of attacks’ in Iran
In a post on X a moment ago, Israel’s military said its “Air Force has now begun a wave of attacks in Tehran and other areas in Iran”.
It did not provide further details on the attacks. We will bring you updates when we have them.
Fewer missiles fired towards Israel by Iran overnight
Iran has continued to fire missiles on Wednesday night.
There were about eight or nine intercepted by the Israelis. Some debris landed on open land setting off some fires. But there are considerably fewer missiles being fired, now, than there were at the start of this conflict, from Iran to Israel.
Either that is because the Israelis say they have destroyed Iran’s capability to launch those missiles or because Iran is holding back some of its stock because it wants to keep resources for a longer fight.
Death toll rises again for Israeli attack on aid seekers in central Gaza
We have been reporting on an Israeli military attack targeting aid seekers near the Wadi Gaza Bridge, north of Nuseirat in central Gaza.
At least 14 Palestinians have now been confirmed killed in that attack, the Quds News Network and the Palestinian Information Center report.
We will bring you further updates when we have them.
China to assist citizens in Israel to evacuate to Egypt
China’s embassy in Israel has said it will assist Chinese citizens who want to evacuate the country to reach Egypt starting on Friday, according to an embassy notice.
The notice said Chinese citizens would be driven to the Taba Border Crossing with Egypt, about 360km (224 miles) from Tel Aviv, where they would cross the land border into the Sinai Peninsula.
“The Israel-Iran conflict continues to intensify, with increasing casualties; the possibility of further deterioration cannot be ruled out,” the embassy warned.
Iran intercepts Israeli drones over Tehran: Report
Iran’s SNN news agency is reporting that Iranian forces have activated air defences over TehraConcerns over nuclear ‘contamination’ amid rising civilian casualties from Israeli strikesAl Jazeera’s Tohid Asadi, reporting from Iran’s capital, Tehran, said civilian casualties from Israeli attacks are mounting alongside concerns over radiological leaks from the bombing of nuclear sites.“We’ve got reports about casualties, civilian casualties from day one, and we are now in day six of this escalated situation,” Asadi said.“Civilian casualties – women and children – are being killed as a result of this round of strikes by the Israelis. We have seen footage and reports coming from across the country. Here in Tehran, we’ve seen lots of civilian casualties,” he said.“Also, there was this concern about contamination as the Israelis continue to say and conduct strikes on the nuclear facilities of the country. Today we heard about two points being targeted: one in the eastern parts of Tehran and the other near Karaj city,” he said.“We see an already escalated situation,” he added.(COMBO) This combination of handout satellite images provided by Maxar Technologies shows (L to R) an Iranian nuclear facility at Piranshahr in northwestern Iran on May 22, 2025 and on June 13, 2025, after it was hit by Israeli strikes. Launched early on June 13, 2025, Israel’s operation has targeted Iran’s air defences and hit key nuclear and military sites, killing dozens of people including top army commanders and atomic scientists, according to Tehran. (Photo by Satellite image ©2025 Maxar Technologies / AFP) / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE – MANDATORY CREDIT “AFP PHOTO / SATELLITE IMAGE ©2025 MAXAR TECHNOLOGIES ” – NO MARKETING – NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS – DISTRIBUTED AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS – THE WATERMARK MAY NOT BE REMOVED/CROPPED RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE – MANDATORY CREDIT “AFP PHOTO / SATELLITE IMAGE ©2025 MAXAR TECHNOLOGIES ” – NO MARKETING – NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS – DISTRIBUTED AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS – THE WATERMARK MAY NOT BE REMOVED/CROPPED / THE WATERMARK MAY NOT BE REMOVED/CROPPED – THE WATERMARK MAY NOT BE REMOVED/CROPPED -This combination of handout satellite images provided by Maxar Technologies shows, left and right, an Iranian nuclear facility at Piranshahr in northwestern Iran on May 22, 2025, and again on June 13, 2025, after it was hit by Israeli strikes
We’ll bring you more information when we have it.
Concerns over nuclear ‘contamination’ amid rising civilian casualties from Israeli strikes
Al Jazeera’s Tohid Asadi, reporting from Iran’s capital, Tehran, said civilian casualties from Israeli attacks are mounting alongside concerns over radiological leaks from the bombing of nuclear sites.
“We’ve got reports about casualties, civilian casualties from day one, and we are now in day six of this escalated situation,” Asadi said.
“Civilian casualties – women and children – are being killed as a result of this round of strikes by the Israelis. We have seen footage and reports coming from across the country. Here in Tehran, we’ve seen lots of civilian casualties,” he said.
“Also, there was this concern about contamination as the Israelis continue to say and conduct strikes on the nuclear facilities of the country. Today we heard about two points being targeted: one in the eastern parts of Tehran and the other near Karaj city,” he said.
“We see an already escalated situation,” he added.
Trump says decision on joining Israel’s attack on Iran will be taken at ‘last second
We’ve had no indication on whether any decision was taken in that Situation Room meeting and what precisely was being discussed.
One must assume that the discussions are ongoing between Trump and his national security advisers. The basis of these discussions is what form of involvement the US should take in the days, weeks ahead in terms of that ongoing Israeli attack on Iran.
The US has a number of options or as President Trump says, he’s been presented with all the options but no decision taken as yet.
We heard him say he wants to wait until the last second before taking a decision and that decision we still don’t know what it will be or when it will be taken.
Israeli military attacks Palestinian aid seekers in central Gaza
The Israeli military has attacked Palestinians waiting to receive aid near the Wadi Gaza Bridge, north of Nuseirat in central Gaza, killing and injuring several people, our Al Jazeera Arabic colleagues report.
At least 11 people have been killed in the attack, according to the Quds News Network.
We will bring you more information when we have it.
Putin says he ‘doesn’t even want to discuss’ potential Khamenei assassination
When asked by a reporter about the potential assassination of Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei by Israel or the US, the Russian president said, “I do not even want to discuss this possibility. I do not want to.”
“I hear all this, but I don’t even want to discuss it,” he reiterated, as he spoke on the sidelines of an economic forum in the Russian city of St Petersburg on Wednesday.
Putin also said he believed a peaceful “solution can be found” to the conflict, as he called for parties to ensure Iran’s interests in pursuing “peaceful nuclear activities”, as well as ensure the “unconditional security of the Jewish state”.
The Russian leader said the Iranian–Russian Treaty on Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, signed in January and ratified on June 15, makes no provisions for defence cooperation, adding that Iran had not raised the issue, so there’s “nothing to discuss”.
“We once offered our Iranian friends to work in the field of air defence systems, but our partners didn’t show much interest then, and that’s it. As for the agreement you mentioned about the strategic partnership, there are no articles related to the defence sphere,” he said.
UN chief urges ‘immediate’ ceasefire in Israel-Iran war
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has said he is “profoundly alarmed” by developments in the unfolding conflict between Israel and Iran and called for “immediate deescalation leading to a ceasefire”.
In a statement read by his spokesperson Stephane Dujarric on Wednesday, Guterres urged restraint and diplomacy as he warned against any “additional military interventions”.
A recap of recent developments
- Israel says it destroyed Iran’s internal security headquarters in Tehran as more explosions are reported in the Iranian city of Karaj and the nearby Payam airport.
- Air raid sirens have blared in central Israel after Iran fired more missiles towards the country. Israel says the projectiles were intercepted.
- US President Donald Trump has declined to say if he has made any decision on whether to join Israel’s campaign. “I may do it. I may not do it. I mean, nobody knows what I’m going to do,” he said.
- This comes after Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei said Iran would not accept an “imposed war” and warned that US involvement in attacks on Iran would bring “irreparable consequences”.
- Russian President Vladimir Putin says Moscow has been in touch with Israel about its workers in Iran, and calls for an end to the fighting between the two countries.
- Israeli forces have meanwhile continued deadly attacks on Gaza, with health authorities reporting at least 72 killings in the past day, including 29 Palestinians who were gunned down while waiting for food assistance.
Welcome to our live coverage
Hello and welcome to our live coverage of the conflict between Israel and Iran, as well as Israel’s war on Gaza.
Stay with us for the latest developments, reactions and analyses.
You can find all our updates from Wednesday, June 18, here.
