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Iran, Israel continue missile strikes at each other; explosions reported in Tehran

"Tehran is burning," Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said on social media, and Iranian state television said explosions were heard in the city's east and west

Representational image File picture

(AP)
Published 15.06.25, 05:30 AM

Iran launched a second round of missiles against Israel late on Saturday while Israel's military kept up attacks in Tehran, a day after Israel's surprise attack on Iranian nuclear and military sites over Tehran's rapidly-advancing nuclear programme. The latest US-Iran talks will not take place on Sunday, officials said.

"Tehran is burning," Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said on social media, and Iranian state television said explosions were heard in the city's east and west.

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Both Israel's military and Iran's state television announced the latest round of Iranian missiles as explosions were heard near midnight, while the Israeli security cabinet met. Iran's state television said oil facilities and other business installations in Haifa and elsewhere were targeted.

The Magen David Adom emergency service said one woman was killed, with over a dozen others wounded, when a two-story home in the north was hit. Within the hour, Israel's military said people could leave shelters.

Israel's ongoing strikes across Iran have left the country's surviving leadership with the difficult decision of whether to plunge deeper into conflict with Israel's more powerful forces or seek a diplomatic route.

World leaders made urgent calls to deescalate and avoid all-out war. The attack on nuclear sites has set a "dangerous precedent", China's foreign minister said. The region is already on edge as Israel makes a new push to eliminate the Iranian-backed militant group Hamas in Gaza after 20 months of fighting.

The sixth round of US-Iran indirect talks on Sunday over Iran's nuclear programme will not take place, mediator Oman said. "We remain committed to talks and hope the Iranians will come to the table soon," said a senior US official, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss diplomacy.

Israel -- widely believed to be the only nuclear-armed state in the Middle East -- said its hundreds of strikes on Iran over the past two days have killed a number of top generals, nine senior scientists and experts involved in Iran's nuclear programme. Iran's UN ambassador has said 78 people were killed and more than 320 wounded.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has made the destruction of Iran's nuclear programme his top priority, said Israel's strikes so far are "nothing compared to what they will feel under the sway of our forces in the coming days".

In what could be another escalation if confirmed, semiofficial Iranian news agencies reported an Israeli drone struck and caused a "strong explosion" at an Iranian natural-gas processing plant. It would be the first Israeli attack on Iran's oil and natural gas industry. Israel's military did not immediately comment.

The extent of damage at the South Pars natural gas field was not immediately clear. Such sites have air-defence systems around them, which Israel has been targeting.

Iran calls nuclear talks 'unjustifiable'

Iran says its nuclear programme is for peaceful purposes only, and US intelligence agencies have assessed that Tehran was not actively pursuing the bomb. But its uranium enrichment has reached near weapons-grade levels, and on Thursday, the UN's atomic watchdog censured Iran for not complying with obligations meant to prevent it from developing a nuclear weapon.

Iran's top diplomat said on Saturday the nuclear talks were "unjustifiable" after Israel's strikes. Abbas Araghchi's comments came during a call with Kaja Kallas, the European Union's top diplomat.

The Israeli airstrikes were the "result of the direct support by Washington", Araghchi said in a statement carried by the state-run IRNA news agency. The US has said it is not part of the strikes.

On Friday, US President Donald Trump urged Iran to reach a deal with the US on its nuclear programme, adding that "Iran must make a deal, before there is nothing left."

US helps to shoot down Iranian missiles

Iran launched its first waves of missiles at Israel late on Friday and early on Saturday. The attacks killed at least three people and wounded 174, two of them seriously, Israel said. The military said seven soldiers were lightly wounded when a missile hit central Israel, without specifying where.

US ground-based air-defence systems in the region were helping to shoot down Iranian missiles, said a US official who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the measures.

Israel's main international airport said it will remain closed until further notice.

Israel says jets operating freely over Tehran

Earlier on Saturday, Israel's army spokesman, Brig. Gen. Effie Defrin, said Israel had attacked more than 400 "missile-related" and other targets across Iran, including 40 in Tehran, where dozens of fighter jets were "operating freely". He said it was the deepest point Israel's air force had operated.

A governor of Eastern Azerbaijan province in northwestern Iran said 30 troops and a rescuer were killed there, with 55 others wounded. Governor Bahram Sarmast's remarks were the latest acknowledgment of mass casualties.

Iranian state television reported that air defences were firing in the cities of Khorramabad, Kermanshah and Tabriz. Iran's semiofficial Tasnim news agency reported a fire at Tehran's Mehrabad International Airport.

Israel attacked Iran's main nuclear-enrichment facility in Natanz. Satellite photos analysed by AP show extensive damage there. The images shot on Saturday by Planet Labs PBC show multiple buildings damaged or destroyed. The structures hit include buildings identified by experts as supplying power to the facility.

Israel-Iran War Tehran Tel Aviv Nuclear Programme
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