Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi warned that active US involvement in the Israel-Iran war would be “very, very dangerous for everyone” and “very unfortunate.”
Israel said it killed two top Iranian officials, Saeed Izadi and Behnam Shahriyari, in overnight strikes on targets in Qom.
Iran fired missiles at Israel early Saturday; a building in central Israel caught fire from shrapnel, and a drone later hit a residential building in the north, causing damage but no casualties.
Powerful explosions were reported in Ahvaz in south-west Iran; Israel said it was targeting military infrastructure in the region.
Four IRGC members were killed in an Israeli strike on a training centre in north-west Iran; five others reportedly died in Khorramabad.
Turkey’s president Erdoğan told Iran’s foreign minister that direct US-Iran talks are needed to revive nuclear negotiations, and offered Turkey’s help as a facilitator.
Erdoğan accused Israel of trying to sabotage US-Iran nuclear talks with its attacks, and urged Muslim countries not to fall for Israeli “poison” and push for diplomacy.
French president Emmanuel Macron spoke with Iran’s president Pezeshkian and agreed to accelerate nuclear talks between Iran and European powers.
A senior Iranian official said European proposals on Iran’s nuclear programme were unrealistic and warned that demands like zero enrichment were a dead end.
Turkey’s foreign minister Hakan Fidan said Israel is dragging the region toward disaster and called on Muslim nations to support Iran.
Iranian state media reported at least 430 killed and 3,500 injured in Israeli strikes; Iranian strikes have killed at least 25 people in Israel.
Israel deployed 50 aircraft overnight, striking Iran’s Isfahan nuclear site; Israel’s foreign minister claimed the attacks delayed Iran’s nuclear ambitions by 2–3 years.
IAEA confirmed a centrifuge workshop at the Isfahan nuclear facility was hit but said no nuclear material was present, ruling out radiological risk.
UNHCR warned that the intensity of the Iran-Israel conflict is triggering displacement, cautioning against a new refugee crisis.
Russian president Vladimir Putin offered to mediate between Iran and Israel and said there was no proof Iran is seeking nuclear weapons.
GCC ambassadors told IAEA chief Grossi that strikes on nuclear facilities near Gulf states could have dangerous consequences.
Iranian police in Qom said 22 people linked to Israeli intelligence were arrested for espionage and public disturbance since June 13.
Israel’s navy hit a Hezbollah site near Naqoura in southern Lebanon, warning the group against entering the Israel-Iran conflict.
Germany temporarily relocated embassy staff from Tehran due to security concerns but said the embassy remains operational.
UAE presidential adviser Anwar Gargash urged a swift end to the war, warning of long-term consequences for the Gulf region.
NetBlocks reported another internet blackout in Iran, following a brief period of restored connectivity.
Yemen's Houthis threaten to attack US ships in Red Sea if it strikes Iran
Recap of key developments:
1. Indian citizens evacuated: Two chartered flights with Indian citizens who were evacuated from Iran have arrived in Delhi on Saturday under India's Operation Sindhu.
2. Death toll: Israel's strikes on Iran have so far killed at least 657 people, including at least 263 civilians, according to a US-based NGO, the Human Rights Activists News Agency, citing Iranian sources and reports. Iran's retaliatory strikes have killed at least 25 people in Israel since the war began, according to Israeli authorities.
3. Iran says 'ready for talks with US': Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has said Iran is open to continuing talks with the US once Israel’s “aggression” stops and the “aggressor is held accountable.”
4. Israel vows prolonged campaign: Israel's armed forces chief Eyal Zamir warned that his country should be "ready for a prolonged campaign" against Iran.
5. Trump says Gabbard was wrong: Trump has said his director of national intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, was "wrong" when she previously said there was no evidence to suggest Iran was building a nuclear weapon.
6. Israel kills 82 Palestinians in Gaza: At least 82 Palestinians, including dozens of aid seekers, were killed in Israeli attacks across Gaza on Friday, the enclave's Health Ministry said.
Israel and Iran traded air strikes on Saturday as the conflict between the West Asian rivals entered its second week with a 16-year-old being killed in the Iranian city of Qom in the latest Israeli strikes.
The conflict was triggered by Israel’s unprovoked attack on Tehran on June 13, which killed several top military officials, senior scientists, and at least 60 civilians, including 20 children. Since then, Israel has continued to target the Islamic Republic’s nuclear facilities.
Tehran hit back in retaliation, launching ballistic missiles across Israel, with both countries engaging in tit-for-tat strikes targeting military and civilian infrastructure over the past seven days.
Israel, the sole but undeclared nuclear power in the Middle East, has said the attacks are aimed at preventing Iran from developing a nuclear weapon. It has also continued to publicly advocate for regime change in Tehran, including reported plans to assassinate Iran's supreme leader.
Israel's foreign minister claimed its strikes on Iran have delayed Tehran's potential to develop a nuclear weapon by at least two or three years.
"According to the assessment we hear, we already delayed for at least two or three years the possibility for them to have a nuclear bomb," Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said in an interview.
Israel, the sole and undeclared nuclear power in the Middle East, has said that its unprovoked attack on Iran was intended at preventing it from developing a nuclear weapon. It has also continued to publicly advocate for regime change in Tehran, including reported plans to assassinate Iran's supreme leader.
Iran has filed a complaint to the UN secretary-general and president of the Security Council against the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) head, Rafael Grossi, for his alleged inaction during Israel's attack on Tehran's nuclear facilities, reported Al Jazeera.
Iranian UN ambassador Amir-Saeid Iravani condemned Grossi’s "approach regarding Iran’s peaceful nuclear activities" and his "failure" to condemn Israel’s attacks on Iran, the report said citing Iranian news outlet Fars News.
The Indian Embassy on Saturday said it is evacuating "all Indian nationals" from Iran, as the Israel-Iran conflict entered the second week.
"The Indian Embassy in Iran is evacuating all Indian Nationals in Iran. The Embassy may be contacted either on the Telegram channel or over the emergency contact numbers. +989010144557, +989128109115 +989128109109 Telegram link: https://t.me/indiansiniran," the embassy wrote in a post on X.
It added that it would also facilitate the evacuation of Nepalese and Sri Lankan nationals, per the request of their governments.
The citizens of Nepal and Sri Lanka may urgently reach out to the Embassy, either on the Telegram channel or over the emergency contact numbers.
— India in Iran (@India_in_Iran) June 21, 2025
+989010144557; +989128109115; +989128109109
Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz on Saturday said Saeed Izadi, the commander of the Palestinian Corps in Iran’s Quds Force, has been assassinated in an attack on an apartment in the Iranian city of Qom, reported Al Jazeera.
Katz said Saeed had "funded and armed Hamas" ahead of its October 7 attack on Israel.
“[Izadi’s assassination is] a huge achievement for Israeli intelligence and air force, justice for the murdered and kidnapped. Israel’s long arm will reach all its enemies,” Katz said.
Iran's foreign minister arrived in Istanbul on Saturday, Tasnim news agency reported, for a meeting with Arab League diplomats to discuss Tehran's escalating conflict with Israel.
Around 40 diplomats are slated to join the weekend gathering of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), as Israel and Iran continue to exchange missile strikes.
"The Foreign Minister arrived in Istanbul this morning to participate in the Organization of Islamic Cooperation Foreign Ministers' meeting," Tasnim reported.
It comes after Araghchi met with his counterparts from Britain, France and Germany in Geneva on Friday.
"At this meeting, at the suggestion of Iran, the issue of the Zionist regime's attack on our country will be specifically addressed," said Iranian foreign Abbas Araghchi, according to the news agency.
Israel attacked Iran's Isfahan nuclear site in the early hours of Saturday, the Fars news agency reported, saying there were no hazardous leaks or risk to the population.
Quoting a security official, it said Israel carried out multiple attacks, including on the Isfahan site, saying "most of the explosive sounds heard in these attacks were related to air defence activity". There was no "leakage of hazardous materials," the official was quoted as saying.
Police in Iran's Qom province said Saturday that 22 people "linked to Israeli spy services" had been arrested since June 13, Fars news agency reported.
"22 people were identified and arrested on charges of being linked to the Zionist regime's spy services, disturbing public opinion and supporting the criminal regime," the agency said, citing the head of police intelligence in Iran's Qom province.
It came after Iranian police announced the arrest on Thursday of 24 people accused of spying for Israel and of seeking to tarnish the country's image, according to a statement carried by Tasnim news agency.
A European national was also arrested for spying, Tasnim reported on Friday, without giving their nationality or the date of the arrest.
Iran’s U.N. Ambassador Amir Saeid Iravani said hundreds of civilians have been killed, including at least two pregnant women and their unborn children, and thousands injured since Israel launched their large-scale attacks on June 13.
As examples, he said Israel on June 16 attacked the Hakim Children’s Hospital in Tehran, Farabi Rehabilitation Hospital in Kermanshah, the Iranian Red Crescent Society building and ambulances. He said physicians, patients and medical personnel have been killed and injured.
“These were not accidents,” Iravani told an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council on the escalating Israel-Iran war. “These were not ‘collateral damage.’ They were deliberate war crimes, acts of state terror, and examples of barbaric warfare.”
An evacuation flight carrying 330 Chinese citizens returning from Iran has arrived at Beijing airport, state broadcaster CCTV reported on Saturday. The flight from Ashgabat, the capital of Turkmenistan, landed in Beijing on Friday evening, it said.
Li Chunlin, a deputy director general at China’s foreign ministry’s consular affairs department, told the broadcaster that some 2,000 Chinese citizens have been evacuated from Iran.
Chinese Ambassador to Israel Xiao Junzheng told state-run media outlet CGTN that about 400 Chinese citizens were also evacuated from Israel.
Three people injured in Friday’s Iranian missile strike on Haifa are still undergoing treatment at Rambam Hospital, the facility’s spokesperson said, according to Israeli outlet Haaretz.
One of the injured remains in serious condition, the report stated.
Others who suffered minor injuries or anxiety have been discharged from the hospital.
At least five people were killed in an Israeli attack on the Iranian city of Khorramabad, according to local media reports citing the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
Iran’s Nour News Agency also reported that 15 members of the country’s air defence forces - both officers and soldiers - have been killed since the conflict began, according to Al Jazeera.
Israel's military said Saturday it had killed a top Iranian official in charge of military coordination with Palestinian militant group Hamas in a strike on Qom, south of Tehran.
Israeli "fighter jets struck and eliminated in the area of Qom the commander of the Palestine Corps of the Quds Force, and the key coordinator between the Iranian regime and the Hamas terrorist organisation, Saeed Izadi," the military said in a statement.
A senior United Arab Emirates official has urged a quick end to the Iran-Israel war, warning of a "difficult aftermath" if the conflict is prolonged.
Anwar Gargash, diplomatic advisor to the oil-rich UAE's President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, said the war was "setting back" the wealthy Gulf region.
"The longer a war takes, the more dangerous it becomes," he told journalists in a briefing on Friday.
"I think any extended confrontation or war between Israel and Iran will only bring a very difficult aftermath."
Israel's first responders said Saturday that a residential building in north Israel had been hit by a drone after the army reported an intrusion in the Beit She'an valley.
"A drone strike hit a two-storey residential building in northern Israel", the Magen David Adom said in a statement, adding that its rescue teams found no visible casualties as they arrived.
Iran’s Health Minister Mohammadreza Zafarghandi said that Israel of attacking three hospitals during the conflict, killing two health workers and a child, Fars news agency reported. He also claimed that six ambulances have been targeted.
Meanwhile, Iran’s Nour News on Saturday released the names of 15 air defence personnel - officers and soldiers - reported killed in the conflict with Israel.
Israeli authorities have said that 24 civilians have died in Iranian missile strikes on Israeli territory.
Israel struck Iran's Isfahan nuclear site overnight for the second time since the start of the war between the two arch foes, a military official said on Saturday.
"Isfahan we targeted in the first 24 hours of our operation, but we carried out a second wave of strikes there overnight, deepening our achievements and advancing the damage to the facility," the military official told reporters during a briefing on condition of anonymity. He added that Israel "dealt a severe blow to Iran's centrifuge production capabilities."
Israel's military said Saturday it had killed a top Iranian commander in charge of military coordination with Palestinian militant group Hamas in a strike on Qom, south of Tehran, reports AFP.
Israeli "fighter jets struck and eliminated in the area of Qom the commander of the Palestine Corps of the Quds Force, and the key coordinator between the Iranian regime and the Hamas terrorist organisation, Saeed Izadi," the military said in a statement.
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan on Saturday accused Israel of leading the Middle East to "total disaster" by attacking Iran on June 13, reports AFP.
"Israel is now leading the region to the brink of total disaster by attacking Iran, our neighbour," he told a summit of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation in Istanbul.
At least 430 people were killed and 3,500 were injured in Iran since the start of the Israeli-Iranian conflict on 13 June, Iranian state-run Nour News reported on Saturday, citing the country’s health ministry, according to The Guardian.
Israel said Saturday it had killed three Iranian commanders in its unprecedented bombing campaign across the Islamic republic, which Foreign Minister Gideon Saar claimed had already delayed Tehran's presumed nuclear plans by two years.
On the streets of Tehran, many shops were closed and normally bustling markets largely abandoned on Friday, reports AFP.
A US-based NGO, the Human Rights Activists News Agency, said on Friday that based on its sources and media reports at least 657 people have been killed in Iran, including 263 civilians.
Iran's health ministry said on Saturday at least 350 people had been killed in the Israeli strikes including military commanders, nuclear scientists and civilians.
Iran's foreign minister arrived in Istanbul Saturday for a meeting of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), Iran's Tasnim news agency reported, which was to discuss Tehran's escalating conflict with Israel.
Around 40 diplomats are slated to join the weekend gathering of the OIC as Israel and Iran continue to exchange missile strikes.
It comes after Araghchi met with his counterparts from Britain, France and Germany in Geneva on Friday, reports AFP.
Four fighters from Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps were killed in an Israeli attack on a training centre in northwest Iran, the ISNA news agency reported.
"Four people have died as martyrs and three others were wounded in an Israeli attack against a training camp of the Revolutionary Guards in Tabriz," ISNA reported. The city has been repeatedly targeted since Israel began striking Iran more than a week ago, AFP report added.
Internet service was partially restored in Iran on Saturday, after Tehran imposed a blackout during its war with Israel, London-based online watchdog NetBlocks said.
"Metrics show a partial restoration in internet connectivity in Iran after a ~62 hour government-imposed shutdown," NetBlocks posted on social media, according to AFP.
"However, service remains diminished in some areas and overall connectivity remains below ordinary levels," the internet watchdog added.
Israel's rescue services said Saturday that an Iranian drone had struck a residential building in the north of the country following a wave of attacks reported by the military.
"A drone strike hit a two-storey residential building in northern Israel", the Magen David Adom said in a statement, referring to an impact site in the Beit She'an valley by the northeastern border with Jordan.
The locations of strikes in Israel are subject to strict military censorship rules and are not always provided in detail to the public, reports AFP.
A Mahan Air evacuation flight carrying 256 Indian students, the majority from the Kashmir valley, landed safely at the Delhi airport on Saturday, bringing much-needed relief to their anxious families, reports PTI.
The students, many of whom were stranded in Iran amid escalating tensions in the Middle East, appeared visibly exhausted but relieved after enduring days of fear and uncertainty in the conflict zone.
"Thanks to the Government of India for its efforts and timely coordination with Iranian authorities.
We remain committed to ensuring the safe evacuation of all remaining students, especially those from vulnerable and remote regions," the Jammu and Kashmir Students' Association said in a statement.
The association also confirmed that another evacuation flight carrying Indian students is expected to arrive in the national capital around 11:30 pm.
This was the second flight bringing back Indians from Iran within 24 hours under Operation Sindhu.
Wary of assassination, Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has not only picked replacements in his chain of military command in case they are killed in Israeli strikes, he has also named three senior clerics to replace him should he, too, be slain, reports The New York Times.
Though only a week old, the NYT report noted that the Israeli strikes are the biggest military assault on Iran since its war with Iraq in the 1980s, and the effect on the nation’s capital, Tehran, has been particularly fierce. In only a few days, the Israeli attacks have been more intense and have caused more damage in Tehran than Saddam Hussein did in his entire eight-year war against Iran.
Ayatollah Khamenei, 86, is aware that either Israel or the United States could try to assassinate him, an end he would view as martyrdom, the report, quoting officials, said.
Israeli strikes on Iran have killed more than 400 people since they began last week, Iran's health ministry said in an updated toll on Saturday, as fighting raged between the two foes.
"As of this morning, Israeli attacks have claimed the lives of over 400 defenseless Iranians and left 3,056 others wounded by missiles and drones," health ministry spokesman Hossein Kermanpour said in a post on X.
We have now entered the ninth day of the Israeli regime’s military aggression against the land of Cyrus the Great and Arash. As of this morning, Israeli attacks have claimed the lives of over 400 defenseless Iranians and left 3,056 others wounded by missiles and drones.
— حسین کرمانپور Hossein.Kermanpour (@HKermanpour) June 21, 2025
Among…
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has confirmed that a centrifuge manufacturing workshop in Iran’s central city of Isfahan was hit in an Israeli strike.
“We know this facility well. There was no nuclear material at this site and therefore the attack on it will have no radiological consequences,” IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi said in a statement posted by the agency.
This marks the third nuclear-related facility to be targeted in Israeli attacks since June 13.
Grossi also reiterated on Friday that the IAEA has no evidence suggesting Iran is currently working to develop nuclear weapons.
A centrifuge manufacturing workshop has been hit in Esfahan, the third such facility that has been targeted in Israel's attacks on Iran's nuclear-related sites over the past week, @rafaelmgrossi said today, citing info available to the IAEA. https://t.co/sYHYXshmwe pic.twitter.com/AdzVTfQ4RT
— IAEA - International Atomic Energy Agency ⚛️ (@iaeaorg) June 21, 2025
Yemen's Tehran-backed Houthi rebels threatened on Saturday to attack US vessels in the Red Sea in spite of a recent truce should Washington get involved in Israel's campaign against Iran, reports AFP.
"If the US gets involved in an attack and aggression against Iran with the Israeli enemy, the armed forces (Houthis) will target its ships and warships in the Red Sea," the group's military spokesman Yahya Saree said in a video statement.
Israel said Saturday that an Iranian plot to attack Israeli citizens in Cyprus had been foiled, as the war between the two arch-rivals raged for a ninth day, reports AFP.
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said on X that Iran's Revolutionary Guards "tried to carry out an attack on Israeli citizens in Cyprus", but "thanks to the activity of the Cypriot security authorities, in cooperation with Israeli security services, the terror attack was thwarted."
Two US B-2 stealth bombers have been moved from their base in Missouri to Guam in the Pacific and are expected to be stationed at Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean, bringing them within one refuelling range of Iran, Al Jazeera reported.
While the US military has stated that the movement of aircraft carriers in the region is part of routine rotations or relief operations, the deployment of B-2 bombers signals potential strategic positioning amid the ongoing Israel-Iran conflict.
Diego Garcia’s proximity to Iran is significant, Al Jazeera noted, as the B-2 is among the few aircraft capable of carrying so-called bunker buster bombs designed to strike fortified underground nuclear facilities.
However, military experts cited by Al Jazeera say even those advanced munitions may not be capable of penetrating deep enough to cause substantial damage to Iran’s most heavily protected sites.
The report added that US President Donald Trump, who is set to return to the White House for a National Security Council meeting, will likely weigh this limitation while reviewing US military options.
Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian said Saturday his country will not halt nuclear activity "under any circumstances" amid ongoing fighting with Israel which hit nuclear sites.
"We are ready to discuss and cooperate to build confidence in the field of peaceful nuclear activities, however, we do not agree to reduce nuclear activities to zero under any circumstances," said Pezeshkian during a phone call with French President Emmanuel Macron, according to the official IRNA news agency.
An Israeli attack on Saturday in Iran's west killed at least five army personnel and wounded nine others, Iranian media reported.
"Five army officers were killed and nine others were wounded in today's attack by the Israeli regime on the western city of Sumar" in Kermanshah province, the Fars news agency reported, quoting a provincial official.
IDF says it attacked three Iranian F14 fighter jets in central Iran, reports Al Jazeera.
The Israeli military said that, in addition, Israeli fighter jets are currently attacking military infrastructure in central Iran.
Multiple U.S. aerial refueling tankers were spotted on commercial flight trackers flying flight patterns consistent with escorting aircraft from the central U.S. to the Pacific.
B-2 bombers, which are the only aircraft that carry the large bunker buster bombs, are based at an Air Force base in Missouri. It was not clear whether the aircraft being escorted early Saturday were prepared for an operation or merely moving to airbases closer to Iran as a show of force.
The White House and Pentagon did not respond to requests for comment on the flights. -Associated Press
