Iran, European officials begin nuclear talks in Geneva amid Gaza war

The live blog has ended and will be back tomorrow at 9am BST. You can read more of The New Arab's coverage of the war between Israel and Iran here.

The Israeli air force said Saturday it had launched a new wave of airstrikes against missile storage and launch sites in central Iran, on the ninth day of conflict between the two countries.

In a post on X, the air force said it targeted "missile storage and launch infrastructure in central Iran".

A fire broke out in a three-story building in Holon, central Israel, caused by shrapnel following an Iranian ballistic missile attack, according to Haaretz.

Explosions were heard over Tel Aviv alongside sirens in central Israel, according to Reuters, after the Israeli military said that Iran had launched ballistic missiles against Israel.

Israel estimates its strikes on Iran have delayed Tehran's potential to develop a nuclear weapon by "at least two or three years", Israel's foreign minister said in an interview published Saturday.

Israel's offensive has produced "very significant" results, Foreign Minister Gideon Saar told German newspaper Bild, saying: "We already delayed for at least two or three years the possibility for them to have a nuclear bomb."

One person was killed in an Israeli strike on Lebanon's town of Baraachit in Bint Jbeil district earlier today, according to Lebanon's National News Agency.

The Israeli military has said that it has launched strikes on Western Iran, targeting ballistic missile storage and launch sites, according to The Times of Israel, citing the military, adding that 15 fighter jets were used, carrying 30 minutions.

President Donald Trump said on Friday he might support a ceasefire in the week-old aerial conflict between US ally Israel and its regional rival Iran "depending on the circumstances".

Asked by reporters if he would support a ceasefire while negotiations are ongoing, Trump said: "I might, depending on the circumstances".

Europe would not be able to help much in the war between Iran and Israel, Trump added.

"Iran doesn't want to speak to Europe. They want to speak to us. Europe is not going to be able to help in this one," Trump said.

"Well, I'm not going to talk about ground forces, because the last thing you want to do is ground forces," Trump said, when asked if ground forces would be needed to defeat Iran.

Trump and the White House say he will decide in the next two weeks whether the U.S. will get involved in the Israel-Iran war. Trump has kept the world guessing on his plans, veering from proposing a swift diplomatic solution to suggesting Washington might join the fighting on Israel's side.

Arab League foreign ministers gathered in Istanbul late Friday to discuss the escalating war between Iran and Israel, Turkish state news agency Anadolu said, quoting diplomatic sources.

The ministers were in Turkey's largest city on the eve of weekend gathering of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), which was also slated to discuss the air war launched a week ago.

Israel began its assault in the early hours of June 13, saying Iran was on the verge of developing nuclear weapons, triggering an immediate immediate retaliation from Tehran in the worst-ever confrontation between the two arch-rivals.

Some 40 top diplomats are slated to join the weekend gathering of the OIC which will also have a session dedicated to discussing the Iran-Israel crisis, the Turkish foreign ministry said.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, who met with his counterparts from Britain, France and Germany in Geneva on Friday, will also attend and address the diplomats, the ministry said.

Earlier on Friday, Araghchi said Tehran was ready to "consider diplomacy" again only if Israel's "aggression is stopped".

The Arab League ministers were expected to release a statement following their meeting, Anadolu said.

A US-based NGO said Friday that Israel's strikes against Iran have killed at least 657 people including civilians and members of the security forces, a toll based on sources and reports in Iran.

The Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) said that at least 263 civilians had been killed nationwide since Israel began its strikes on June 13.

Among these, it said it had verified the identities of more than 20 children who have been killed, mostly in Tehran.

It added that 164 members of the military had also been killed.

The overall death toll includes 230 people who HRANA was unable to determine whether they were civilians or members of the security forces.

More than 2,000 members of the security forces and civilians had been wounded as of early Friday, it added.

The group said strikes had taken place in 21 of Iran's 31 provinces.

HRANA is part of the Human Rights Activists NGO, which was set up inside Iran in 2005 but later shifted to the United States in the face of repression from the Iranian authorities.

It publishes dozens of reports a day, outlining human rights violations inside Iran.

Tehran is ready to "consider diplomacy" again only once Israel's "aggression is stopped", Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said following talks with his European counterparts on Iran's nuclear programme.

"Iran is ready to consider diplomacy once again and once the aggression is stopped and the aggressor is held accountable for the crimes committed... We support the continuation of discussion with" Britain, France, Germany and the European Union "and express our readiness to meet again in the near future," Araghchi told reporters following the talks at a Geneva hotel.

European powers on Friday urged Iran to hold nuclear talks "without awaiting" an end to Israeli air strikes on the Islamic republic, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said.

"We invited the Iranian minister to consider negotiations with all sides, including the United States, without awaiting the cessation of strikes, which we also hope for," he said after he and his British, German and EU counterparts held talks with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi in Geneva.

"It is illusory and dangerous to want to impose a regime change from the outside. It is up to the people to decide their own destiny," Barrot added, after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu did not rule out killing supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

The USS Gerald R. Ford will depart for Europe next week, a Navy official said Friday, placing a third American aircraft carrier in closer proximity to the Middle East as Israel and Iran trade strikes.

Israel launched an unprecedented air campaign against Iran last week, and US President Donald Trump has said he is weighing whether to join Israel in the fight.

"The Gerald Ford carrier strike group will depart Norfolk (Virginia) the morning of June 24 for a regularly scheduled deployment to the US European Command area of responsibility," the Navy official said.

The US Carl Vinson carrier strike group has been operating in the Middle East since earlier this year, taking part in an air campaign against Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi rebels.

And a US defense official has confirmed that Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth ordered the Nimitz carrier strike group to the Middle East, saying it was "to sustain our defensive posture and safeguard American personnel."

European foreign ministers on Friday said they were ready for more talks with Iran after discussions to try to restore a diplomatic path over its nuclear programme.

After three hours of talks, the ministers from France, Britain, Germany and the European Union made brief remarks, but did not signal whether there had been any tangible progress.

Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi also said on Friday Tehran backed the continuation of discussions with Germany, France, Britain and the EU and would be prepared to meet again in the near future following talks in Geneva.

(Reuters)

US President Donald Trump presided over a national security meeting about Iran with top aides at the White House on Friday, a US official said.

The official also said US special envoy Steve Witkoff is in regular contact with the Iranians, both directly and indirectly, with Qatar acting as an intermediate.

(Reuters)

EU Foreign Policy Chief Kaja Kallas said on Friday that talks with Iran must remain open following discussions between the Iranian foreign minister and his counterparts from Germany, Britain and France, as well as Kallas.

(Reuters)

A series of blasts was heard in Tehran on Friday, an AFP journalist reported, as the war between Israel and Iran entered its second week.

The 8:45 pm (1715 GMT) blasts came a few minutes after Iran's Fars news agency reported that air defences had been activated in the heart of the capital.

Israel may have fallen short of its human rights obligations under a cooperation deal with the EU over its offensive in Gaza, a review of the agreement found Friday, upping pressure on Brussels to take action.

"On the basis of the assessments made by the independent international institutions... there are indications that Israel would be in breach of its human rights obligations," said the document drafted by the EU's diplomatic service and seen by AFP.

Israeli's military chief Eyal Zamir said Friday that his country should be "ready for a prolonged campaign" against Iran, as the longtime foes exchanged fire for the eighth day.

"We have embarked on the most complex campaign in our history to remove a threat of such magnitude, against such an enemy. We must be ready for a prolonged campaign," Zamir said in a video statement to Israelis, adding that "the campaign is not over. Although we have made significant achievements, difficult days still lie ahead."

Ireland will temporarily relocate embassy personnel from Tehran, the Irish foreign minister said on Friday.

"In light of the deteriorating situation, following consultation with my officials and in close consultation and coordination with EU partners, I have decided to temporarily relocate our personnel from Tehran," Simon Harris said in a statement.

Arrangements had been made for the embassy to continue its operations from Dublin, he said.

Earlier on Friday, Britain said it was temporarily withdrawing British staff from its embassy in Iran.

(Reuters)

Iraq's representative to the United Nations said 50 Israeli warplanes planes violated Iraqi airspace shortly before a UN meeting on the Israel-Iran conflict on Friday.

Abbas Kadhom Obaid Al-Fatlawi, charge d'affaires of Iraq's UN mission, told the UN Security Council the aircraft came from the Syrian-Jordanian border areas.

"Twenty airplanes started, followed by 30 airplanes heading to the south of Iraq, and they flew over Basra, Najaf and Karbala cities," he said.

"These violations are violations of international law and the UN Charter," he said, adding: "They also constitute a threat to the sacred sites and regions which might cause strong popular reactions, considering the importance of these holy sites for our peoples." 

Iran said it would continue to defend itself against Israel during a UN Security Council session on Friday, while Israel's UN ambassador vowed that his country would not stop its attacks until Iran's nuclear threat is dismantled.

"We will not stop," Israeli UN Ambassador Danny Danon said. "Not until Iran's nuclear threat is dismantled, not until its war machine is disarmed, not until our people and yours are safe."

Iran's UN Ambassador Amir Saeid Iravani urged the Security Council to take action.

"Israel apparently declared that it will continue this strike for as many days as it takes. We are alarmed by credible report that the United States... may be joining this war," he said.

(Reuters)

Germany's air force has flown 64 people out of Israel, the defence ministry in Berlin said on Friday.

"At this moment, two A400M military transporters of the Luftwaffe are on their way back from Israel to Germany," the ministry said in a statement.

It described the flights as a "diplomatic pick-up" and not a a military evacuation mission, which would have required parliamentary approval. 

British police arrested eight men on Friday, including seven on suspicion of grievous bodily harm, following reports of an altercation involving pro and anti-Iranian protesters at a location close to the Iranian embassy in London.

London's Metropolitan Police said a man had been taken into custody after he was arrested on suspicion of breaching conditions temporarily banning protest gatherings in the area until Sunday.

"Seven other men remain in police custody after being arrested on suspicion of grievous bodily harm," the police said in a statement.

Local media reported the arrests took place at a protest against the Iranian leadership.

Police did not link the arrests to the Iranian embassy, but said they took place on Prince's Gate in London, which is where the embassy is located.

"Two men were treated for injuries at the scene and have been taken to hospital for further treatment by the London Ambulance Service," the police said in an earlier statement.

Their injuries are not believed to be life-threatening, the police said in an update.

"Police have cordoned off the area while initial investigations take place."

BREAKING: Iranians protesting outside of the Islamic Republic of Iranian embassy in London, are violently attacked by thugs of Khamenei.

pic.twitter.com/6w4iJGpQsF

— Eyal Yakoby (@EYakoby) June 20, 2025

The Lebanese health ministry said an Israeli strike on south Lebanon killed one person on Friday, as Israel claimed it killed a member of Iran-backed group Hezbollah.

In a statement carried by Lebanon's state-run National News Agency, the ministry said that an Israeli drone strike on a vehicle killed one person near the southern village of Abbassiyeh.

The Israeli army named its target as Mohammed Khadr al-Husseini and said he was "commander of the Hezbollah firepower array in the Litani sector".

The military alleged that Husseini "advanced numerous attacks toward Nahariya, Haifa and additional cities" during the war and supported efforts in rebuilding Hezbollah's arsenal since then.

Israel has repeatedly bombed its northern neighbour despite a November ceasefire ending more than a year of hostilities with Hezbollah.

The Middle East risks a nuclear catastrophe if Israel strikes Iran's southern nuclear plant of Bushehr, the head of the UN atomic watchdog warned Friday.

Rafael Grossi, director of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), told the UN Security Council that he has not yet detected radiation resulting from Israel's week-long military campaign against Iran, including attacks on nuclear sites.

But he said that a strike on Bushehr, the Middle East's first civilian nuclear reactor, which so far appears to have been spared -- would spell the most serious consequences as it contains thousands of kilograms of nuclear material.

"Countries of the region have reached out directly to me over the past few hours to express their concerns, and I want to make it absolutely and completely clear -- in case of an attack on the Bushehr nuclear power plant, a direct hit would result in a very high release of radioactivity," Grossi said.

Grossi warned of equally dire consequences even if Israel strikes the lines that supply electricity to Bushehr, saying such disabling of power could trigger a meltdown.

The Trump administration has issued fresh Iran-related sanctions, including on two entities based in Hong Kong, and counterterrorism-related sanctions, according to a notice posted to the U.S. Treasury Department's website on Friday.

The sanctions target at least 20 entities five individuals and three vessels, according to Treasury's Office of Foreign Asset Control.

The UK said Friday it had withdrawn its embassy staff from Iran on the eighth day of the war with Israel, as the US mulled whether to enter the conflict.

"Due to the current security situation, we have taken the precautionary measure to temporarily withdraw our UK staff from Iran. Our embassy continues to operate remotely," the foreign ministry said in a statement.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres pleaded Friday with all sides to "give peace a chance" in the Iran-Israel conflict, warning that the violence could spiral out of control.

"To the parties to the conflict -- the potential parties to the conflict -- and to the Security Council as the representative of the international community, I have a simple and clear message: Give peace a chance," Guterres said, in a veiled reference to the United States, which is considering intervening militarily to support Israel.

Israel's Magen David Adom rescue service reported two people injured by shrapnel on Friday, including a 16-year-old in serious condition, after the latest barrage of missiles fired from Iran.

"MDA medics and paramedics are providing medical treatment and are taking a 16-year-old boy to the hospital in serious condition, with shrapnel in his upper body, and a 54-year-old man in moderate condition with a shrapnel injury to his lower limbs," the MDA said in a statement, without specifying their location.

Gaza's civil defence agency said 31 Palestinian aid seekers were among at least 60 people killed Friday by Israeli forces, the latest in a string of deadly incidents near aid distribution sites.

Civil defence spokesman Mahmud Bassal told news agency AFP that five people were killed while waiting for aid in the southern Gaza Strip and 26 others near a central area known as the Netzarim corridor, an Israeli-controlled strip of land that bisects the Palestinian territory.

Thousands of Palestinians have gathered there daily in the hope of receiving food rations, as famine looms across Gaza after more than 20 months of war.

The Israeli army told AFP that its troops in the Netzarim area had first fired "warning shots" at "suspects" approaching them.

When the individuals continued advancing, "an aircraft struck and eliminated the suspects in order to remove the threat," the army said.

Similar incidents have occurred in that area regularly since late May, when the US- and Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation opened its distribution centres, as Israel eased a two-month aid blocakde.

Elsewhere in the territory on Friday, Bassal said 14 people were killed in two separate strikes in and around the central city of Deir el-Balah, and 13 others in three Israeli air strikes in the Gaza City area.

One of those strikes, which killed three people, hit a phone charging station in the city, Bassal said.

In southern Gaza, two people were killed "by Israeli gunfire" in two separate incidents, he added.

The Israeli army said on Friday sirens had sounded across the country after missiles were fired from Iran.

"A short while ago, sirens sounded in several areas across Israel following the identification of missiles launched from Iran toward the State of Israel," the army said in a statement.

According to Al Jazeera English, the Israeli air force has confirmed that its forces are currently carrying out attacks on "military infrastructure" in western and central Iran.

Saudi Arabia and Qatar have both warned Israel over the nature of its airstrikes in Iran, voicing concern about escalating regional tensions.

Saudi Arabia’s Nuclear and Radiological Regulatory Commission stressed on Friday that attacking civilian nuclear sites would be a violation of international law.

Meanwhile, Qatar’s Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani raised alarm over Israeli strikes during a phone call with Norway’s Foreign Minister, Espen Barth Eide.

According to Qatari state media, Sheikh Mohammed condemned Israel’s repeated violations in the region, warning that such actions threaten peace efforts and risk triggering a wider war.

He also warned that strikes on Iranian economic infrastructure could have devastating consequences for the region and beyond.

Thousands of people joined a protest against Israel in the Iranian capital on Friday after weekly prayers, chanting slogans in support of their leaders, images on state television showed.

"This is the Friday of the Iranian nation's solidarity and resistance across the country," the news anchor said.

Footage showed protesters in Tehran holding up photographs of commanders killed since the start of the war with Israel, while others waved the flags of Iran and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah.

"I will sacrifice my life for my leader," read a protester's banner, a reference to supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

According to state television, protests took place in other cities around the country, including in Tabriz in northwestern Iran and Shiraz in the south.

Thousands of supporters of powerful Iraqi cleric Moqtada Sadr rallied Friday in Baghdad and other cities against Israel's war with Iran, news agency AFP reported.

"No to Israel! No to America!" chanted demonstrators gathered after Friday prayers in the Sadr City district of Baghdad, Moqtada Sadr's stronghold in the capital, holding umbrellas to shield themselves from Iraq's scorching summer sun.

"It is an unjust war... Israel has no right" to hit Iran, said protester Abu Hussein.

"Israel is not in it for the (Iranian) nuclear (program). What Israel and the Americans want is to dominate the Middle East," added the 54-year-old taxi driver.

He said he hoped Iran would come out of the war victorious, and that Iraq should support its neighbour "with money, weapons and protests".

In Iraq's southern city of Basra, around 2,000 people demonstrated after the prayers, according to news agency AFP.

Cleric Qusai al-Assadi, 43, denounced Israel's use of Iraqi airspace to bomb Iran. "It is a violation of Iraq's sovereignty," he said, warning against "a third world war against Islam."

Echoing the views of Sadr, Assadi said that Iraq should not be dragged into the conflict.

In a statement earlier this week, Sadr condemned "the Zionist and American terrorism" and the "aggression against neighbouring Iran, Palestine, Lebanon, Syria and Yemen", referring to Israel's military operations in those countries.

Gaza's civil defence agency said Israeli forces killed at least 43 people on Friday, including 26 who had gathered near an aid distribution centre, the latest in a string of deadly incidents targeting aid seekers in the Palestinian territory.

"Forty-three martyrs have fallen as a result of the ongoing Israeli bombardment on the Gaza Strip since dawn today, 26 of whom were waiting for humanitarian aid," Mohammad Al-Mughayyir, director of medical supply at the civil defence agency in Gaza, told news agency AFP.

Israel's ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva has raised "vehement objection" to Iran addressing the Human Rights Council ahead of talks with European counterparts in Geneva to try to de-escalate the conflict, according to a letter seen by Reuters.

"Affording the Iranian foreign minister the floor before this body continues to undermine the council's credibility and constitutes a blatant betrayal of the many victims of this regime worldwide," Daniel Meron said in a letter addressed to council president Jurg Lauber.

The council said on Friday said that Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi was due to be given the floor. Shortly afterwards, he is due to hold talks with the EU foreign policy chief and his counterparts in Britain, France and Germany in order to de-escalate the conflict.

In the letter, Meron accuses Iran of using the council as a international stage to "promote the regime's despotic campaign."

Gaza is facing a man-made drought as its water systems collapse, the United Nations' children agency said on Friday.

"Children will begin to die of thirst ... Just 40% of drinking water production facilities remain functional," UNICEF spokesperson James Elder told reporters in Geneva.

Danish shipping giant Maersk announced Friday that it was temporarily suspending vessel calls in Israel's Haifa port due to the country's conflict with Iran.

Maersk said in a statement that it made the decision "after carefully analysing threat risk reports regarding the ongoing conflict between Israel and Iran -- particularly the potential risks of calling Israeli ports and their implications for the safety of our crews".

An Iranian nuclear scientist was killed in a strike on a building in Tehran on Friday, state Israeli broadcaster Kan and other local media reported.

The Israeli military did not immediately comment on the reports. 

Iran's foreign minister will address the UN Human Rights Council on Friday on the sidelines of talks with European counterparts aiming for a diplomatic solution to the Iran-Israel war.

Abbas Araghchi "will intervene in person... at the beginning of the council's afternoon meeting" at 1300 GMT, after which the council will resume its normal programme, Pascal Sim, spokesman for the UN's top rights body, told a press briefing.

UN spokeswoman Alessandra Vellucci added that Daniel Meron, Israel's ambassador to the UN in Geneva, would be outside the council chamber at 1230 GMT to deliver a "press statement on Iran".

Araghchi is meeting his French, German, British and EU counterparts in Geneva on Friday to discuss Iran's nuclear programme.

Israel, claiming Iran was on the verge of developing a nuclear weapon, launched air strikes against its arch-enemy a week ago, triggering deadly exchanges.

Israel no longer participates in the Human Rights Council, boycotting its meetings over "anti-Semitism".

Pro-Palestinian activists from the group Palestine Action said they had broken into a Royal Air Force base in central England on Friday and damaged two military aircraft.

BREAKING: Palestine Action break into RAF Brize Norton and damage two military aircrafts.

Flights depart daily from the base to RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus.

From Cyprus, British planes collect intelligence, refuel fighter jets and transport weapons to commit genocide in Gaza. pic.twitter.com/zzmFqGKW8N

— Palestine Action (@Pal_action) June 20, 2025

Israeli airstrikes reached into the Iranian city of Rasht on the Caspian Sea early Friday, Iranian media reported.

Social media video posted online appeared to show explosions around the city. The semiofficial Fars news agency reported local air defense systems were firing into the night sky against the Israelis.

Ahead of the strikes, the Israeli military put out a warning urging the public to flee the area around Rasht’s Industrial City, which sits a few kilometers (miles) southwest of the city’s downtown.

The Israelis did not immediately describe what they sought to destroy in the area. However, with Iran’s internet being shut off to the outside world, it was unclear how many people in Iran would be able to see the message.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi rejected any negotiations with the United States while Israel continues its attacks on Iran, in an interview with state TV broadcast on Friday.

"The Americans have repeatedly sent messages calling seriously for negotiations. But we have made clear that as long as the aggression does not stop, there will be no place for diplomacy and dialogue," said the chief diplomat, who was due in Geneva for talks with his European counterparts.

Russian nuclear energy chief Alexei Likhachev said on Friday that the situation at Iran's Bushehr nuclear power plant, where hundreds of Russian specialists work, was "normal" and under control.

The Israeli military said at one point on Thursday that it had struck the Russian-built Bushehr facility, but later said the comment had been made by mistake. Likhachev, head of the state nuclear energy corporation Rosatom, said on Thursday that any attack on the plant could cause a Chernobyl-style nuclear disaster.

Bushehr is Iran's only operating nuclear power plant and uses Russian fuel that Russia then takes back when it is spent to reduce proliferation risk.

Asked on Friday about the situation at Bushehr, Likhachev told reporters: "So far the situation is completely under control, everything is normal. The night passed in the usual anxious but manageable atmosphere."

He added: "We continue to work in pre-mobilization mode and very much hope that all our signals from yesterday reached the Israeli leadership."

The "pre-mobilisation" comment appeared to refer to the possibility of evacuating staff in the event of an emergency.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has information that key buildings at Iran's Khondab heavy water research site were damaged in Israeli strikes, including the distillation unit, it said in an X post on Friday.

The information was an update on an assessment from Thursday, in which the IAEA said the reactor has been hit but there were no radiological effects. 

As mentioned in yesterday’s update, while damage to the Khondab Heavy Water Production Plant was initially not visible, the Agency later assessed that key buildings at the facility were damaged, including the distillation unit.

More: https://t.co/LiMPDvnROv https://t.co/viWvXje4fj

— IAEA - International Atomic Energy Agency ⚛️ (@iaeaorg) June 20, 2025

Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz warned Lebanon's Hezbollah to exercise caution on Friday, saying Israel's patience with "terrorists" who threaten it had worn thin.

The head of Iran-backed Hezbollah, Naim Qassem, said on Thursday that the Lebanese group would act as it saw fit in the face of what he called "brutal Israeli-American aggression" against Iran.

In other statements, the group has made no explicit pledge to join the fighting and a Hezbollah official told news agency Reuters last week that the group did not intend to initiate attacks against Israel. 

Iranian police announced the arrest on Thursday of 24 people accused of spying for Israel.

Authorities in both Israel and Iran have announced arrests for espionage and other charges since the war began on Friday.

Norway-based NGO Iran Human Rights said at least 223 people have been arrested nationwide on charges related to collaboration with Israel, cautioning that the actual figure was likely higher.

Iran imposed a "nationwide internet shutdown" on Thursday -- the most extensive blackout since widespread anti-government protests in 2019 -- internet watchdog NetBlocks said.

The shutdown "impacts the public's ability to stay connected at a time when communications are vital", NetBlocks wrote on X.

Israel's military said Friday it struck dozens of targets in Tehran overnight, including what it called a centre for the "research and development of Iran's nuclear weapons project."

In an upscale neighbourhood of Tehran, some residents were looking out at the night sky from their rooftops, with red blasts lighting up the darkness, according to news agency AFP.

In another area, an Iranian cried out through a loudspeaker, with music blasting in the background: "Death to Israel, death to America!"

Iran's Revolutionary Guards said more than 100 "combat and suicide" drones were launched at Israel on Thursday.

An ambulance destroyed in a Zionist airstrike that murdered three paramedics in Iran was put on display at Tehran's Haft-e Tir Square.

Western media won't tell you this. To them, Iranian lives matter as little as Palestinian, Lebanese, and Yemeni lives. pic.twitter.com/24DvY7aHmt

— Seyed Mohammad Marandi (@s_m_marandi) June 19, 2025