Top updates: Israel says it killed Iran's wartime chief as conflict enters fifth day
The Israeli ambassador to India on Tuesday said that Tel Aviv was coordinating with New Delhi to process evacuation requests from Indian citizens, ANI reported. This came against the backdrop of the conflict between Israel and Iran entering its fifth day. The countries have launched fresh attacks on each other.
'The diplomats and foreign citizens who want to leave, there are a few options, terrestrial and maritime, and we are coordinating that,' said Reuven Azar, the Israeli ambassador.
Over the past five days, Israeli Defense Forces have repeatedly hit targets in Tehran and several other cities, including Iran's main nuclear enrichment facility in Natanz.
Iran retaliated on Saturday with missile attacks across Israel, including in Tel Aviv and Haifa, and both sides have since continued to exchange air strikes and ballistic missiles.
Israel has claimed that Iran was 'closer than ever' to obtaining a nuclear weapon, and said it had no choice but to 'fulfil the obligation to act in defence of its citizens'. Iran has for long maintained that its nuclear programme is for civilian purposes.
Here is more on this and other top updates:
Israel said it had killed Ali Shadmani, Iran's wartime chief of staff and the country's most senior military commander, NBC News reported. His predecessor was killed in Israel's attack on Friday. An Israeli military official told Reuters on Tuesday that the country's military had struck dozens of sites connected to Iran's nuclear and ballistic missile programs overnight. The official claimed that Iran's military leadership is now 'on the run' and that precautions were being taken to prevent a nuclear disaster. The official also claimed that Iran has so far launched around 400 ballistic missiles and hundreds of drones at Israel, targeting both civilian and military sites.
Iran's Revolutionary Guards said that it had struck a centre belonging to Mossad, Israel's foreign intelligence service, in Tel Aviv. In a statement aired on state TV, the Revolutionary Guards claimed it had targeted the 'military intelligence centre of the Zionist regime's army, Aman, and the Zionist regime's terrorist operations planning centre, the Mossad, in Tel Aviv', adding that the facility was 'currently on fire'. There has been no confirmation from Israel regarding the alleged strike.
Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz warned Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei that he could face a similar fate to Iraq's Saddam Hussein. According to Reuters, Katz said: 'Remember what happened to the dictator in the neighbouring country of Iran who took this path against Israel.' The comparison was a pointed reference to Saddam's 2006 execution, following his conviction for crimes against humanity.
The Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Iran in New Delhi said that 224 citizens, including women and children, have died. As many as 1,257 others have been injured in the Israeli military attacks on Iran.
United States President Donald Trump departed early from a Group of Seven summit in Canada to focus on the Israel-Iran conflict, NBC News reported. On his return to Washington, he said he was not looking for a ceasefire but 'a real end' to the conflict.
As Israel continues to attack Iran, most residents have been fleeing the capital, Tehran, and heading towards the northern Caspian Sea province of Mazandaran in search of safety. Early on Tuesday, the capital city's downtown, home to roughly 10 million people, began to empty, with many shops closed and the historic Grand Bazaar shuttered, Euro News reported. The Israeli military issued a partial evacuation order for 330,000 people in central Tehran early on Monday. However, many residents had already started to flee after the attacks on the weekend.
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Hindustan Times
12 minutes ago
- Hindustan Times
PM Modi joins G7 leaders for outreach session
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Mint
13 minutes ago
- Mint
Trump Meets With Security Team After Demanding Iran ‘Surrender'
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Time of India
15 minutes ago
- Time of India
Centre-Tamil Nadu dispute over Keeladi find claims 1st victim: ASI director shunted
TN govt had revived archaeological excavations in the state to further its narrative of Dravidian glory of yore After sparring with the Tamil Nadu govt over the antiquity of archaeological finds at Keeladi, the Union govt has removed Amarnath Ramakrishna as ASI director (antiquity). Ramakrishna had submitted a report that said the south Tamil Nadu finds were from the 8th century BCE. After Union culture minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat said on June 10 that the Keeladi report was not scientifically sound, TN chief minister M K Stalin criticised the Centre, saying it's not the report but some mindsets that need to be changed. Tamil Nadu's govt had revived archaeological excavations in the state to further its narrative of Dravidian glory of yore. ASI director (exploration & excavation) Hemasagar A Naik, who sent a letter to Amarnath on May 21 seeking "concrete justification" for the dating of the Keeladi findings - and received a sharp response from Ramakrishna - will now head the antiquities department. Ramakrishna will remain in charge of the National Mission on Monuments and Antiquities (NMMA). Sources said NMMA, set up by the govt in 2007 to create two national registers to document monuments and antiquities across the country, has been virtually defunct. On May 23, Ramakrishna replied to Naik's letter stating that the period of Keeladi excavation "was reconstructed as per the stratigraphical sequence, cultural deposit available with material culture, and with accelerator mass spectrometry". by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Indian Truck Driver Now Earns ₹2.9 Crore Monthly (See how) prestigetrophy Learn More Undo He added, "The final outcome of the observation of the excavator was incorporated in the final report with all documentary evidence, and the chronological sequence of the Keeladi site was clearly explained in the report. " In his letter, Naik said, "The date of the earlier period (8thcentury BCE to 5th century BCE) in the present state of our knowledge appears to be very early and that it can be, at the maximum, somewhere in pre-300 BCE."Ramakrishna was firm in his reply: "The view expressed by you for further examination of sequence is against the well-reasoned conclusive finding of the excavator of the site." To Naik's observation that "only mentioning the depth for the available scientific dates is not enough but the layer number should also be marked for comparative consistency analysis", Ramakrishna replied, "Layer numbering will be done if it is found missing." Finally, on Naik's insistence that the submitted maps may be replaced with better ones, that the village map lacked clarity, some plates were missing, drawings were missing, and trenches/cuttings required, Ramakrishna replied that "all relevant maps, plates and drawings were given in high resolution format". Recently, Shekhawat had said the report on Keeladi submitted by Ramakrishna was not "technically well-supported" and more data was required. "The report is not technically well-supported and established yet. A lot of things are to be done before recognition and accreditation are accorded to the findings presented by the archaeologist. Let them come up with more results, more data, evidence, and proof. One finding cannot change the discourse of history," he had said.
