Israel-Iran war enters second week as talks take place between Europe and Tehran

A crane lifts a destroyed car at an impact site following Iran’s missile strike in Be’er Sheva, Israel on June 20, 2025. (Reuters)
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Updated 21 June 2025
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Israel-Iran war enters second week as talks take place between Europe and Tehran

  • European leaders push for Iran’s return to negotiations
  • Iran's foreign minister says Israel attacks betrayed diplomacy with US

TEL AVIV/DUBAI/WASHINGTON: 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 US 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 program is peaceful.

On Friday, European foreign ministers met with their Iranian counterpart to discuss the conflict. They emerged from a three-hour meeting in Geneva having urged Tehran to resume negotiations with the US over its nuclear program.

Meanwhile in New York, the UN Security Council held a bad-tempered meeting over the conflict, with Iran and Israel trading accusations. The head of the UN nuclear watchdog agency Rafael Grossi offered stark warnings over the risks of radiation leaks if Israel continues to bomb Iranian nuclear facilities.

Salvos of Iranian missiles were fired at Israel on Friday, with a strike hitting Haifa and wounding 19. In Tehran, funerals took place for some of those killed in Israel's airstrikes.

European powers urge Iran to continue US nuclear talks

European powers on Friday urged Iran to continue diplomacy to find a solution in the standoff over its nuclear program.

"The good result today is that we leave the room with the impression that Iran is ready to further discuss these questions," said German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul in a statement alongside his British, French and EU counterparts after talks with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi.

British Foreign Secretary David Lammy said "we are keen to continue ongoing discussions and negotiations with Iran, and we urge Iran to continue their talks with the United States", while French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said there "can be no definitive solution through military means to the Iran nuclear problem".

UN's Guterres urges 'give peace a chance' 

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned on Friday that expansion of the Israel-Iran conflict could "ignite a fire no one can control" and called on both sides and potential parties to the conflict to "give peace a chance."

At the same meeting, Iran said it would continue to defend itself against Israel, while Israel's UN ambassador vowed that his country would not stop its attacks until Iran's nuclear threat is dismantled.

"We will not stop," Israeli UN Ambassador Danny Danon said. "Not until Iran's nuclear threat is dismantled, not until its war machine is disarmed, not until our people and yours are safe."

Iran's UN Ambassador Amir Saeid Iravani urged the Security Council to take action.

"Israel apparently declared that it will continue this strike for as many days as it takes. We are alarmed by credible report that the United States... may be joining this war," he said.

The US ambassador to the UN, Dorothy Camille Shea, said the United States "continues to stand with Israel and supports its actions against Iran's nuclear ambitions."
 

Iran missile barrage injures 19 in Haifa

Missiles fired from Iran on Friday left at least 19 people injured in the northern Israeli port of Haifa, a local hospital said.

At least one projectile appeared to evade Israel's air defences, slamming into an area by the docks of Haifa where it damaged a building and blew out windows, littering the nearby ground with rubble, AFP images showed.

A spokesman for the city's Rambam hospital said 19 people had been injured, with one in a serious condition.

Earlier, Israel's Magen David Adom rescue service reported two people had been injured by falling shrapnel after the attack but did not specify the location.

IAEA chief warns against strikes on Iran's nuclear facilities

 The head of the UN nuclear watchdog agency on Friday warned against attacks on nuclear facilities and called for maximum restraint amid Israel's strikes on Iran.

 

"Armed attack for nuclear facilities should never take place and could result in radioactive releases with great consequences within and beyond boundaries of the state which has been attacked," Rafael Grossi, director of the International Agency for Atomic Energy, told the UN Security Council. "I therefore, again call for maximum restraint."

Iranian foreign minister says Israel attack 'betrayal' of diplomacy

Iran's foreign minister on Friday condemned the Israeli attacks against the Islamic republic as a "betrayal" of diplomatic efforts with the US, saying Tehran and Washington had been due to craft a "promising agreement" on the Iranian nuclear programme.

"We were attacked in the midst of an ongoing diplomatic process," Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva ahead of a crunch meeting with European foreign ministers.

Araghchi, making his first trip abroad since the strikes began, denounced Israel's attack as an "outrageous act of aggression".

US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff had planned to meet Araghchi in Oman on June 15 but the meeting was cancelled after Israel began the strikes days before.

Thousands protest in Tehran against Israel

Thousands of people joined a protest against Israel in the Iranian capital on Friday after weekly prayers, chanting slogans in support of their leaders, images on state television showed.

“This is the Friday of the Iranian nation’s solidarity and resistance across the country,” the news anchor said. Footage showed protesters holding up photographs of commanders killed since the start of the war with Israel, while others waved the flags of Iran and the Lebanese militant movement Hezbollah.

Iran rejects any negotiation with US while Israeli attacks continue

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi rejected any negotiations with the United States while Israel continues its attacks on Iran, in an interview with state TV broadcast on Friday.

“The Americans have repeatedly sent messages calling seriously for negotiations. But we have made clear that as long as the aggression does not stop, there will be no place for diplomacy and dialogue,” said the chief diplomat, who was due in Geneva for talks with his European counterparts.

Situation at Iran’s Bushehr nuclear plant is ‘normal’, Russian official says

The head of Russia’s nuclear energy corporation, Alexei Likhachev, said on Friday that Russian specialists were still working at the Bushehr nuclear power plant in Iran and that the situation there was normal and under control.

Likhachev said he hoped Russia’s warnings to Israel not to attack the site had been received by the Israeli leadership.

Russia, which has close ties with Iran, has warned strongly against US military intervention on the side of Israel.

Israeli defense minister warns Hezbollah against joining conflict with Iran

Israeli defense minister Israel Katz warned Lebanon’s Hezbollah to exercise caution on Friday, saying Israel’s patience with “terrorists” who threaten it had worn thin.

Katz also instructed the military to intensify attacks on “symbols of the regime” in Tehran, aiming to destabilize it.

“We must strike at all the symbols of the regime and the mechanisms of oppression of the population, such as the Basij (militia), and the regime's power base, such as the Revolutionary Guard.”

The head of Iran-backed Hezbollah, Naim Qassem, said on Thursday that the Lebanese group would act as it saw fit in the face of what he called “brutal Israeli-American aggression” against Iran.

European, Iranian FMs to hold nuclear talks on Friday in Geneva

Foreign ministers from Britain, France and Germany together with the EU’s top diplomat will hold nuclear talks with their Iranian counterpart in Geneva on Friday, officials and diplomats said.

The meeting comes as European countries call for de-escalation in the face of Israel’s bombing campaign against Iran’s nuclear program — and as US President Donald Trump weighs up whether or not to join the strikes against Tehran.

“We will meet with the European delegation in Geneva on Friday,” Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said in a statement carried by state news agency IRNA.

European diplomats separately confirmed the planned talks, set to involve French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot, British Foreign Secretary David Lammy and German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul, as well as EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas.

Britain’s Foreign Secretary David Lammy said Thursday after meeting high-level US officials that there is still time to reach a diplomatic solution with Tehran.

Lammy met with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and special envoy Steve Witkoff at the White House, before talks on Friday in Geneva with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi alongside his French, German and EU counterparts.

“The situation in the Middle East remains perilous,” Lammy said in a statement released by the UK embassy in Washington.

“We discussed how Iran must make a deal to avoid a deepening conflict. A window now exists within the next two weeks to achieve a diplomatic solution,” Lammy said.

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.

Israel says Iran fired cluster bomb-bearing missile

Iran fired at least one missile at Israel that scattered small bombs with the aim of increasing civilian casualties, the Israeli military said on Thursday, the first reported use of cluster munitions in the seven-day-old war.

Israeli military officials provided no further details.

Israeli news reports quoted the Israeli military as saying the missile’s warhead split open at an altitude of about 4 miles and released around 20 submunitions in a radius of around 5 miles over central Israel.

One of the small munitions struck a home in the central Israeli town of Azor, causing some damage, Times of Israel military correspondent Emanuel Fabian reported. There were no reports of casualties from the bomb.

Iran appoints new Revolutionary Guards intelligence chief

Iran appointed a new chief of intelligence at its Revolutionary Guards on Thursday, the official Irna news agency said, after his predecessor was killed in an Israeli strike last week.
Major General Mohammad Pakpour, the commander of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps , appointed Brig. Gen. Majid Khadami as the new head of its intelligence division, Irna said.
He replaces Mohammed Kazemi, who was killed on Sunday alongside two other Revolutionary Guards officers — Hassan Mohaghegh and Mohsen Bagheri — in an Israeli strike.

Trump ponders Iran attack

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.

The role of the US, meanwhile, remained uncertain. On Thursday in Washington, Lammy met with US 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.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping both condemned Israel and agreed that de-escalation is needed, the Kremlin said on Thursday.

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.

IAEA chief identifies Isfahan as Iran’s planned uranium enrichment site

UN nuclear watchdog chief Rafael Grossi on Thursday identified Isfahan, home to one of Iran’s biggest nuclear facilities, as the location of a uranium enrichment plant that Iran said it would soon open in retaliation for a diplomatic push against it.

The day before Israel launched its military strikes against Iranian targets including nuclear facilities last Friday, Iran announced it had built a new uranium enrichment facility, which it would soon equip and bring online. Tehran did not provide details such as the plant’s location.

Iran’s announcement was part of its retaliation against a resolution passed by the International Atomic Energy Agency’s 35-nation Board of Governors declaring Tehran in breach of its non-proliferation obligations over issues including its failure to credibly explain uranium traces found at undeclared sites.


Kuwaiti emir to attend Bastille Day, meet Macron during first official visit to France

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Kuwaiti emir to attend Bastille Day, meet Macron during first official visit to France

  • Kuwaiti-French relations commited to improving cooperation and supporting regional and global stability
  • France was one of the first countries to support Kuwait’s independence in 1961

LONDON: Kuwaiti Emir Sheikh Meshal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah made his first official visit to France on Sunday since assuming power in December 2023.

The visit reflects the historical partnership between Paris and Kuwait, the Presidential Palace, the Elysee, said in a statement.

Sheikh Meshal will attend the official military parade to celebrate France’s national Bastille Day on July 14, alongside a meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron.

The two parties aim to strengthen ties by enhancing partnerships in sectors such as diplomacy, defense, economy, education, health, culture, and scientific research, the Kuwait Agency reported.

France was one of the first countries to support Kuwait’s independence in 1961 and played a significant role in 1991 in its liberation from Iraqi forces led by Saddam Hussein, the Elysee said.

Trade between Kuwait and France was worth €2.8 billion ($3.27 billion) in 2023, with French infrastructure, energy, and construction companies leading projects in Kuwait. More than 1,000 students benefited from the educational programs offered by the French Institute, while French healthcare institutions, such as the Gustave Roussy Institute, contributed to supporting the Kuwaiti healthcare sector through consultations and projects.

Kuwaiti-French relations display a strong partnership, with a commitment to improving cooperation and supporting regional and global stability, the Elysee added.

Minister of Defense Sheikh Abdullah Ali Al-Sabah, Foreign Minister Abdullah Al-Yahya, the chief of the Kuwait Direct Investment Promotion Authority and other high officials are accompanying the emir of Kuwait.


Syria wildfires contained after 10 days

Updated 13 July 2025
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Syria wildfires contained after 10 days

  • The blazes in the coastal province of Latakia broke out amid an intense heatwave across the region
  • UN humanitarian agency says fires destroyed about 100 square kilometers of forest and farmland

DAMASCUS: Syria’s civil defense agency on Sunday said wildfires in the country’s west, which have burned vast tracts of forest and farmland and forced evacuations, had been brought under control after 10 days.

In a statement on Facebook, the agency said that “with the spread of the fires halted and the fire hotspots brought under control on all fronts” on Saturday, teams on the ground were working to cool down the affected areas while monitoring any signs of reignition.

The blazes in the coastal province of Latakia broke out amid an intense heatwave across the region.

The UN humanitarian agency OCHA said they destroyed about 100 square kilometers of forest and farmland.

As the fires raged, Syrian emergency workers faced tough conditions including high temperatures, strong winds, rugged mountainous terrain and the danger of explosive war remnants.

This all comes in a country worn down by years of conflict and economic crisis.

In a post on X, the Syrian minister for emergencies and disaster management, Raed Al-Saleh, said that with help from Turkish, Jordanian, Lebanese, Qatari and Iraqi teams, firefighters had “managed to halt the spread of the fire on all fronts, which is the most important step toward containing the wildfires.”

The “situation is the best it has been in the past 10 days,” Saleh said late Saturday.

“There are still threats due to wind activity, but we are working to prevent any renewed expansion of the fires,” the minister added.

The civil defense agency said rescue teams were carrying out “operations to open pathways and firebreaks within the forests... in order to reduce the chances of fire spreading in case of reignition.”

Authorities have not reported any casualties, but several towns in Latakia province have been evacuated as a precaution.

Nearly seven months after the ousting of longtime ruler Bashar Assad, Syria is still reeling from more than a decade of civil war that ravaged the country’s economy, infrastructure and public services.

With man-made climate change increasing the likelihood and intensity of droughts and wildfires worldwide, Syria has also been battered by heatwaves and low rainfall.

In June, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization said that Syria had “not seen such bad climate conditions in 60 years.”


Apartment fire in Turkiye’s Ankara kills 3, including a baby

Updated 13 July 2025
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Apartment fire in Turkiye’s Ankara kills 3, including a baby

  • The blaze started late Saturday night on the fourth floor and spread rapidly, according to local media
  • Firefighters took four hours to extinguish the flames. The state-run Anadolu Agency reported that 39 suffered light smoke inhalation, including seven firefighters

Istanbul: A fire at a 26-story apartment building in the Turkish capital, Ankara, killed three people, including a three-and-a-half-month-old baby, local media said.
The blaze broke out at around 10:00 p.m. local time Saturday night on the fourth floor and quickly spread through the structure, according to the state-run Anadolu Agency. It took firefighters four hours to put out the fire.
The agency also reported that 39 suffered light smoke inhalation, including seven firefighters. Paramedics attended to 26 people on site, while 20 others have been hospitalized, one in critical condition.


59 Palestinians in Gaza killed by Israeli airstrikes or shot dead while seeking aid

Updated 13 July 2025
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59 Palestinians in Gaza killed by Israeli airstrikes or shot dead while seeking aid

  • The Red Cross said its field hospital saw its largest influx of dead in more than a year of operation after the shootings

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip: At least 31 Palestinians were fatally shot on their way to an aid distribution site in the Gaza Strip on Saturday, while Israeli airstrikes killed at least 28 Palestinians including four children, Palestinian hospital officials and witnesses said.

There were no signs of a breakthrough in ceasefire talks following two days of meetings between US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Trump had said he was nearing an agreement between Israel and Hamas that would potentially wind down the war.

The 31 Palestinians shot dead were on their way to a distribution site run by the Israeli-backed American organization Gaza Humanitarian Foundation near Rafah in southern Gaza, hospital officials and witnesses said.

The Red Cross said its field hospital saw its largest influx of dead in more than a year of operation after the shootings, and that the overwhelming majority of the more than 100 people hurt had gunshot wounds.

Airstrikes in central Gaza’s Deir Al-Balah killed 13 including the four children, officials at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital said. Fifteen others were killed in Khan Younis in the south, according to Nasser Hospital. Israel’s military did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Intense airstrikes continued Saturday evening in the area of Beit Hanoun in northern Gaza.

Israelis rallied yet again for a ceasefire deal. “Arrogance is what brought the disaster upon us,” former hostage Eli Sharabi said of Israeli leaders.

Teen’s first attempt to pick up food ends in death

The 21-month war has left much of Gaza’s population of over 2 million reliant on outside aid while food security experts warn of famine. Israel blocked and then restricted aid entry after ending the latest ceasefire in March.

“All responsive individuals reported they were attempting to access food distribution sites,” the Red Cross said after the shootings near Rafah, noting the “alarming frequency and scale” of such mass casualty incidents.

Israel’s military said it fired warning shots toward people it said were behaving suspiciously to prevent them from approaching. It said it was not aware of any casualties. The GHF said no incident occurred near its sites.

Abdullah Al-Haddad said he was 200 meters from the aid distribution site run by the GHF close to the Shakoush area when an Israeli tank started firing at crowds of Palestinians.

“We were together, and they shot us at once,” he said, writhing in pain from a leg wound at Nasser Hospital.

Mohammed Jamal Al-Sahloo, another witness, said Israel’s military had ordered them to proceed to the site when the shooting started.

Sumaya Al-Sha’er’s 17-year-old son, Nasir, was killed, hospital officials said.

“He said to me, ‘Mom, you don’t have flour and today I’ll go and bring you flour, even if I die, I’ll go and get it,’” she said. “But he never came back home.”

Until then, she said, she had prevented the teenager from going to GHF sites because she thought it was too dangerous.

Witnesses, health officials and UN officials say hundreds have been killed by Israeli fire while heading toward GHF distribution points through military zones off limits to independent media. The military has acknowledged firing warning shots at Palestinians who it says approached its forces in a suspicious manner.

The GHF denies there has been violence in or around its sites. But two of its contractors told The Associated Press that their colleagues have fired live ammunition and stun grenades as Palestinians scramble for food, allegations the foundation denied.

In a separate effort, the UN and aid groups say they struggle to distribute humanitarian aid because of Israeli military restrictions and a breakdown of law and order that has led to widespread looting.

The first fuel – 150,000 liters – entered Gaza this week after 130 days, a joint statement by UN aid bodies said, calling it a small amount for the “the backbone of survival in Gaza.” Fuel runs hospitals, water systems, transport and more, the statement said.

Hamas-led militants killed some 1,200 people in their Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel that sparked the war and abducted 251. Hamas still holds some 50 hostages, with at least 20 believed to remain alive.

Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed over 57,800 Palestinians, more than half of them women and children, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. The ministry, under Gaza’s Hamas-run government, doesn’t differentiate between civilians and combatants in its count. The UN and other international organizations see its figures as the most reliable statistics on war casualties.


Iran says it would resume nuclear talks with US if guaranteed no further attacks

Updated 13 July 2025
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Iran says it would resume nuclear talks with US if guaranteed no further attacks

  • Following the US strikes, Iran suspended cooperation with the UN nuclear watchdog, which led to the departure of inspectors
  • Top Iran envoy says that under Iranian law, the country will answer the agency’s request for cooperation ‘case by case’

Iran’s foreign minister said Saturday that his country would accept a resumption of nuclear talks with the US if there were assurances of no more attacks against it, state media reported.

Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said in a speech to Tehran-based foreign diplomats that Iran has always been ready and will be ready in the future for talks about its nuclear program, but, “assurance should be provided that in case of a resumption of talks, the trend will not lead to war.”

Referring to the 12-day Israeli bombardment of Iran’s nuclear and military sites, and the US strike on June 22, Araghchi said that if the US and others wish to resume talks with Iran, “first of all, there should be a firm guarantee that such actions will not be repeated. The attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities has made it more difficult and complicated to achieve a solution based on negotiations.”

Following the strikes, Iran suspended cooperation with the UN nuclear watchdog, which led to the departure of inspectors.

Araghchi said that under Iranian law, the country will answer the agency’s request for cooperation “case by case,” based on Iran’s interests. He also said any inspection by the agency should be done based on Iran’s “security” concerns as well as the safety of the inspectors. “The risk of proliferation of radioactive ingredients and an explosion of ammunition that remains from the war in the attacked nuclear sites is serious,” he said.

He also reiterated Iran’s position on the need to continue enriching uranium on its soil. US President Donald Trump has insisted that cannot happen.

Israel claims it acted because Tehran was within reach of a nuclear weapon. US intelligence agencies and the International Atomic Energy Agency had assessed Iran last had an organized nuclear weapons program in 2003, though Tehran had been enriching uranium up to 60 percent – a short, technical step away from weapons-grade levels of 90 percent.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian in an interview published Monday said the US airstrikes so badly damaged his country’s nuclear facilities that Iranian authorities still have not been able to access them to survey the destruction.