Israel Iran war highlights: Missile sirens sound across Israel after Tehran launches fresh attack

Israel Iran war Live: Iran started secretly developing a Heavy Water Research Reactor in 2003 after several nuclear suppliers rejected its requests in the 1990s.

In 2015, Iran reached a landmark accord with several world powers, including the US, which is popularly known as the Iran nuclear agreement.

Under the agreement, Iran agreed to redesign the facility and dismantle much of its nuclear programme to relieve proliferation concerns- a move which was agreed in exchange of several billions of dollars' worth of sanctions, Politico reported.

In 2019, the country started the secondary circuit of the heavy water reactor. Though Iran didn't violate 2015 nuclear deal, the move resulted in the country getting closer towards developing nuclear weapons.

During the crucial interphase, UK stepped in to help Iran redesign the Arak reactor to limit the amount of plutonium produced as the US unilaterally withdrew from the deal in 2018 after Trump came into power, according to the Associated Press.

As part of the 2015 deal, Tehran also agreed to sell off its heavy water to the West to comply with the terms of the accord.

Israeli defence minister Israel Katz warned Hezbollah, an Iran-backed group in Lebanon, to ‘be cautious’ and that if there is terror, ‘there will be no Hezbollah’

"Hezbollah's Secretary-General does not learn from his predecessors and threatens to act against Israel in accordance with the Iranian dictator's orders.

I suggest that the Lebanese proxy be cautious and understand that Israel has lost its patience with terrorists who threaten it.

If there is terror - there will be no Hezbollah," Katz said in a post on X. 

International Atomic Energy Agency says that key buildings at Iran's Khondab heavy water production facility were damaged, including the distillation unit, after the facility was hit by Israeli strikes, reports Reuters. 

Iran is tapping into private security cameras in Israel to gather real-time intelligence about its adversary, exposing a recurrent problem with the devices that has emerged in other global conflicts, reported Bloomberg. 

Earlier this week, after Iranian ballistic missiles tore through high-rise buildings in Tel Aviv, a former Israeli cybersecurity official went on public radio to issue a stark warning: Turn off your home surveillance cameras or change the password.

“We know that in the past two or three days, the Iranians have been trying to connect to cameras to understand what happened and where their missiles hit to improve their precision,” Refael Franco, the former deputy director general of the Israel National Cyber Directorate, said on Monday. He now runs the cybersecurity crisis firm Code Blue. Read more.

The Arak Nuclear Complex, located in the Western part of the country, around 280 kilometres from the capital Tehran, comprises a heavy water experimental reactor and an adjacent heavy water production plant.

The heavy water from the facility helps cool nuclear reactors. Though Iran insists that its nuclear programme is for peaceful purposes, the reactor produces weapons-grade plutonium as a byproduct, which can potentially be used in nuclear weapons, several websites, including Politico and Missile Defence Advocacy Alliance, reported.

If Iran decides to pursue a nuclear weapon, the plutonium would help it develop a nuclear bomb without enriching uranium.

The international community has remained concerned over the Arak reactor, as several other countries have used such a reactor to produce plutonium for nuclear weapons.

Moreover, the details regarding the development of the facility have been murky, with reports of foreign experts, including Russia, contributing to the construction.

When he rose to power in 1989, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei had to overcome deep doubts about his authority as he succeeded the leader of the Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. A low-level cleric at the time, Khamenei didn't have his predecessor's religious credentials. With his thick glasses and plodding style, he didn't have his fiery charisma either.

But Khamenei has ruled three times longer than the late Khomeini and has shaped Iran’s Islamic Republic perhaps even more dramatically.

He entrenched the system of rule by the “mullahs," or Shiite Muslim clerics. That secured his place in the eyes of hardliners as the unquestionable authority — below only that of God. At the same time, Khamenei built the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard into the dominant force in Iran’s military and internal politics.

The Guard boasts Iran’s most elite military and oversees its ballistic missile program. Its international arm, the Quds Force, pieced together the “Axis of Resistance,” the collection of pro-Iranian proxies stretching from Yemen to Lebanon that for years gave Iran considerable power across the region. Khamenei also gave the Guard a free hand to build a network of businesses allowing it to dominate Iran’s economy.

In return, the Guard became his loyal shock force. (AP)

Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who crushed internal threats repeatedly during more than three decades in power, now faces his greatest challenge yet.

His archenemy, Israel, has secured free rein over Iran’s skies and is decimating the country’s military leadership and nuclear program with its punishing air campaign. It is also threatening his life: Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said Khamenei “cannot continue to exist.” (AP)

Israel Iran war Live: Iran has named a new intelligence chief for its Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), following the death of his predecessor in an Israeli airstrike last week, state-run IRNA news agency reported on Thursday.

Brigadier General Majid Khadami has been appointed to lead the IRGC’s intelligence division by Major General Mohammad Pakpour, the corps’ top commander, according to the report.

Khadami steps into the role after the previous intelligence chief, Mohammed Kazemi, was killed on Sunday along with two other senior IRGC officers—Hassan Mohaghegh and Mohsen Bagheri—in an Israeli strike.

The chief of the United Nations atomic watchdog rejected Iranian allegations that a recent nuclear-inspections report, which determined Tehran is in breach of its legal obligations, “in any way” justified Israel’s attacks on the Islamic Republic.

International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi rejected that his inspectors provided cover for Israel’s attacks, which started on June 13 and have damaged at least some nuclear facilities.

“The role of a report by the director general of the IAEA could never be conceived as a justification for any military activity by Israel,” Grossi said Thursday in an interview with Al Jazeera.

Five people sustained minor injuries after an Iranian missile struck near residential buildings in Beersheba, according to Magen David Adom (MDA), Israel’s national emergency medical and ambulance service.

The missile landed just outside several apartment complexes, causing significant damage to nearby homes. MDA reported that those injured were affected by the blast's shockwave, suffered blunt force trauma, smoke inhalation, and experienced acute stress, reported Times of Israel. 

Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping have condemened Israeli strikes against Iran urging both sides to pursue diplomatic means and put an immediate end to hostilites.

Escalating tensions between Iran and Israel topped the agenda of the telephone call between the two leaders in a telephone call, the Kremlin said on Thursday. Putin and Xi discussed the results of the recent G7 Summit in Canada, noting "the flaws that emerged in the relations of the meeting's participants, " TASS reported.

The call between the two leaders was "very constructive", Russian state media TASS cited Kremlin Aide Yury Ushakov telling reporters at a briefing on Thursday.

The two leaders strongly condemned "Israeli actions violating the UN Charter and other norms of international law" and said that the two counties "fundamentally agree that the current situation and issues related to the Iranian nuclear program can not be resolved militarily." (ANI)

While China was quick to denounce Israel following its military strike on Iran, President Xi Jinping has shown no urgency in backing Tehran with weapons or other strategic support, reported Bloomberg.

“China may be offering economic relief and rhetorical support to Iran, but actual military intervention is not anywhere near the table yet,” Bloomberg quoted Wen-Ti Sung, a nonresident fellow at the Atlantic Council’s Global China Hub, as saying. “China does not want to risk getting entrapped by Iran’s war with an Israel that has the Trump administration behind it.”

Israel Iran war: IDF says that struck the Sepand headquarters building in Tehran.

The Sepand headquarters is used for research and development of advanced technologies and weaponry for the military capabilities of the Iranian regime, established in 2011 by Fakhri Zadeh, the founder of Iran’s nuclear weapons program, according to IDF.

Israel Iran war Live: Among the sites IDF says it attacked in Iran were military industry sites for the production of missile components and sites for the production of raw materials used in casting missile engines.

"As part of the strikes and within the framework of the IDF’s activities to harm the Iranian regime’s nuclear weapons project, the IDF struck the Sepand headquarters building in Tehran.

In addition, a site for the production of a component essential to the Iranian regime’s nuclear weapons program was attacked.

During the night, the Air Force intercepted four unmanned aerial vehicles launched from Iran," said IDF. 

Israel Iran war Live: The IDF says it completed a series of strikes last night in the heart of Tehran and dozens of targets were hit, including military industry sites for missile production and the Sepand headquarters for nuclear weapons research and development.

Over 60 Israeli air force fighter jets struck dozens of military targets in Iran overnight on Thursday with precise intelligence guidance from the Intelligence Directorate, using approximately 120 munitions, said IDF.

During the night, several industrial sites for missile production were attacked in the Tehran area in Iran. These sites were built over years and served as the industrial center of gravity for the Iranian Defense Ministry, it added.

Israel Iran war Live:Amid the heightened tensions between Israel and Iran, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's 'personal loss for family' remarks over his son's wedding have sparked widespread criticism.

The remark, which was made outside Soroka Hospital in Be'er Sheva after an Iranian missile hit it, is being called out of touch by many Israelis. 

While speaking to the media after the hospital strike, Netanyahu said that his son Avner's wedding had to be delayed for a second time due to missile and rocket concerns amid conflict with Iran.

Netanyahu further described the situation as painful for both his son's fiancée and his wife, Sara, whom he called "a hero" for enduring the disappointment.

"There are people who were killed, families who grieved loved ones, I really appreciate that," Netanyahu said. "Each of us bears a personal cost, and my family has not been exempt." Read more.

Israeli minister of defense Israel Katz called Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei ‘modern Hitler’ and said he ‘cannot continue to exist’. 

"The dictator Khamenei is the modern Hitler who has vowed to destroy the State of Israel and enslaves all his country's resources to advance this horrific goal.

He cannot continue to exist," he said in a post on X. 

Israel Iran war Live: Iranian strikes that hit the Israeli city of Beersheba for the second day straight inflicted heavy damage. While there were no reports of any casualties so far, the missile, which landed outside apartment blocks, set multiple cars on fire. 

Firefighters are working to douse the flames, reported Times of Israel. 

"Following the situational assessment, the Home Front Command published that it is now permitted to leave protected spaces. IDF Search and Rescue forces are operating at a location where a report of a fallen projectile was received.

The public is requested to continue to follow the instructions of the Home Front Command," said IDF.

Israel Iran war Live: Day after Soroka hospital in Israel's Beersheba city was hit by Iranian srikes, another Iranian ballistic missile has reportedly hit the city.

There are no reports of injuries, according to medics, reported Times of Israel. 

Israel Iran war Live:US special envoy Steve Witkoff and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi have spoken by phone several times since Israel began its strikes on Iran last week, in a bid to find a diplomatic end to the crisis, three diplomats told Reuters.

According to the diplomats, who asked not to be identified due to the sensitivity of the matter, Araqchi said Tehran would not return to negotiations unless Israel stopped the attacks, which began on June 13.

They said the talks included a brief discussion of a US proposal given to Iran at the end of May that aims to create a regional consortium that would enrich uranium outside of Iran, an offer Tehran has so far rejected. (Reuters)

israel foreign ministry spokesperson Oren Marmorstein visited the hospital hit by Iranian missiles in souther Israel and shared pictures of the damage the strikes caused. 

In a post on X, he wrote, “I visited Soroka hospital today. This is what the Iranian regime’s ballistic missile did to this civilian university hospital. The Iranian regime is targeting our civilians, our hospitals. This is an Iranian war crime.”

Israel Iran War: According to the Israel Defence Forces, sirens sounded in several areas across Israel a short while ago following the identification of missiles launched from Iran toward the State of Israel.

"The public is requested to follow the instructions of the Home Front Command.

At this time, the IAF is operating to intercept and strike where necessary to eliminate the threat.

The defense is not hermetic, therefore, it is essential to continue following the instructions of the Home Front Command," the IDF said. 

Israel Iran War: An Iranian missile strike on Israel’s premier research institution, the Weizmann Institute of Science, has caused extensive damage to multiple laboratories. However, the strike has given a “moral victory” to Iran, whose nuclear scientists remained long in the radar of Israeli offensive.

The missile strike dealt a blow to decades of academic research at the institute, which is internationally known for its contributions to Life Sciences, Physics, and Chemistry.

“It’s a moral victory" for Iran, Associated Press quoted Oren Schuldiner, a professor in the departments of molecular cell biology and molecular neuroscience, whose lab was destroyed, as saying. “They managed to harm the crown jewel of science in Israel,” he added. 

“Several buildings were hit quite hard, meaning that some labs were literally decimated, really leaving nothing,” said Sarel Fleishman, a professor of Biochemics, who visited the site following the attack. Read more.

Israel Iran War: US Secretary of State Marco Rubio met British foreign minister David Lammy on Thursday and held separate calls with Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot and Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani to discuss the war between U.S. ally Israel and its regional rival Iran. (Reuters)