🔴 LIVE UPDATES: Iran launches 15th wave of missile attacks against military targets in Tel Aviv and Haifa

Al-Ahram Weekly

7 hours ago

Ahram Online provides live coverage of the unfolding military confrontation between Israel and Iran as the two sides wage deadly strikes against one another for a seventh day in a row.
Related UN Security Council meets Friday to discuss Israel-Iran war, as Tel Aviv, Tehran conflict escalates - as it happened The US role in the Iran-Israel confrontation US intelligence disputes Israeli claims on Iran nuclear threat: CNN report
Israel escalated its attack, dubbed 'Operation Rising Lion', on Tehran six days after bombing residential and military areas in Iran, killing over 600 people and wounding over 1,200.
As US President Donald Trump urged residents to evacuate—echoing Israeli calls for 330,000 people to leave central Tehran—the capital began to empty, with shops shuttered and traffic clogging westbound roads.
In retaliation, Iran intensified its 'Operation True Promise III,' launching multiple waves of missiles into Israel causing extensive damage.
Earlier Iranian strikes forced the shutdown of the Haifa oil refinery, other industrial facilities, and the local power plant. At least 24 people have been killed in Israel, with dozens more wounded.
Israel has imposed a ban on live TV feed streaming, preventing networks from broadcasting images of incoming Iranian missiles and the damage caused by the strikes.
As Trump weighs US involvement in the war, Iran says the Iranian nation 'is not one to surrender."
17:30 The Iranian Revolutionary Guard announced that Iran launched the 15th wave of missile attacks against military targets in Tel Aviv and Haifa.
"Our drone attack continues with more than 100 attack and suicide drones," said the Revolutionary Guard.
"The effective and focused missile attacks on military targets will continue and gradually increase."
17:15 The Israeli army confirmed that "Iran used a multi-warhead missile" in its most recent attacks on Israel, "posing a new challenge to our defenses."
16:00 Iranian police announced the arrest of 24 people accused of spying for Israel, according to a statement carried by Tasnim news agency.
"Twenty-four individuals who were spying for the Zionist enemy offline and online, and who were... trying to disturb public opinion, and to tarnish and destroy the image of the sacred system of the Islamic Republic of Iran, were arrested," said police commander for west Tehran Kiumars Azizi.
15:32 Russia has warned the US again against entering the Israel-Iran conflict.
US military interference would be 'an extremely dangerous step with truly unpredictable negative consequences,' Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said at a briefing.
15:30 At least 240 people were wounded by the Iranian missile strikes on Israel on Thursday morning, according to Israel's Health Ministry, AP reported.
Four individuals have been seriously wounded, the Ministry said.
Doctors wheel a patient to safety after a building at Soroka Hospital was struck by an Iranian missile in Beersheba in southern Israel on June 19, 2025. AFP
15:21 Iran's supreme leader has appointed Brigadier General Mohammad Karami as the new ground forces commander of Iran's Revolutionary Guard, a paramilitary force that controls Iran's ballistic missiles, after Israeli strikes last week assassinated several high-ranking military officials in Tehran, as reported by AP.
Karami is replacing Mohammad Pakpour, who was appointed last week to become the new commander of the Guard following the killing of Hossein Salami.
15:10 Iraqi militant group Harakat al-Nujab threatened to attack U.S. citizens if Israel targets Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
'No soldier, diplomat, or even a bearer of your nationality in our region will be safe. All your direct and indirect interests will become legitimate targets for us, as long as we draw breath in this vile world,' the statement said.
Iraqi militias have thus far primarily held their fire in the conflict, although three drones launched at the Ain al-Asad base housing U.S. troops in western Iraq were reportedly shot down on Friday, after Israel began its barrage of strikes on Iran. No group claimed responsibility for the attack on the base.
13:21 Israel's defence minister said that Iran's supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, 'can no longer be allowed to exist', following Iran's latest retaliatory attacks on Israeli territory.
"Khamenei openly declares that he wants Israel destroyed," Israel Katz claimed. "He personally gives the order to fire on hospitals. Such a man can no longer be allowed to exist", Katz told journalists.
Katz's remarks also follow reports that Israel considered a targeted assassination of Khamenei just days earlier.
According to major US news outlets, Israel had a brief window of opportunity to assassinate the Iranian Supreme Leader. Still, it was blocked from acting after the US President Donald Trump vetoed the move.
During an interview with ABC News on Monday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appeared to confirm the plan's existence, stating that targeting Khamenei would have 'ended the fight, not escalated it.'
He described the Iranian leader as the principal force behind Tehran's military campaign against Israel.
Israel has a long-established history of political assassinations in the region. Over the past decades, it has carried out targeted assassinations of political leaders in Palestine, Iran, Syria, and Lebanon.
14:27 Dust and debris covered the floor of Iran's state-run broadcaster, Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB), after an Israeli airstrike targeted its building in Tehran earlier this week.
The broadcaster allowed reporters on Thursday to film the aftermath of an Israeli strike against its building in Tehran this week. Associated Press journalists saw the dust and debris filling an Iranian state television studio.
The blast blew out its windows. Chairs sat singed. Israel conducted the strike against the building during a live broadcast there, an hour after it issued a public warning for the broader area of Tehran in which the building is located.
Iranian officials have said three employees of the broadcaster were killed in the attack.
The damaged headquarters of Iranian state television, struck by Israel, 19 June 2025. AP
13:00 Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping strongly condemned Israeli attacks on Iran in a phone call, the Kremlin said, adding that both leaders called for a diplomatic solution to the conflict.
"Both sides adhere to identical approaches, strongly condemn Israel's actions," Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov told reporters, adding that Moscow and Beijing believed the end to the hostilities should be achieved exclusively by political and diplomatic means.
12:45 The state-run IRNA news agency reported that Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi will travel to Geneva on Friday for the meetings.
IRNA said the meeting would include foreign ministers from the United Kingdom, France, and Germany, as well as the European Union's top diplomat.
12:31 Iran's Revolutionary Guard warned the US again to avoid getting directly involved in the conflict between the Islamic Republic and Israel, saying in a statement that 'direct' role by the Americans would 'expand the conflict to the region.'
'We warn the criminal United States: any direct involvement in this war would lead to its expansion across the region and will result in severe and irreparable blows,' the paramilitary guard said in a statement carried by Iranian state TV.
The warning echoes recent statements by other Iranian officials, including Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. It comes as Trump has said he's not looking for a fight with Iran but stands ready to act if necessary.
12:22 Iran accused the UN nuclear watchdog of acting as a "partner" in what it described as Israel's "war of aggression".
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) accused Iran of a lack of cooperation prior to the start of the Iran-Israel war. The IAEA's board of governors then adopted a resolution censuring Iran for "non-compliance" with its obligations under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
"You betrayed the non-proliferation regime; You've made IAEA a partner to this unjust war of aggression," foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said on X, in a post addressed to the head of the agency, Rafael Grossi.
Speaking to CNN, Grossi had said, "we did not have any evidence of a systematic effort [by Iran] to move into a nuclear weapon.'
DG @rafaelmgrossi:'We did not have any evidence of a systematic effort [by Iran] to move into a nuclear weapon.'
This is too late, Mr. Grossi: you obscured this truth in your absolutely biased report that was instrumentalize by E3/U.S. to craft a resolution with baseless… pic.twitter.com/A2cQcyqiFy — Esmaeil Baqaei (@IRIMFA_SPOX) June 19, 2025
12:00 IAEA confirms Iran's Arak heavy water research reactor was hit in a strike
'It was not operational and contained no nuclear material, so no radiological effects,' said the International Atomic Energy Agency, the U.N.'s nuclear watchdog.
The IAEA said there was no information on whether the heavy water plant next to the reactor had been hit.
This satellite image provided by Maxar Technologies shows the Arak heavy water reactor in Iran on 15 February 2025. (Maxar Technologies via AP)
11:35 European diplomats said foreign ministers from key European powers, France, Germany, Britain, and the EU's top diplomat, aim to meet their Iranian counterparts for nuclear talks in Geneva on Friday.
The three countries were involved in talks that led to a landmark 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers. The deal curbed Tehran's nuclear activities in exchange for relief from sanctions.
The meeting being planned comes as European countries, supporting Israeli aggression against Iran, now call for de-escalation.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz on Tuesday praised Israel for being "courageous enough" to attack Iran's nuclear site, calling it the "dirty work" done for the West.
The Iranian foreign ministry has summoned the German ambassador to Tehran following Merz's remarks.
France is planning, along with European partners, to suggest a negotiated solution to end the conflict between Iran and Israel, French President Emmanuel Macron's office said Wednesday.
Macron ordered Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot to draw up "an initiative with close European partners that would propose a demanding negotiated settlement to put an end to the conflict" in the coming days, it said, without giving details on the plan's nature.
The UK government will have to sign off on the US using its Diego Garcia base in any bombing raid on Iran. The prime minister, Sir Keir Starmer, chaired an emergency ministers' meeting to discuss the UK's response to the crisis, which No 10 says is prioritizing regional security and 'ongoing diplomatic efforts.'
Shadow Foreign Secretary Priti Patel said the Tories would support the UK joining the fight against Iran if necessary. Still, the attorney general has warned Starmer that Britain's involvement in US attacks on Iran could be illegal.
Foreign Secretary David Lammy is in Washington, DC for talks with Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
11:25 Iran said the main target of a missile attack that hit a hospital in southern Israel was an Israeli military and intelligence base, not the health facility.
"The main target of the attack was the Israeli Army Command and Intelligence Base (IDF C4I) and the Army Intelligence Camp in Gav-Yam Technology Park, located in the vicinity of the Soroka Hospital," state news agency IRNA said.
It said the hospital was "exposed only to the blast wave" and that the military facility was the "direct and precise target."
"In this operation, the regime's command and intelligence centre near a hospital was targeted with highly accurate and guided missiles," the force said in its statement, which was carried by state television.
It also said that the corps had "previously warned" that Israel's airspace "was defenceless and there would be no safe place".
Smoke rises from a building of the Soroka hospital complex after it was hit by a missile fired from Iran in Be'er Sheva, Israel, Thursday, 19 June 2025. AP
11:15 Iran's official news agency, IRNA, says Iran has reported the Israeli attack to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), accusing Israel of "continuing its aggression and actions contrary to international laws that prohibit attacks on nuclear facilities".
Nuclear sites, including the Arak heavy water reactor and the Natanz facility, were attacked by Israel overnight.
This handout picture provided by the Iranian Red Crescent on 19 June 2025 shows members of their rescue teams clearing debris at a building destroyed during an Israeli attack in Tehran. The Iranian Red Crescent. AFP
11:20 A senior Kenyan official said foreign diplomatic missions must be protected by Iran and Israel after a strike on Tel Aviv's Ramat Gan area hit within several hundred metres of the East African country's embassy, Reuters reports.
Korir Sing'Oei, the principal secretary at Kenya's foreign affairs ministry, said, "Foreign missions are inviolable under international law and must be excluded and protected from armed conflict at all times".
11:00 China said it opposed the "use of force" in response to a question about US President Donald Trump warning he was weighing a US military attack on Iran to help Israel.
Beijing "opposes any act that... infringes upon the sovereignty, security and territorial integrity of other countries, and opposes the use or threat of use of force in international relations", foreign ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun told a regular press briefing.
10:35 Paramedics in Israel are treating at least 65 people for injuries after Iran's latest round of strikes, according to Israel's emergency.
10:30 Iran fired approximately 30 ballistic missiles at Israel on Thursday morning, Israeli media reported, according to the army assessments.
Included in the targets were the military Soroka Hospital in southern Israel, as well as Holon in central Israel.
Iranian missiles also struck the Israeli stock exchange building in Ramat Gan. The strike follows Israeli-linked cyberattacks that crippled Iran's banking system and destroyed tens of millions in digital assets.
🚨Iranian missile struck the Holon area of Tel Aviv district.
Israeli's Magen David Adom emergency services announced that one person has been seriously injured in the attack, while more than two dozen others have been lightly injured.pic.twitter.com/Qi0dNGJkPy — Drop Site (@DropSiteNews) June 19, 2025
10:19 Russian President Vladimir Putin said that a deal to end the fighting between Israel and Iran was possible, and that Israel's strikes on Iran had led to a "consolidation" of Iranian society around its leadership.
"We see that today in Iran there is a consolidation of society around the country's political leadership," Putin told foreign journalists.
"This is a delicate issue, and of course, we need to be very careful here, but in my opinion, a solution can be found," he added.
Putin said such an agreement could guarantee both Israel's security and Iran's desire for a civilian nuclear programme.
He added that he did "not even wish to discuss" the idea Israel might assassinate Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Putin said more than 200 Russian employees worked at the Bushehr nuclear power plant in southern Iran, which Russia's Rosatom built.
"We agreed with the leadership of Israel that their security would be ensured," he said.
US President Donald Trump on Wednesday appeared to rebuff Putin's earlier offer to mediate in the conflict, saying the Russian president should end his conflict in Ukraine first.
​ Putin said at his press event that Iran hadn't asked for military help since Israel's assault.
10:00 Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday that Iran would "pay a heavy price" after a missile hit a military hospital in Israel's south.
Israel's army said that people were permitted to leave shelters in several parts of the country where they had been told to take cover after Iran launched a new barrage of missiles towards Israel.
"Following the situational assessment, the Home Front Command published that it is now permitted to leave protected spaces in several areas across the country," the military said.
A military official added that "dozens of ballistic missiles were launched at Israel in the last barrage from Iran".
Massive destruction in Tel Aviv following Iran's launch of a wave of missiles on Israeli targets in central occupied Palestine. pic.twitter.com/Xvw3PBYoYM — Quds News Network (@QudsNen) June 19, 2025
9:55 Israel's defence minister, Israel Katz, has said the army has been instructed to intensify strikes on strategically related targets in Tehran to eliminate what he claimed as a "threat" to Israel and destabilise the 'ayatollah regime', according to Reuters.
09:54 Israel's rescue service said that at least 47 people were injured in Iran's latest missile strikes, updating an earlier toll and reporting 18 more injured "while running to shelter".
​09:50 Iraq's top Shia cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani, warned against targeting Iran's leadership and said that the Iran-Israel war could plunge the whole region into chaos.
Any targeting of Iran's top leadership might spark "widespread chaos that would exacerbate the suffering of its people and severely harm everyone's interests."
09:41 A Washington-based Iranian human rights group said Israel killed at least 639 people in Iran, including 263 civilians. More than 1,300 have been wounded. In retaliation, Iran has fired some 400 missiles and hundreds of drones at Israel, where at least 24 people died.
Rocket trails are seen in the sky above the Israeli coastal city of Netanya amid a fresh barrage of Iranian missile retaliation. AFP
09:31 Paramedics in Israel are treating at least 32 people for injuries after Iran's latest round of strikes, according to Israel's emergency service.
09:30 The Israeli army said it had struck Iran's Natanz nuclear site again, as well as an "inactive nuclear reactor" in Arak during overnight raids.
Iranian state TV reported the attack on the Arak site, saying there was 'no radiation danger whatsoever.' Speaking live in the nearby town of Khondab, an Iranian state television reporter said the facility had been evacuated and there was no damage to civilian areas around the reactor.
Additionally, the Israeli air force "struck a nuclear weapons development site in the area of Natanz", its army said, saying that around 40 Israeli air force jets had taken part in the overnight raids that saw "dozens" of sites hit.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday said that Israeli forces had destroyed the principal uranium enrichment facility at the Natanz site.
The UN's International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) reported Tuesday that there appeared to have been "direct impacts" on the underground part of the facility.
Work on the Arak heavy-water research reactor on the outskirts of the village of Khondab began in the 2000s, but was halted under the terms of a now-abandoned 2015 nuclear deal struck between Iran and world powers.
Iran informed the IAEA of its plans to commission the reactor by 2026.
The research reactor was officially intended to produce plutonium for medical research, and the site includes a heavy water production plant.
09:25 A ballistic Iranian missile has hit Soroka military hospital in the southern Israeli city of Beersheba, as Iran launched its latest wave of retaliatory airstrikes on the country.
Unverified footage on social media showed people running through corridors filled with dust and debris, and doctors standing outside amid the building's wreckage.
A spokesperson for the army hospital reported 'damage to the hospital and extensive damage in various areas. We are currently assessing the damage, including injuries. We ask the public not to come to the hospital at this time.'
The facility serves as the main medical hub for the Negev region and treats Israeli civilians and mainly military personnel, including soldiers wounded during Israel's genocidal war on Gaza.
Sirens sounded across the country earlier, and Israeli media reported that several loud blasts were also heard in central Israel, with several other direct hits reported. Explosions were heard over Tel Aviv and Jerusalem.
09:21 Donald Trump has approved attack plans for Iran but withheld the final order, according to a new report.
The Wall Street Journal reports Trump told senior aids he was holding off to see if Tehran would abandon its nuclear programme first.
15:30 At least 240 people were wounded by the Iranian missile strikes on Israel on Thursday morning, according to Israel's Health Ministry, AP reported.
Four individuals have been seriously wounded, the Ministry said.
15:21 Iran's supreme leader has appointed Brigadier General Mohammad Karami as the new ground forces commander of Iran's Revolutionary Guard, a paramilitary force that controls Iran's ballistic missiles, after Israeli strikes last week assassinated several high-ranking military officials in Tehran, as reported by AP.
Karami is replacing Mohammad Pakpour, who was appointed last week to become the new commander of the Guard following the killing of Hossein Salami.
15:10 Iraqi militant group Harakat al-Nujab threatened to attack U.S. citizens if Israel targets Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
'No soldier, diplomat, or even a bearer of your nationality in our region will be safe. All your direct and indirect interests will become legitimate targets for us, as long as we draw breath in this vile world,' the statement said.
Iraqi militias have thus far largely held their fire in the conflict, although three drones launched at the Ain al-Asad base housing U.S. troops in western Iraq were reportedly shot down on Friday, after Israel began its barrage of strikes on Iran. No group claimed responsibility for the attack on the base.
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