Israel-Iran air war enters second week as Europe pushes diplomacy
TEL AVIV/DUBAI/WASHINGTON, June 20 (Reuters) - Israel and Iran's air war entered a second week on Friday and European officials sought to draw Tehran back to the negotiating table after President Donald Trump said any decision on potential U.S. involvement would be made within two weeks.
Israel began attacking Iran last Friday, saying it aimed to prevent its longtime enemy from developing nuclear weapons. Iran retaliated with missile and drone strikes on Israel. It says its nuclear programme is peaceful.
Israeli air attacks have killed 639 people in Iran, said the Human Rights Activists News Agency. Those killed include the military's top echelon and nuclear scientists. Israel has said at least two dozen Israeli civilians have died in Iranian missile attacks. Reuters could not independently verify the death toll from either side.
Israel has targeted nuclear sites and missile capabilities, but also has sought to shatter the government of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, according to Western and regional officials.
"Are we targeting the downfall of the regime? That may be a result, but it's up to the Iranian people to rise for their freedom," Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday.
Iran has said it is targeting military and defense-related sites in Israel, but it has also hit a hospital and other civilian sites.
Israel accused Iran on Thursday of deliberately targeting civilians through the use of cluster munitions, which disperse small bombs over a wide area. Iran's mission to the United Nations did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
With neither country backing down, the foreign ministers of Britain, France and Germany along with the European Union foreign policy chief were due to meet in Geneva with Iran's foreign minister to try to de-escalate the conflict on Friday.
"Now is the time to put a stop to the grave scenes in the Middle East and prevent a regional escalation that would benefit no one," said British Foreign Minister David Lammy ahead of their joint meeting with Abbas Araqchi, Iran's foreign minister.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping both condemned Israel and agreed that de-escalation is needed, the Kremlin said on Thursday.
The role of the United States, meanwhile, remained uncertain. On Thursday in Washington, Lammy met with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Trump's special envoy to the region, Steve Witkoff, and said they discussed a possible deal.
Witkoff has spoken with Araqchi several times since last week, sources say. Trump, meanwhile, has alternated between threatening Tehran and urging it to resume nuclear talks that were suspended over the conflict.
Trump has mused about striking Iran, possibly with a "bunker buster" bomb that could destroy nuclear sites built deep underground. The White House said on Thursday Trump would decide in the next two weeks whether to get involved in the war.
That may not be a firm deadline. Trump has commonly used "two weeks" as a time frame for making decisions and has allowed other economic and diplomatic deadlines to slide.
With the Islamic Republic facing one of its greatest external threats since the 1979 revolution, any direct challenge to its 46-year-long rule would likely require some form of popular uprising.
But activists involved in previous bouts of protest say they are unwilling to unleash mass unrest, even against a system they hate, with their nation under attack.
"How are people supposed to pour into the streets? In such horrifying circumstances, people are solely focused on saving themselves, their families, their compatriots, and even their pets," said Atena Daemi, a prominent activist who spent six years in prison before leaving Iran.
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