Main events on June 16th

• Israel has bombed the Tehran offices of Iran’s state broadcaster, alleging they were being used by the Iranian armed forces.
• Iranian officials have rejected the claim, denouncing the attack as a “war crime”.
• Iran launched a wave of retaliatory drone and missile attacks, aimed at Haifa in northern Israel as well as Tel Aviv.
• Iran said 45 women and children have been killed in Israel’s latest attacks and another 75 women and children injured. Israeli attacks on other parts of the capital have also killed three Iranian Red Crescent Society workers who were carrying out rescue operations.
• US President Donald Trump, speaking on the sidelines of the G7 summit in Canada, said Iran should talk about de-escalating hostilities with Israel “before it’s too late”.
• Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu refused to rule out the possibility of targeting Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, saying: “It’s not going to escalate the conflict. It’s going to end the conflict.”
• The Israeli army claimed it has destroyed at least 120, or one-third, of Iran’s surface-to-surface missile launchers.
• Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian has urged Iranians to unite after Israeli missiles caused extensive damage across the country, including the city of Kermanshah, where a hospital was hit.

Iran warns of its ‘biggest and most devastating’ attack amid wave of strikes

As Iran launches new drone and missile strikes against Israel, Al Jazeera’s Dorsa Jabbari said this “is the ninth wave of attacks that Iran has launched on Israel since Friday”.

A statement aired on Iran’s state TV warned that tonight’s attack would be the “biggest and most devastating” yet. The escalation marks a dramatic intensification in the ongoing confrontation between the two regional powers.

Iran said it is using a mix of drones and missiles, employing a tactic designed to overwhelm Israel’s air defence systems.

“We know it’s a mix of drones and missiles – launch drones first – engage air defence systems Israel has and then the missiles… they get to Israel much faster,” Jabbari explained. “Some hypersonic missiles that Iran has can get to Israel in a few minutes.”

Air defences in operation in Iran’s Natanz: Report

Air defences have been activated in Natanz in central Iran, the site of key nuclear installations, Iranian news website Asriran reports. Key areas of the Natanz site are situated deep underground, protecting them from all but the strongest bomb attacks.

Thousands March to Gaza in Global Solidarity

On 13th June 2025, over one thousand people from more than 50 countries gathered on the road to Rafah, attempting a peaceful march to break the siege on Gaza. Originally pretending to be tourists to avoid being stopped, activists, medics, and concerned citizens from across the globe came together with one message: stop the genocide and let aid through.

But before reaching their destination, they were met by armed police, border restrictions, and a blockade that turned their humanitarian effort into a standoff. What followed were hours of confusion, confiscated passports, exhaustion under the sun, and desperate pleas from participants including volunteers who had witnessed firsthand the devastation in Gaza.

This captures a historic moment of international unity and resistance. It is a record of ordinary people demanding extraordinary change. Watch to hear their stories, witness their courage, and understand why thousands risked everything to stand with Palestine.

‘We Will Sail to Gaza’: Freedom Flotilla Undeterred by Israel’s Attacks

Ann Wright, a US military veteran and long-time antiwar activist who serves on the steering committee of the Freedom Flotilla Coalition, joins the show to discuss Israel’s hijacking of the Freedom Flotilla ship Madleen and the detention and deportation of the 12 humanitarian volunteers on board.

Wright explains that despite the repeated attacks on the aid ships bound for Gaza, including the bombing in May of the Conscience, another Freedom Flotilla aid ship, the Coalition is not backing down from bringing desperately needed aid to Gaza. “We have another ship that’s just about ready to go,” says Wright, “we intend to push as hard as we can.”

UN Aid Chief In THERAPY After Gaza Visit

“I’ve been to Darfur, I’ve been to Kupiansk on the Ukraine frontlines. I’ve driven up through Syria just after the fall of the Assad regime. I’ve just been in Kandahar, Kabul, Kunduz in Afghanistan. I was in Mandalay just after the earthquake. Nothing was as bad as going to Gaza.”

UN Humanitarian Chief Tom Fletcher joins Mehdi Hasan on this episode of ‘Mehdi Unfiltered’ where they discuss the Israeli siege, accusations of antisemitism at the UN, and the genocide in Sudan. He also debunks the Israeli claim that Hamas is stealing civilian aid.

Israel furious as France shuts weapon booths at Paris Airshow

Geopolitical tensions roiled the opening of the Paris Air Show on Monday as French authorities sealed off Israeli weapons industry booths amid the conflicts in Iran and Gaza, a move that Israel condemned as "outrageous". Details by FRANCE 24 Senior Reporter James André.

Israel Declares: Ordinary Iranians “WILL PAY THE PRICE”

Explosions in Tel Aviv as air raid sirens blare in central Israel

The Reuters news agency is reporting explosions in the sky over Tel Aviv after the Israeli military said it was working to intercept missiles launched from Iran.

The Times of Israel says air raid sirens are blaring across central Israel.

Air raid sirens blare in northern Israel

We are following Iran’s latest missile salvo on Israel.

Israeli media are reporting that the barrage has set off sirens again, this time in northern Israel, including the port city of Haifa. The city has been hit several times in recent days, with one attack killing three people and forcing the oil refinery there to shut down.

Israeli medics say no injuries from latest Iranian attacks

The Magen David Adom emergency service says it has not received any reports of injuries following waves of Iranian missiles towards central and northern Israel.

The report comes moments after the Israeli military told residents of northern Israel that it was now safe to leave their shelters.

Israelis in ‘shock’ as Iranian missiles hit their targets

The Israeli broadcasting authority is saying that several missiles fell in open areas injuring several Israelis who fled to shelters.

We are waiting on some more details on that. The most significant damage so far has been to Haifa port where refinery operations have been halted because of severe damage to the refinery. This is one of two refineries. Israel refines a large chunk of petrol, diesel and jet fuel, and it will be considerably inconveniencing and difficult for Israel to manage.

Israelis have never experienced anything like this in the last 40 or 50 years. So it’s come as a bit of a shock to a lot of Israelis.

Israelis are beginning to realise that this is a very, very dangerous situation that they are in. Nevertheless, Israelis always rally around the flag. They may not like Benjamin Netanyahu or his extreme right-wing government – he personally remains unpopular – but Israelis will rally around the flag when the country is under attack.

_{Smoke and fire rise after an Iranian missile attack on Israel, at Haifa port, on June 15}

Macron says US has made offer for Israel-Iran truce

French President Emmanuel Macron says the US leader has made an offer for a ceasefire between Israel and Iran.

“There is indeed an offer to meet and exchange. An offer was made especially to get a ceasefire and to then kick-start broader discussions. And I think this is a very good thing,” Macron told reporters at the G7.

“We have to see now whether the sides will follow.”

US Senator Bernie Sanders introduces bill to block Trump from striking Iran

Sanders’s “No War Against Iran Act” would prohibit the use of federal funds for any use of military force against Iran unless it has been specifically authorised by the US Congress.

“Netanyahu’s reckless and illegal attacks violate international law and risk igniting a regional war. Congress must make it clear that the United States will not be dragged into Netanyahu’s war of choice,” Sanders, an independent who represents Vermont, said in a statement.

“Our Founding Fathers entrusted the power of war and peace exclusively to the people’s elected representatives in Congress, and it is imperative that we make clear that the President has no authority to embark on another costly war without explicit authorisation by Congress.”

While the bill has a number of Democratic co-sponsors, including Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren, it is unlikely to become law, as Republicans control both the Senate and the House of Representatives, while Trump has veto power over legislation that comes across his desk.

Republican legislator announces push to ‘prohibit US involvement’ in Israel-Iran conflict

We’ve been covering separate efforts in the US Senate, by Independent Senator Bernie Sanders and Democratic Senator Tim Kaine, to limit US involvement in the Israel-Iran conflict.

There now appears to be a similar push in the US House of Representatives by a member of Trump’s Republican party.

Republican Representative Thomas Massie announced on X a short while ago that he will introduce a bipartisan War Powers Resolution on Tuesday “to prohibit our involvement” in the conflict.

“This is not our war,” he wrote. “But if it were, Congress must decide such matters according to our Constitution.”

Iranian-American lawmaker slams Trump’s call to evacuate Tehran

Yassamin Ansari, who became the second person of Iranian descent to be elected to the US House of Representatives last year, has described Trump’s suggestion that “everyone” leave the Iranian capital as “callous and horrifying”.

“Tehran is a massive city of nearly 10 million. Iranian people deserve freedom, but Trump’s threat of murdering innocent civilians, a mass casualty event, or another endless war is not the answer,” Ansari said on X.

Egypt-led group of 21 Muslim countries condemn Israel’s attacks on Iran

The group has denounced Israel’s attacks on Iran and called for urgent de-escalation and nuclear disarmament “without selectivity”. The latter refers to Israel’s nuclear programme.

The group warned that the conflict risked spiralling further and called for an immediate ceasefire. They also expressed their support for a Middle East free of nuclear weapons, calling on all states in the region to join the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT).

The signatories are Algeria, Bahrain, Brunei, Chad, Comoros, Djibouti, Egypt, Gambia, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Libya, Mauritania, Oman, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Somalia, Türkiye and the United Arab Emirates.

Trump weighing use of US bomb on Iranian nuclear facility, NYT says

The US president is deliberating whether to enter the conflict with Iran to bomb its nuclear enrichment facility at Fordo, according to The New York Times.

The facility can only be reached using the US’s biggest “bunker buster” bomb, the Massive Ordnance Penetrator, using American B-2 bombers, according to The Times.

“If he decides to go ahead, the United States will become a direct participant in a new conflict in the Middle East, taking on Iran in exactly the kind of war Mr. Trump has sworn, in two campaigns, he would avoid,” reporters David E Sanger and Jonathan Swan write.

Notably, the piece is tagged under “analysis” instead of news, and does not cite a source or sources for its contention that such a strike is under consideration.

Donald Trump’s ‘contradictory narratives’ in dealing with Iran: Analyst

Middle East analyst Hassan Mneimneh said the Trump administration has issued two contradictory narratives on its approach to Iran.

One narrative insists that the US is “just demanding a return to the negotiations” and there is no intent to attack Iran “at the moment”.

The second narrative, which Trump appears to be promoting personally through “snippets and sound bites”, is that the US is colluding with Israel in its war on Iran. Trump is “applauding what Israel is doing and preparing, it seems, for an action on the part of the US,” Mneimneh told Al Jazeera.

“Which one is it in reality? Clearly we are not in a position to know. But only the second narrative seems to be supported by facts,” he said.

“One cannot conceive of a situation in which the US will accept the type of parity that Iran has succeeded in establishing in terms of causing harm at least – it doesn’t have the ability to destroy any kind of programme in Israel. But the ongoing war does not seem to be able to stop unless there is some sort of US intervention – or a diplomatic one,” he said.

White House seeks talks with Iran on nuclear deal, ceasefire: Reports

The Axios news outlet is reporting that the White House is in discussions with Iran on the possibility of a meeting between US envoy Steve Witkoff and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi this week.

Citing four sources briefed on the issue, the outlet said the objective of the meeting would be “to discuss a diplomatic initiative involving a nuclear deal and an end to the war between Israel and Iran”.

The report comes hours after the CNN broadcaster also reported that Trump has directed members of his team to “attempt a meeting with Iranian officials as quickly as possible”.

CNN quoted a US official as saying that nothing is yet set, but that Israel and Iran were moving in the right direction.

Trump, meanwhile, has left the G7 summit in Canada early and US media say he is expected to meet his national security staff in Washington, DC, soon after his arrival. Earlier, he also issued a threat on social media, telling residents of Tehran to leave the city immediately.

As a comparison, Theran is twice as large as Gaza in area and has 5x the population.


Smoke rises in Tehran after explosion

The Iranian Mehr news agency says an explosion has been heard in northeastern Tehran in the past hour. It posted footage of smoke rising into the sky.

Other videos, verified by Al Jazeera’s Sanad agency, show a plume of grey smoke rising over buildings in Tehran.

‘Iran can never have a nuclear weapon,’ G7 joint statement says

https://www.pm.gc.ca/en/news/statements/2025/06/16/g7-leaders-statement-on-recent-developments-between-israel-and-iran

The economic bloc – which is made up of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the UK and the US – has also called for “de-escalation” in the conflict between Israel and Iran.

So can't Israel, but they have them... Just a weak statement to support Israel, Iran was never close to a nuclear weapon.

Macron says forcing regime change in Iran would be a ‘strategic error’

Earlier, we reported that the French president said the US had made an offer for a ceasefire between Israel and Iran.

We now have more from his comments at the G7 summit.

“If the United States can achieve a ceasefire, that’s a very good thing,” Macron told reporters. He also called on both Israel and Iran to “end” strikes against civilians and warned that aiming to overthrow the government in Tehran would be a “strategic error”.

“All who have thought that by bombing from the outside, you can save a country in spite of itself have always been mistaken,” he said.

Bragging about war crimes in advance now

Israeli envoy says to expect ‘surprises’ in offensive against Iran

In an interview with Merit TV on Monday, Israel’s ambassador to the US, Yechiel Leiter, referenced last year’s pager attack against Hezbollah while hinting at upcoming military operations against Iran.

“We’ve pulled off a number of surprises – when the dust settles – your going to see some surprises on Thursday night and Friday, that will make the beeper operation almost seem simple,” Leiter said.

Leiter did not elaborate on what “surprises” he was referring to.

Three killed in Israel strike on Iran state TV

Israel’s air strikes on the headquarters of Iran’s state television in Tehran killed three people, the broadcaster says, a day after the bombing.

“Three of the TV station’s employees were killed and others were wounded in the Israeli attack” on Monday, the channel said.

Live on air, TV anchor Sahar Emami denounced “aggression against the homeland” as a blast went off and smoke and debris filled the screen. The footage then showed her fleeing the studio.

Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei accused Israel of committing a “wicked act” that constitutes a war crime and being the number one “killer of journalists and media people”.

Israel unable to destroy Iran nuclear sites without US involvement: Analyst

Barbara Slavin, distinguished fellow at the Stimson Center think tank in Washington, DC, told Al Jazeera earlier that Israel requires US military involvement to destroy Iran’s nuclear programme as it does not have the capability to do so alone.

“The Israelis have not succeeded in achieving what was their announced goal, which was to destroy the Iranian nuclear programme, and they, frankly, cannot do that without United States assistance,” Slavin said.

“So, what we are seeing now is a kind of a push and pull by the Israelis trying to get the United States to step in. Meantime, there are reports that the Iranians are urging an urgent return to diplomacy,” she said.

“I don’t think the president wants the United States to get involved but the Israelis seem quite determined to continue their strikes on Iran, and Iran is retaliating, and I don’t see anyone at this point putting a stop to this,” she added.

“Trump doesn’t seem inclined to stop the Israelis at this point.”

Smoke rises after explosion in Iran’s Tabriz: Report

Iran’s Mehr news agency says thick smoke has been observed in the northwestern city of Tabriz following an explosion at about 8:45am local time (05:15 GMT).

It published footage of the smoke in a post on the Telegram app.

Three killed in Israeli attack on Iran’s Isfahan

The Iranian Mehr news agency is reporting that an Israeli projectile hit a checkpoint in the city of Kashan in the central province of Isfahan this morning, killing at least three people and wounding four others. The agency quoted Akbar Salehi, deputy security officer to the governor of Isfahan.

The Tasnim and ISNA news agencies also reported on the deaths, but gave no further details.

As we’ve been reporting, more than 220 people have been killed in Israel’s attacks on Iran, including at least 70 women and children.

Warning sirens sound across Israel throughout the night

Overnight, there were alarms going off successively and throughout the night. So Israelis were going in and out shelters pretty much all night.

There were no injuries reported, and we’re not sure where the impact of those missiles was. There were some reports of missiles falling in open areas in the Negev.

But already we are hearing about the impact of all of that – 14,000 applications for compensation have been filed to Israel’s Ministry of Finance from people whose homes have been damaged and 24 buildings are already condemned for demolition.

This, of course, comes as the oil refinery and other refineries have been shut down, especially in Haifa, due to the damage sustained from earlier Iranian missile strikes. The power plant in Haifa as well.

_{Israelis take shelter in a parking garage during a missile alert from Iran, in Tel Aviv, Israel, early on Tuesday}

Explosions near Tel Aviv, sirens blare across Israel: Reports

The Ynet News site says there have been explosions in central Israel and reports of damage to a building in the coastal city of Herzliya, north of Tel Aviv. The Times of Israel is meanwhile reporting “echoes of large explosions” in the Jerusalem area and says sirens are being sounded across the country.

Bus in central Israel on fire after Iranian attack: Report

Israel’s Ynet News is reporting that Iranian missiles crashed into four sites in Israel, damaging an eight-storey building in Herzliya and setting an empty bus in the coastal city on fire.

It cited the emergency services as saying that there have been no reports of casualties from this latest missile salvo.

Blasts over Jerusalem, Tel Aviv after Iran missile warning

Loud booms were heard over Tel Aviv and West Jerusalem after the military warned of incoming Iranian missiles. The military said in a statement the air force is “operating to intercept and strike where necessary to eliminate the threat”.

About 20 minutes later, the army released another statement saying people were allowed to leave protected spaces in several areas across the country.

Search and rescue teams are operating in several locations where “reports of fallen projectiles were received”, an Israeli police statement said. “Missiles and shrapnel fell in the Tel Aviv area, causing material damage but no injuries,” it added.

The fire and rescue service said there was an initial report of a “missile strike and fire” in the Dan district, an area surrounding Tel Aviv. “Around 08:45 [05:45 GMT], numerous calls were received … regarding a missile strike and a fire in the Gush Dan area. Firefighting forces are on their way to the scene,” it said in a statement.

There were two direct impacts from those Iranian missiles – one in the Tel Aviv area and one in Herzliya. Israeli reports are describing the missile strike in Herzliya as having targeted a sensitive site. That is code for something of military or strategic significance. The military censor in Israel has updated and further constrained the limitations of media coverage on missile strikes on Israel. So we have very little information.


_{Smoke rises from a fire in Herzliya near Tel Aviv after a new barrage of Iranian rockets on June 17}

Also in the past few minutes, we heard from the Israeli military announcing they killed Iran’s Armed Forces Chief of Staff Ali Shadmani. That is a big announcement, one sure to indicate a road towards further escalation.