Israel unleashed airstrikes throughout Iran for a 3rd day Sunday and threatened even better drive as some Iranian missiles evaded Israeli air defenses to strike buildings within the coronary heart of the nation. Deliberate talks on Iran’s nuclear program, which might present an off-ramp, have been canceled.
Israel’s strikes have killed at the least 406 folks in Iran and wounded one other 654, in keeping with a human rights group that has lengthy tracked the nation, Washington-based Human Rights Activists. Iran’s authorities has not provided total casualty figures.
The area braced for a protracted battle after Israel’s shock bombardment Friday of Iranian nuclear and navy websites killed a number of prime generals and nuclear scientists. Neither facet confirmed any signal of backing down.
Iran stated Israel struck two oil refineries, elevating the prospect of a broader assault on Iran’s closely sanctioned vitality trade that would have an effect on international markets. The Israeli navy, in a social media put up, warned Iranians to evacuate arms factories, signaling an extra widening of the marketing campaign.
Israeli safety forces examine a destroyed constructing that was hit by a missile fired from Iran, close to Tel Aviv, Israel, Sunday, June 15, 2025.
AP Picture/Ohad Zwigenberg
Israel, the only although undeclared nuclear-armed state within the Center East, stated it launched the assault to forestall Iran from growing a nuclear weapon. The 2 international locations have been adversaries for many years.
Explosions shook Iran’s capital, Tehran, round midday and once more round 3:30 p.m. Sirens went off throughout a lot of Israel round 4 p.m., warning of Iran’s first daytime assault since preventing started.
Israel stated 14 folks have been killed there since Friday and 390 wounded. Iran has fired over 270 missiles, 22 of which obtained by means of the nation’s subtle multi-tiered air defenses, in keeping with Israeli figures. Israel’s fundamental worldwide airport and airspace remained closed for a 3rd day.
Iranian Overseas Minister Abbas Araghchi stated if Israel’s strikes on Iran cease, then “our responses will also stop.” Iran’s president, Masoud Pezeshkian, criticized the US for supporting Israel and stated if Israel’s “hostile actions” proceed, “the responses will be more decisive and severe,” state TV reported.
U.S. President Donald Trump stated the U.S. “had nothing to do with the attack” and that Iran can keep away from additional destruction solely by agreeing to a brand new nuclear deal.
Mosques as bomb shelters
Israeli strikes focused Iran’s Protection Ministry early Sunday after hitting air defenses, navy bases and websites related to its nuclear program. The killing of a number of prime generals and nuclear scientists in focused strikes indicated that Israeli intelligence has penetrated Iran on the highest ranges.
Israel claimed it attacked an Iranian refueling plane in Mashhad within the northeast, calling it the farthest strike the navy had but carried out. Iran didn’t instantly acknowledge any assault. Video obtained and verified by The Related Press confirmed smoke rising from the town.
Iran’s international minister stated Israel focused an oil refinery close to Tehran and one other in a province on the Persian Gulf. Semiofficial Iranian information businesses have reported that an Israeli drone strike precipitated a “strong explosion” at an Iranian pure fuel processing plant on the South Pars pure fuel subject.
Human Rights Activists stated its depend confirmed at the least 197 civilians and 90 members of the navy have been killed throughout Iran. The group crosschecks native experiences towards a community of native sources.
In an indication that Iran expects Israeli strikes to proceed, state tv reported that metro stations and mosques can be made accessible as bomb shelters starting Sunday evening.
Loss of life toll rises in Israel
In Israel, at the least six folks, together with a 10-year-old and a 9-year-old, have been killed when a missile hit an condo constructing in Bat Yam, close to Tel Aviv. Daniel Hadad, an area police commander, stated 180 folks have been wounded and 7 have been lacking.
One other 4 folks, together with a 13-year-old, have been killed and 24 wounded when a missile struck a constructing within the Arab city of Tamra in northern Israel. A strike on the central metropolis of Rehovot wounded 42.
The Weizmann Institute of Science, an necessary heart for analysis in Rehovot, reported “a number of hits to buildings on the campus.” It stated nobody was harmed.
An oil refinery was broken within the northern Israeli metropolis of Haifa, in keeping with the agency working it, which stated nobody was wounded.
Pressing calls to deescalate
World leaders made pressing calls to deescalate. The assault on nuclear websites set a “dangerous precedent,” China’s international minister stated Saturday. The area is already on edge as Israel seeks to annihilate Hamas, an Iranian ally, within the Gaza Strip, the place struggle nonetheless rages after Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, assault.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has disregarded such calls, saying Israel’s strikes up to now are “nothing compared to what they will feel under the sway of our forces in the coming days.”
Israeli Overseas Minister Gideon Sa’ar advised CNN that the aim “is not a regime change,” including that “this is for the Iranian people to decide.”
Iran has at all times stated its nuclear program was peaceable, and the U.S. and others have assessed that it has not pursued a weapon since 2003. However Iran has enriched ever bigger stockpiles of uranium to close weapons-grade ranges lately and was believed to have the capability to develop a number of weapons inside months if it selected to take action.
The U.N.’s atomic watchdog issued a uncommon censure of Iran final week.
Iran calls nuclear talks ‘unjustifiable’
Iran’s international minister on Saturday known as the nuclear talks “unjustifiable” after Israel’s strikes.
A senior U.S. official, talking on situation of anonymity to debate the delicate nuclear talks, stated Washington remained dedicated to them and hoped the Iranians would return to the desk.
In a social media put up, Trump warned Iran that any retaliation directed towards it could deliver an American response “at levels never seen before.”
“However, we can easily get a deal done between Iran and Israel, and end this bloody conflict!!!” he wrote.
‘More than a few weeks’ to restore nuclear amenities
In Iran, satellite tv for pc images analyzed by AP present intensive injury at Iran’s fundamental nuclear enrichment facility in Natanz. The pictures shot Saturday by Planet Labs PBC present a number of buildings broken or destroyed. The constructions hit embody buildings recognized by consultants as supplying energy to the power.
U.N. nuclear chief Rafael Grossi advised the Safety Council that the above-ground part of the Natanz facility was destroyed. The primary centrifuge facility underground didn’t look like hit, however the lack of energy might have broken infrastructure there, he stated.
Israel additionally struck a nuclear analysis facility in Isfahan. The Worldwide Atomic Power Company, the U.N. nuclear watchdog, stated 4 “critical buildings” have been broken, together with Isfahan’s uranium-conversion facility. The IAEA stated there was no signal of elevated radiation at Natanz or Isfahan.
An Israeli navy official, talking on situation of anonymity Sunday in step with official procedures, stated it could take “many months, maybe more” to revive the 2 websites.
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Melzer reported from Nahariya, Israel, and Goldenberg from Tel Aviv, Israel. Related Press writers Nasser Karimi and Amir Vahdat in Tehran, Iran; Sam Mednick and Melanie Lidman in Tel Aviv, Israel, and Julia Frankel in Jerusalem contributed to this report.
