Asked if US will strike Iran, Trump says: ‘I may do it, I may not do it’

The US president has been speaking to reporters on the lawns of the White House. Asked if the US was moving closer to striking Iranian nuclear facilities, Trump replied: “I can’t say that … You don’t seriously think I’m going to answer that question.”

“You don’t know that I’m going to even do it. You don’t know. I may do it, I may not do it. I mean, nobody knows what I’m going to do,” he said.

“I can tell you this – Iran’s got a lot of trouble, and they want to negotiate. And I said, ‘Why didn’t you negotiate with me before – all this death and destruction?’ Why didn’t you negotiate? I said to the people, ‘Why didn’t you negotiate with me two weeks ago? You could have done fine. You would have had a country.'”

Iran faces ‘near-total’ internet blackout: Monitor

NetBlocks has confirmed the internet outage in a post on X, saying it comes after an earlier series of partial disruptions amid the conflict with Israel.

‘Israelis united in wanting Trump to join war against Iran’

Israeli journalist Gideon Levy says there is a broad consensus in Israel in favour of the US getting more involved in the conflict with Iran.

“I think if you make a poll, you would realise that over 90 percent would like the Americans to get in,” he said. “Because after years in which we were told – rightly or wrongly – that the Iranians are very close to a nuclear bomb, who will be against preventing them from getting it?”

Levy also noted that it is widely accepted that Israel will not be able to destroy Iran’s Fordow nuclear site, which is buried deep underground, without the help of American bombs.

“Without Fordow, there is no real achievement in this war,” Levy told Al Jazeera. “The key is in the hands of Donald Trump, someone who says one thing in the morning and one thing in the evening and in both cases, you don’t understand really what he means.”

At the same time, Levy said most Israelis are ignoring the price the war has taken so far – or could take as it intensifies.

“We never went through such a war, in which streets are destroyed in Tel Aviv and elsewhere. People are rushing to the shelters three times a night, the economy is totally paralysed, the airports are closed. My guess is that Israel cannot take it for very long. But for the time being, people are ready to pay this price.”

_{A drone photo shows the damage over residential homes after an Iranian missile attack in Tel Aviv, Israel, June 16}

Third US aircraft carrier set to deploy close to Israel

The USS Ford Carrier Strike Group is expected to be deployed to Europe next week, near the Middle East, putting a third aircraft carrier in close proximity to the conflict between Israel and Iran, a US official and two other people familiar with the matter said.

The Ford’s scheduled deployment to the European Command theater has been in the books since late last year. But it will likely move into the eastern Mediterranean Sea, near Israel, given the ongoing conflict with Iran. At the same time, another aircraft carrier is en route to the Middle East, where it will either join or replace the USS Carl Vinson, CNN has reported.

The US military uses aircraft carriers to project power anywhere in the world, and they are among the first to deploy in times of crises. They can carry dozens of jets capable of carrying out strikes and can intercept missiles and drones, and they are accompanied by warships that can defend against air, surface, and submarine threats.

What’s happening in the occupied West Bank?

Israeli forces have carried out a familiar wave of violent raids across the occupied West Bank, according to Wafa news agency. So far today, the agency reports that Israeli forces have:

Israeli army shoots Palestinian in West Bank

The Israeli army says it “neutralized” an armed man with a knife who attempted to stab Israeli soldiers and seize their weapons as they were operating in the village of al-Walaja in the occupied West Bank.

“The fighters responded with fire and neutralized the terrorist,” the army said on Telegram.

While it is not clear whether it refers to the same incident, Palestine’s Wafa news agency reported that in al-Walaja, a young man, identified as Ali Hamza Hajajleh, 22, was shot “from close range” by Israeli soldiers after they had raided his house and arrested him.

He was seriously wounded, the agency added.

In separate reports, the Palestinian news agency said Israeli troops conducted multiple overnight raids in the Palestinian territory, including in the town of Birzeit, west of Ramallah, and the town of Burqin, west of Jenin.

The Israeli-occupied territory has been under lockdown since last week as the Israeli army, while bombing Iran, sealed the entrances of cities and villages there with iron gates and concrete barriers.

Israeli attacks in Gaza kill 34, including 11 aid seekers: Reports

As Israel’s conflict with Iran rages, it is continuing to wage deadly attacks in Gaza.

Today, a series of Israeli attacks across the enclave have killed at least 34 people so far, many of them aid seekers and civilians, according to the Palestinian news agency Wafa. The victims include:

In past 24 hours, 144 Palestinians killed in Gaza: Ministry

Gaza’s Ministry of Health says at least 144 bodies and 560 wounded have arrived at hospitals over the past 24 hours. The toll includes four bodies that were retrieved from under rubble.

Since Israel broke a truce agreed with Hamas in March, at least 5,334 Palestinians have been killed and more than 17,800 have been wounded.

Israel “is once again preventing international and UN organisations from accessing fuel storage sites designated for hospitals, claiming they are located in red zones,” the ministry said, adding that available fuel supplies in hospitals are sufficient for three days.

Trump rebuffs Putin’s offer to help mediate Israel-Iran conflict

The US president urged his Russian counterpart to resolve Russia’s war in Ukraine before stepping in elsewhere. “He actually offered to help mediate, I said, ‘do me a favour, mediate your own. Let’s mediate Russia first, OK?'” Trump told reporters at the White House.

Ex-UN aid chief warns conflict spiralling towards US attack

Martin Griffiths, the UN’s former humanitarian chief, says he has very little confidence that Trump truly wants diplomacy with Iran.

“What we’re facing is a tunnel going forward” towards a possible US military attack, Griffiths told Al Jazeera.

Griffiths, director of the Mediation Group International, noted that governments in the Middle East have tried to pass messages between the parties to the conflict “but there’s no appetite in the US and Israel for mediation.”

But he said that could change.

“The one thing we have learned about Trump – not so much about Netanyahu, who mostly does what he says he’s going to do, to the disasters that follow – is that President Trump does change,” Griffiths said.

Iran’s defiant response exactly ‘what you’d expect’

Former British Ambassador to Iran, Richard Dalton, said he is not surprised by Iran’s fiery response to Trump’s demand for it to “surrender”. “That is what you’d expect from any undefeated country and that is what you’d expect from Iran,” Dalton told Al Jazeera.

“These threats to its identity, to its continued existence, this damage to civilian facilities, not just military or potentially nuclear ones, has clearly enraged people in Tehran and not just supporters of the system of government in Iran,” he added.

“The unpredictability of the US is now a serious worry for the region and the rest of the world.”


Regime change in Iran ‘a strategic mistake’: French foreign ministry spokesman

France’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson has been speaking to Al Jazeera. Here are some of their translated comments:

Iran frustrated UN nuclear agency yet to condemn Israeli attacks

Iran wants the IAEA to do its job but the agency is yet to issue a condemnation of Israel’s actions.

Under international law and the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, attacking nuclear sites is banned. It is a violation of international law. That is the first thing Israel did – attack Natanz, Isfahan and now Tehran. These nuclear facilities are under constant attack.

The IAEA issued statements earlier today saying that the Tehran research nuclear reactor has been hit, and that facilities in Karaj, where parts of centrifuges are made, have come under attack.

There’s still no condemnation from the agency. When Russia invaded Ukraine, and there was fighting around Zaporizhzhia, one of the first things the agency did was condemn the attacks in the vicinity of the nuclear facility because it poses great risk. They have yet to condemn Israel.

Iran feels that there is very much this anti-Iran sentiment at the agency, and they have become very frustrated. As a result, I think we’re going to see a much different relationship between Iran and the agency now.

IAEA showing their true colors, institutionalized racism.

Iran summons German ambassador over ‘offensive remarks’: Iranian media

Iran’s semiofficial Mehr news agency says that Germany’s ambassador to Iran has been summoned over “offensive remarks” from German Chancellor Friedrich Merz.

Merz said on Tuesday that Israel is doing “the dirty work” for Western nations by fighting Iran and praised the “courage” of the Israeli army and leadership for their decision, despite a strong consensus among legal scholars that Israel’s unprovoked strikes against Iran violate international law.

Iran also summoned the Swiss ambassador in Tehran, which functions as a representative on behalf of the US, to express ire over Trump’s remarks on Tuesday that Iran must offer “unconditional surrender”.

Iran requests another Security Council meeting

In a letter, Iran’s mission to the UN says the situation “has dangerously escalated due to mounting and undeniable evidence of direct US involvement in this unlawful campaign”.

The mission denounced what it described as Trump’s “brazen threat” to kill Iran’s Supreme Leader Khamenei, as well as threats to strike the country’s nuclear facilities.

That points “to coordinated complicity in acts of war and state-sponsored aggression and terrorism at the highest levels”, it said in the letter.

“These reckless and inflammatory statements, especially when issued by the Head of State of a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, constitute a grave and flagrant violation of international law,” it added.

The Security Council held an emergency meeting on Friday, just hours after Israel launched its first attacks against Iran. The Israeli and US representatives at the UN defended the Israeli military’s bombing of Iran, while many of the other council members urged de-escalation.

UN Security Council to hold meeting on Friday

The UN Security Council will hold an emergency meeting on the Israel-Iran conflict at 10am in New York (14:00 GMT) on Friday. Iran’s request was supported by Russia, China, Pakistan and Algeria.

Iran’s IRGC says missile attacks will be ‘focused and continuous’

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) says long-range Sejjil missiles have been used in a 12th wave of firings at Israel.

In a statement, the IRGC warned that the skies above “occupied lands” are open to Iranian missiles and drones. “The missile attacks will be focused and continuous, and we have opened the gates of hell on the Zionists,” it said.

According to the Missile Defense Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in the US, the Sejjil is a “two-stage, solid-propellant, medium-range ballistic missile” designed and built in Iran. Measuring 18 metres (59 feet) in length, the missile has a range of 2,000km (1,242 miles). It can deliver a payload of around 700kg (1,543lbs), according to the database.

Mapping Iran’s most significant strikes on Israel

Using open source intelligence, including publicly circulated images and videos on social media, Israeli media platforms, and visual identification of destroyed locations in Israeli cities, Al Jazeera has mapped some of the most significant Iranian attacks on Israel from Saturday to Monday.

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/6/18/mapping-irans-most-significant-strikes-on-israel

Israeli strikes continuing across Tehran

I can still hear the sounds of explosions in a new round of which started a few minutes ago. We heard reports about casualties. They’re saying that some people have been injured as a result of the recent Israeli attack, targeting one of the most important buildings related to the commander of the police.

We don’t have further details, but we see a continuation of Israeli strikes across the capital. We have to keep in mind, this is not just happening in the capital. We hear reports from different cities being targeted by the Israeli strikes.

Israel feeling confident that danger of attacks is decreasing

The Israeli army says it has significantly degraded Iran’s ability to fire weapons and missiles, and that’s why there are fewer getting through. Of course, others would argue it could be tactical for the Iranians to not use all of the missiles they have.

The Israelis seem to think the situation is perhaps less critical than it was previously, because from this evening they’ve reduced the alert level in Israel to a place where you can have gatherings of up to 30 people.

Schools will remain closed, but there’s a suggestion as people go back to offices or shops where there is shelter provided should that be needed, that the Israelis seem to think it’s less dangerous and can reduce the threat level.

Portion of Israeli leadership ‘made up of criminals’

Croatia’s president said that a portion of Israeli leadership is “made up of criminals” and Israel is pursuing “a criminal policy” with the support of Washington.

“Israel is pursuing a criminal policy and we should not have anything to do with such a state because part of its leadership is made up of criminals,” Zoran Milanovic told reporters in the Croatian capital of Zagreb.

He said Israel “can do whatever it wants, it has been doing so for decades”. “It is simply a criminal policy that leads nowhere and which, unfortunately, has the support of Washington.”

‘Israel is increasingly isolated on the global stage’

Etan Nechin, the New York correspondent for Israeli news outlet Haaretz, argues that Israeli identity has been dramatically altered by the constant drumbeat of war promoted by Netanyahu and his government.

“Even if Israel ‘wins’ this round against Iran, what exactly have we won if we remain in the grip of a corrupt, apocalyptic regime?” Nechin wrote.

“There will be no victory without a reckoning. Belief in a deus ex machina, in miracles falling on Tehran from the sky, instead of in meaningful political change, from refusal to serve in this war to confronting the corruption to finally facing the big occupation elephant that has become the room, only feeds the solipsistic loop.

“Israel is increasingly isolated on the global stage.”

And the US is following not far behind...

UN calls on Israel to stop killing Palestinians seeking aid in Gaza

The UN has called on Israel to cease attacks on Palestinians waiting for food aid in Gaza, which have become more frequent and more lethal in the last several days.

“The UN Human Rights office in the Occupied Palestinian Territory calls on the Israeli Defence Forces to immediately cease its use of lethal force around food distribution points in Gaza, following repeated instances of shooting and killing of Palestinians seeking to access food there,” the office said in a social media post.

On Tuesday, at least 70 people were killed and hundreds wounded when Israeli tanks, machine guns and drones opened fire on a crowd waiting for aid near Khan Younis.

At least 38 people were killed in similar incidents on Monday, mostly in the area near Rafah in southern Gaza.



Enough with the useless words, they had no effect the last 1,000 times. Israel does not listen to the UN.


‘Growing number’ of Britons view Israel’s actions in Gaza as genocide

A poll commissioned by the NGO Action for Humanity shows that 55 percent of UK respondents oppose Israel’s actions in Gaza, while only 15 percent support them.

The number is even higher among Labour voters, 68 percent of whom are against Israel’s actions and 78 percent of whom believe the UK should enforce an International Criminal Court arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

“The UK government is totally out of touch with the British public they are supposed to represent, and the Labour Party are even more out of touch with their own voters,” said Jonathan Purcell of the International Centre of Justice for Palestinians.

World Food Programme says violence against those seeking aid ‘completely unacceptable’

The WFP said in a statement that “far too many people have died” while seeking aid in Gaza. The statement comes as continuous Israeli attacks on people seeking assistance have killed dozens of Palestinians in the last several days.

“Any violence resulting in starving people being killed or injured while seeking life-saving assistance is completely unacceptable,” reads the statement, which also laments continued restrictions in aid entry into Gaza.

“Over the last four weeks, WFP has been able to dispatch just 9,000 metric tons of food aid inside Gaza – a tiny fraction of what a population of 2.1 million hungry people needs,” it says, noting that during a previous ceasefire it facilitated the entry of as many as 600 trucks per day into Gaza.

Bodies of Palestinians shot by Israeli forces left for five days in Gaza before recovery

Our colleagues on the ground in Gaza are reporting that the bodies of 20 people shot dead in northern Gaza by Israeli forces while waiting for aid trucks were left for five days before approval of coordination was given to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs to allow paramedics to recover them.

Palestinian health officials have said that at least 72 Palestinians were killed by Israeli attacks since midnight on Wednesday, including at least 29 waiting for aid assistance.

In the last 24 hours, 144 people have been killed and 560 wounded.