Live updates: Israel says it targeted Iran's Arak nuclear reactor, reports 'direct hit' on hospital by Iranian missile
What we know
REACTOR AND HOSPITAL STRUCK: As the conflict entered its seventh day, Israel said the targets of its overnight attacks included Iran's Arak nuclear reactor and a nuclear weapons development site in the Natanz area. A spokesperson for the Soroka hospital in southern Israel said it had been directly hit by an Iranian missile, resulting in "extensive damage" and several mild injuries.
IRAN ' S NUCLEAR SITES TARGETED: Israel's airstrikes on Iran have probably set the country's nuclear program back by a few months, two sources with knowledge of the matter told NBC News, though it has not achieved its stated goal of eliminating the program entirely.
TRUMP WEIGHS OPTIONS: President Donald Trump said he was still considering a U.S. military strike on Iran's nuclear sites. 'I may do it. I may not do it,' he said. 'Nobody knows what I'm going to do.'
SUPREME LEADER DEFIANT: Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said Trump's call for his country's surrender was 'threatening and ridiculous,' and warned that U.S. intervention would cause 'irreparable damage.'
HUNDREDS KILLED: Israeli strikes have killed at least 639 people in Iran during the weeklong conflict, The Associated Press reported, citing a Washington-based human rights group. Israel said its death toll remained at 24.
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Daily Mirror
28 minutes ago
- Daily Mirror
Keir Starmer calls for Iran nuke talks as Trump ponders joining Israel strikes
"We need to de-escalate this," the PM said. "Yes the nuclear issue has to be dealt with, but it's better dealt with through negotiations than by way of conflict" Keir Starmer has called for Iran's nuclear programme to be dealt with through negotiations rather than conflict. Last night Donald Trump continued to weigh up whether to send America's military to help Israel strike Iran's military facilities. It following days of Israeli bombardment of Iran, and Tehran counterattacking with missile strikes on Israeli towns and cities. Speaking to broadcasters this morning, the Prime Minister said: "Obviously all of us, the UK included, are very concerned about the nuclear programme that Iran is developing, long been concerned about that. "We also completely recognise Israel's right to self defence. "But the principle is that we need to de-escalate this. There's a real risk of escalation here that will impact the region, possibly beyond the region, into Gaza and obviously It's already having an impact on the economy." Mr Starmer went on: "I've been absolutely clear about this - yes the nuclear issue has to be dealt with, but it's better dealt with through negotiations than by way of conflict." When he took office in 2018, Donald Trump pulled the US off the nuclear treaty with Iran which had prevented the state working towards a nuclear since 2015 when it was signed. Britain has continued to urge de-escalation, but has deployed two refuelling tankers and 14 Typhoon jets to Cyprus to protect British personnel and interests in the Middle East. The Foreign Office has evacuated family members of British Embassy staff from Israel but not advised UK nationals to leave the country. Asked if Mr Starmer would prefer Mr Trump to go down the route of diplomacy rather than military action, a No 10 spokesman said: "The Prime Minister has been clear that his priority is de-escalation." The spokesman added: "Clearly de-escalation is the priority, and we would not want to see anything that ramps up the situation. "That is our priority. We have been clear on that for a number of days now. De-escalation remains this Government's priority." Asked if the UK would block the US from using the Diego Garcia base to launch a strike against Iran, the spokesman said: "I'm not going to get into hypothetical situations and I'm not going to speculate on future operations, but we continue to liaise with international partners as the Prime Minister has done for a number of days now and will continue to do so." An Iranian missile hit the main hospital in southern Israel early Thursday, wounding people and causing "extensive damage" but no serious injuries, the medical facility said. Israeli media aired footage of blown-out windows and heavy black smoke. Get Donald Trump updates straight to your WhatsApp! As tension between the White House and Europe heats up, the Mirror has launched its very own US Politics WhatsApp community where you'll get all the latest news from across the pond. We'll send you the latest breaking updates and exclusives all directly to your phone. Users must download or already have WhatsApp on their phones to join in. All you have to do to join is click on this link, select 'Join Chat' and you're in! We may also send you stories from other titles across the Reach group. We will also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like. To leave our community click on the name at the top of your screen and choose Exit group. If you're curious, you can read our Privacy Notice. Other missiles hit a high-rise apartment building in Tel Aviv and other sites in central Israel. At least 40 people were wounded, according to Israel's Magen David Adom rescue service. Israel, meanwhile, carried out strikes on Iran's Arak heavy water reactor, its latest attack on Iran's sprawling nuclear program. Iranian state television said there was "no radiation danger whatsoever" and that the facility had been evacuated before the attack. The seventh day of conflict came a day after Iran's supreme leader rejected U.S. calls for surrender and warned that any military involvement by the Americans would cause "irreparable damage to them."
Daily Mirror
34 minutes ago
- Daily Mirror
'We're heading for World War 3, but no-one knows why'
How did it come to this? The world's most oppressed and misunderstood people, denied a state of their own for a thousand years, dropping bunker-busting bombs on the stateless, poor and oppressed people next door. People who live cheek-by-jowl with democracy and freedom and wealth and Eurovision, who see its benefits for others every single day, and still think they're a bad idea. A nation subject to United Nations inspections, swingeing sanctions, and an arse-backwards fundamentalism that thinks the Middle Ages were a bit too racy and modern, on the cusp of developing the most technologically-advanced weapons in history. And the most powerful nation on Earth, which has guaranteed the security and scrutiny and non-nuclear conflicts, reduced to trolling the world because it doesn't want to police the things that, if they're not policed, mean it's World War Three. Never has there been a time where so many people wake up in the morning, to so little reason for optimism, and ask themselves just what the f*** is going on. And when all the world seems powerless, everyone in it feels there's nothing they can do. Well, you're wrong there. Power comes from knowledge, and all you need to do is stop shouting or fretting or crying, and try to understand. Israel lashes out because its people have been under the lash for centuries, and within living memory they were all but exterminated in the most gruesome ways humankind has ever invented. Trauma can enter the bones and be transferred in utero. Ask yourself what your grandchildren would do, if they grew up knowing it had happened once to your family already and were daily attacked by the unhinged bloke down the road. Iran rains hellfire on Israel because it relies on fear and oppression and insularity for its sick interpretation of an otherwise-peaceful faith, for its power and its sense of self. Within living memory, the Satanic West has tried to overturn a popular uprising and prop up an oppressive monarchy for the sake of stripping its oil reserves. When that didn't work, the Satanists let their mate move in next door, and gave him missiles. And America - oh, America. A shining city on a hill, with an orange version of Jabba the Hutt unwilling to roll off his golden chaise longue unless there's something shiny in it for him. Donald Trump rejects war of all sorts not because he's a man of faith or peace, but because it's a net cost and his bone spurs prevent him from experiencing any sense of active duty. I've been around for almost half a century, and grew up watching TV footage of missiles and stone-throwers and bomb attacks and hostage-taking in the Holy Land. It's never been as scary as now, from this distance, because nuclear war wasn't a possibility. But the fear everyone closer to it felt then has led them to the place where there's a real risk of radiation, in all senses of the word. If Trump sends his B2 bombers in with the 13-ton bunker busters to destroy the enrichment plant buried inside an Iranian mountain, US troops and embassies and citizens worldwide will be targeted by Islamic terror. If he doesn't, Israel will step up its own military action and the entire Middle East will spiral into war that won't be a binary fight between two regimes, but a hydra-like conflict of infinite variety, with religions, sects, schisms, ethnicity, history and hatreds that you would never unpick. And all in a place where the oil is. Where the trade passes. Where the migration, the domestic security threats, and the arguments all arise. If you wanted to make the world a significantly-worse and more appalling place, the best way of doing it would be to lob a bomb into the Middle East. And yet, if he doesn't, the significant Jewish minority in his own country will turn against him, his arms industry would suffer, the US economy will hit the toilet and Iran could get a nuke inside a year and it'll all go bang anyway. There are so many areas of similarity between all these opposing arguments that you'd think they'd notice. They're all angry old men. They're ultra-conservative, corrupt, and absolutist. Trump's the only one who eats bacon, but they're all happy to send in the heavies and baton, tear gas, or shoot whoever gets in their way. And the power they wield all relies on making people afraid of the other guy, over there, even though he's just like them. You can ask how we got here by looking at eons of history, or the post-war consensus, or October 7. You can shrug your shoulders and say it's always been a troublespot, or - as loudmouths and social media are forever encouraging us to do - you can pick a side and join the shouting. But to steal a bit of fundamentalism back for the sake of common sense, what went wrong is everyone forgot what the Holy Land was for. All these men battle for power over a group of rocks in a part of the world where people used to have good ideas. It's been raging for centuries, with the occasional pocket of peaceful co-existence. But the ideas seem to have run out. Iran is a massive, beautiful country filled with the nicest people. Its regime is on its last legs, its leaders incompetent, and its citizenship thirsty for reform. Israel is tiny, disproportionately successful, and packed with lovely things, from Netta to diamonds and the vital ingredient for Jaffa cakes. Both have a total lack of hope, because the one nation in the world whose actual job is to be that beacon has put a grasping troll in charge of the light. Lots of people see it. You are not alone in how you feel. And if everyone realised that how we got here was by failing to understand what it's like to be someone else, then maybe we'd all be someone better. And to prove the point, I suggest Ayatollah Khameni runs America for a day, Trump takes over Israel, and Netanyahu works out of Tehran. I swear, it'd be no bloody different, and that's what people need to remember. There is no such thing as 'the other guy'.
The National
41 minutes ago
- The National
Why won't the BBC report on Israel's nuclear weapons?
The broadcaster has quietly updated a story which wrongly claims the 'real answer is we do not know' if Israel has nuclear weapons. However, the BBC claim – which relies on the fact that the Israeli government has not officially acknowledged its nuclear capabilities – remains even in the updated version of a story purported to offer answers to readers' questions on the Iran-Israel conflict. Israel launched air strikes on Iran on June 13, targeting nuclear sites, residential areas, scientists and military leaders, days before the US was due to hold talks with the nation about its nuclear programme. The BBC has reported extensively on the escalating conflict, but has largely failed to mention Israel's nuclear weaponry – despite a focus on Iran's nuclear capabilities. READ MORE: Israel accused of 'hypocrisy' by expert after calling hospital strike 'war crime' One article published on June 16 examining Iran and Israel's militaries talks about Iran's nuclear programme being targeted but fails to mention Israel's. Another, first published on June 13 and updated since, includes extensive discussion of Iran's nuclear projects, including a map showing key facilities across the country, but does not mention Israel's nuclear weaponry at all. A third, a BBC Verify story on 'Iran's secretive nuclear site' published on June 18, makes no mention of Israel's own secretive nuclear sites. On Wednesday evening, the BBC published another story on the conflict under the headline: 'Your questions answered on the Israel-Iran conflict.' The final question in the article, coming after multiple dealing with Iran's nuclear capabilities, is: 'Does Israel have nuclear weapons?' The BBC's original answer read: 'The real answer is we don't know. Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu (Image: Archive) 'They have not confirmed or denied the presence of a nuclear capability. 'It takes three components to have a nuclear weapon: First, uranium enriched to 60% purity. Second, the ability to build a warhead. And third, a way to deliver that warhead to a target. 'As it stands, there is no overt declaration by Israel on any form of nuclear capability.' Israel's nuclear programme has been a matter of public knowledge since the 1980s, when whistleblower Mordechai Vanunu told The Sunday Times about it in detail, leading the paper to conclude that Israel had some 200 nuclear warheads. Vanunu was kidnapped from Italy and imprisoned in Israel for espionage and treason after speaking about his time working at the Dimona nuclear research centre in the Negey desert. Archive image, originally broadcast on Israeli TV in 2005, of the secret Dimona nuclear research facility A declassified 1971 spy satellite image, taken by the US, showing the Dimona nuclear facilityIn November 2023, after Israel's renewed siege of Gaza began, Israeli government minister Amichai Eliyahu said that dropping a nuclear bomb on the Palestinian region was an option. The tacit admission that the Israeli government has nuclear capabilities led to his suspension as a minister. The most recent Nuclear Weapons Ban Monitor report, published in March, concluded that Israel controls around 90 nuclear warheads, all of which are ready for use. These weapons have an estimated yield of 2.5 megatons, or 165 Hiroshima-bomb equivalents. The facts are such that The New York Times reported, without qualification, that "Israel has its own secretive nuclear weapons program". So why can't the BBC? Of course we know. FFS. — Marc Mulholland (@katheder) June 18, 2025 Instead, the broadcaster's meek suggestion that Israel's nuclear weapons are not public knowledge was called out on social media. 'Of course we know. FFS,' Oxford University historian Marc Mulholland wrote. James Butler, the co-founder of Novara Media, added: 'This is actively misinforming the audience. 'Everybody knows Israel has nukes. And: it has never been a signatory to the non proliferation treaty. And: IAEA [International Atomic Energy Agency] inspectors have never visited the site at Dimona.' Others questioned the BBC's claim that uranium 'enriched to 60% purity' is needed for a nuclear weapon. As nuclear expert Dr Kaitlin Cook wrote in The Conservation this week: 'Countries with nuclear weapons tend to use about 90% enriched, 'weapons-grade' uranium. According to the International Atomic Energy Agency, Iran has enriched large quantities of uranium to 60%.' The BBC's updated version of the story corrects this error, but leaves in the claim that it is not known whether Israel has nuclear weapons. READ MORE: BBC chief responds to landmark report exposing bias on Gaza It now states: 'There are estimates that it has about 90 nuclear warheads. But the real answer is we do not know. It has neither confirmed nor denied a nuclear capability, 'Israel is not part of the nuclear non-proliferation treaty, which was a global agreement to prevent more nations acquiring the bomb. 'It takes three components to have a nuclear weapon: first, uranium enriched to 90%, second, the ability to build a warhead, and third, a way to deliver that warhead to a target. 'As it stands, there is no overt declaration by Israel on any of the above.' In a war started by Israel and ostensibly focused on whether Iran intends to develop nuclear weapons, you might expect the BBC to deal with Israel's nuclear capabilities more bravely. Truth, after all, is not whatever the Israeli government says it is.
