US attacked three Iranian nuclear sites, Trump says

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Iranian authorities said Sunday there was "no danger" to residents in the city of Qom, south of Tehran, following the US attack on a nearby mountain-buried nuclear enrichment site.

"There is no danger to the people of Qom and the surrounding area" around the Fordo nuclear enrichment site, said the province crisis management department in a statement, according to the official IRNA news agency.

Iran's Atomic Energy Organisation said on Sunday it would not allow the development of its "national industry", an apparent reference to the country's nuclear development, to be stopped.

It also said the attacks on its nuclear sites violate international law, without clarifying the extent of the damage from the US strikes that President Donald Trump announced earlier. 

(Reuters)

Iran's atomic energy organisation condemned Sunday the US attacks on key nuclear sites, including the mountain-buried Fordo, as "barbaric" and in violation of international law.

"At dawn today, the country's nuclear sites in Fordo, Natanz and Isfahan were attacked by the enemies of Islamic Iran in a barbaric act that violates international law," the organisation said in a statement published on state media.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres voiced concern Saturday at strikes carried out by the United States on Iran nuclear sites, calling them a "dangerous escalation in a region already on the edge."

"At this perilous hour, it is critical to avoid a spiral of chaos," Guterres said in a statement. "There is no military solution. The only path forward is diplomacy. The only hope is peace."

In a public video address, US President Donald Trump hailed the US's attack on Iran, calling it a "spectacular military success", adding that Iran's sites have been " completely and fully obliterated".

Trump justified the attacks over Iran calling for the "death to America" and being a "bully" in the Middle East, threatening the nation to make peace or it will "go after" other targets.

"There will be either peace or there will be tragedy for Iran worse than what we've witnessed," the president said.

The top Democrat in the House of Representatives berated Donald Trump Saturday over the US air strikes on Iran, accusing the president of pushing the country toward war.

"President Trump misled the country about his intentions, failed to seek congressional authorization for the use of military force and risks American entanglement in a potentially disastrous war in the Middle East," congressman Hakeem Jeffries said in a statement.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has released a video statement thanking Trump's "historic" decision on attacking Iran, saying the US "acted with a lot of strength".

"Congratulations, President Trump. Your bold decision to target Iran's nuclear facilities with the awesome and righteous might of the United States will change history," Netanyahu said.

Iran's official IRNA news agency has confirmed that the US attacked Natanz and Isfahan.

"We witnessed attacks near the nuclear centres of Isfahan and Natanz," Akbar Salehi, an aide to the governor of Isfahan, said.

Israel has raised its alert level, permitting only essential activities until further notice, the military announced on Sunday after US strikes on Iran.

"It was decided to shift all areas of the country from Partial and Limited Activity to Essential Activity," including "a prohibition on educational activities, gatherings, and workplaces, except for essential sectors", the Israeli military statement said.

Israel was reportedly “in full coordination with the US” during the US's attacks on Iran, Israeli public broadcaster Kan said, citing an anonymous Israeli official.

Congressional Republicans, and at least one Democrat, immediately praised President Donald Trump after he said Saturday evening that the US military bombed three sites in Iran.

“Well done, President Trump,” Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina posted on X. Texas Sen. John Cornyn called it a “courageous and correct decision.” Alabama Sen. Katie Britt called the bombings “strong and surgical.”

Oklahoma Sen. Markwayne Mullin posted: “America first, always.”

The Senate Armed Services Committee chairman, Roger Wicker of Mississippi, said Trump “has made a deliberate, and correct, decision to eliminate the existential threat posed by the Iranian regime.”

Wicker posted on X that “we now have very serious choices ahead to provide security for our citizens and our allies.”

Iranian media said on Sunday that part of the Fordo uranium enrichment facility, as well as the Isfahan and Natanz nuclear sites, were attacked, after Donald Trump said the US had bombed them.

"A few hours ago, after Qom's air defenses were activated and hostile targets were identified, part of the Fordo nuclear site was attacked by enemy airstrikes," Tasnim news agency reported, quoting Morteza Heydari, spokesperson for the Qom Provincial crisis management department.

Separately, Fars news agency said: "The air defenses of Isfahan and Kashan began to work to counter hostile targets, and several explosions were heard simultaneously."

Iran's state-run IRNA news agency, quoting a provincial official, acknowledges attack on Fordo nuclear facility.

The Iranian Tasnim news agency cited an official in Qom saying Fordow was attacked.

"Hours ago, after Qom's air defenses were activated and hostile targets were identified, part of the Fordow nuclear site was attacked by enemy airstrikes," Morteza Heydari, a spokesman for the Qom Provincial Crisis Management Headquarters, said.

Mohamed al-Farah, a member of the Houthis' political bureau, says the United States' strikes are the "beginning" of war.

"Destroying a nuclear facility here and there is not the end of the war but its beginning," al-Farah said in a statement. "The time of hit and run is gone."

Trump to deliver 10 pm (2 am) EDT address to the nation on US military strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities.

US B-2 bombers were involved in strikes on Iran's nuclear sites announced by President Donald Trump on Saturday, a US official told Reuters, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Reuters had reported earlier on Saturday the movement of B-2 bombers, which can be equipped to carry massive bombs that experts say would be ideal to strike the sites.

(Reuters)

President Donald Trump said Saturday the US military has carried out a "very successful attack" on three Iranian nuclear sites, including the underground uranium enrichment facility at Fordow.

"We have completed our very successful attack on the three Nuclear sites in Iran, including Fordow, Natanz, and Esfahan," Trump said in a post on his Truth Social platform.

"A full payload of BOMBS was dropped on the primary site, Fordow," he said, adding that the planes were safely out of Iranian airspace and on the way home.

US attacked three Iranian nuclear sites, Trump says, joining Israeli air campaign as Tehran promises to retaliate.

The United States has begun evacuation flights from Israel, the US ambassador said Saturday, as Israel trades deadly strikes with archenemy Iran.

Mike Huckabee wrote on X that the US government was offering assistance to American citizens and permanent residents of the US living in Israel or the West Bank.

A State Department official said around 70 people were flown from Tel Aviv to Athens, Greece on Saturday on two government-organized flights.

The official urged US citizens to depart on their own if possible, without waiting for government assistance.

At least eight Palestinians were injured after Israeli forces targeted a group of people waiting for humanitarian aid along Salah al-Din Street, south of the Wadi Gaza area in central Gaza - Wafa reports.

The injured were taken to Al-Awda Hospital in the Nuseirat refugee camp.

Israel's Home Front Command say sirens are sounding in northern Israel of a suspected Iranian drone infiltration.

Five Palestinians were killed after an Israeli airstrike targeted a residential area in the Al-Tuffah neighbourhood in eastern Gaza City, Wafa reports.

The victims were identified as: Omar Abdel-Munim Hamada, Ammar Abdel-Munim Hamada, Mohammed Abdel-Munim Hamada, Bashar Ahmed Hamada, and Ammar Zakaria Saleh.

Iran's Revolutionary Guards announced early Sunday the launch of suicide drones towards Israel, the latest wave of attacks as fighting between the two foes entered the 10th day.

"A vast wave of attack and suicide drones has been heading for hours towards their (Israeli) strategic targets throughout the regime's territory, from the north to the south of the occupied territories," Guards spokesman Ali Mohammad Naini was quoted as saying by state television.

Israeli officials have told the Trump administration they do not want to wait two weeks for Iran to reach a deal to dismantle key parts of its nuclear program and Israel could act alone before the deadline is up, two sources said, amid a continuing debate on Trump's team about whether the US should get involved.

The two sources familiar with the matter said Israel had communicated their concerns to Trump administration officials on Thursday in what they described as a tense phone call.

The Israeli officials said they do not want to wait the two weeks that US President Donald Trump presented on Thursday as a deadline for deciding whether the US will get involved in the Israel-Iran war, said the sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

The Israeli participants on the call included Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defence Minister Israel Katz and military chief Eyal Zamir, according to a security source.

(Reuters)

Iranian media said Saturday that Israel had launched strikes on the southern city of Shiraz, which hosts military bases, triggering the air-defence systems.

"Shiraz's air defenses have been activated in some areas of the city and have been engaged in fighting hostile targets and Zionist aircrafts," Mehr news agency reported.

Iran's atomic agency chief Mohammad Eslami said Saturday that the Arak heavy water reactor hit by Israel earlier this week was dedicated to "health and medicine".

"The products of the Arak heavy water plant are used in the fields of health and medicine. You (Israel) are targeting a centre active in the field of medical radiopharmaceutical research," said Eslami, according to a government statement.

US stealth bombers were flying Saturday across the Pacific Ocean, according to tracking data and media reports, fueling speculation over their intended mission as President Donald Trump considers joining Israel's attack on Iranian nuclear sites.

When reached for comment, the Pentagon referred AFP to the White House, which did not immediately respond.

Trump, who rarely spends weekends in Washington, is due to return to the White House on Saturday evening to hold an unspecified "National Security Meeting."

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.

A former bodyguard for Hassan Nasrallah, the slain leader of Lebanon's Hezbollah, was killed Saturday in an Israeli strike in Iran, an official from the Tehran-backed militant group said.

His former bodyguard Hussein Khalil, commonly known as Abu Ali, and nicknamed Nasrallah's "shield", was killed in Iran near the Iraqi border, the Hezbollah official told AFP on condition of anonymity.

An Iraqi border guard officer told AFP that Khalil and a member of an Iraqi armed group were killed by "an Israeli drone strike" after crossing into the neighbouring country.

The Iraqi group, the Sayyed al-Shuhada Brigades, said that the commander of its security unit, Haider al-Moussawi, was killed in the "Zionist attack", along with Khalil and his son Mahdi.

Iran's armed forces threatened on Saturday to strike shipments of military aid to Israel during the ongoing fighting between the two foes.

"We warn that sending any military or radar equipment by boat or aircraft from any country to assist the Zionist regime will be considered participation in the aggression against Islamic Iran and will be a legitimate target for the armed forces," a spokesman said in a video statement broadcast on state TV.

Iranian media said an Israeli strike on Saturday hit a military base in Qom province south of Tehran, wounding one person, as fighting between the two foes raged for the ninth day.

"A few minutes ago, one of the evacuated military bases... was hit by projectiles from the Zionist regime," ISNA news agency reported, quoting an official statement from Qom province, with another news agency, Tasnim, saying one person was injured.

The Israeli military said it launched a fresh wave of strikes on Saturday in the area of southern Iran's Bandar Abbas, targeting drone storage sites and a weapons facility.

Israeli forces are "currently striking UAV storage facilities and a weapons facility in southwestern Iran in the area of Bandar Abbas", a military statement said.

Iran's Tasnim news agency said air defences were active in the country's south after detecting Israeli enemy aircraft, with batteries responding in Bandar Lengeh and Bandar Abbas.

The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation has asked the Trump administration to provide an initial $30 million so it can continue its much scrutinised and Israeli-and-US-backed aid distribution in Gaza, according to three US officials and the organisation's application for the money.

That application, obtained by The Associated Press, also offers some of the first financial details about the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation and its work in the territory.

The group's funding application was submitted to the US Agency for International Development, according to the US officials, who were not authorised to discuss the matter publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.

The application was being processed this week as potentially one of the agency's last acts before the Republican administration absorbs USAID into the State Department as part of deep cuts in foreign assistance.

The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, the controversial organisation backed by the United States and Israel that began distributing food rations in the Palestinian territory last month, said on Saturday that more aid was needed.

"The people of Gaza desperately need more aid and we are ready to partner with other humanitarian groups to expand our reach to those who need help the most," GHF interim executive director John Acree was quoted as saying in a statement.

A Palestinian activist who was detained for more than three months pushed his infant son's stroller with one hand and pumped his fist in the air with the other as supporters welcomed him home Saturday.

"The US government is funding this genocide, and Columbia University is investing in this genocide," he said. "This is why I will continue to protest with everyone of you. Not only if they threaten me with detention. Even if they would kill me, I would still speak up for Palestine."

Khalil, a legal US resident whose wife gave birth during his 104 days of detention, said he also will speak up for the immigrants he left behind in the detention centre.

"Whether you are a citizen, an immigrant, anyone in this land, you're not illegal. That doesn't make you less of a human," he said.

Gaza's civil defence agency said Israeli fire killed at least 12 people on Saturday, including eight who had gathered near aid distribution sites in the Palestinian territory suffering severe food shortages.

Civil defence spokesman Mahmud Bassal told AFP that three people were killed by gunfire from Israeli forces while waiting to collect aid in the southern Gaza Strip.

In a separate incident, Bassal said five people were killed in a central area known as the Netzarim corridor, where thousands of Palestinians have gathered daily in the hope of receiving food rations.

The Israeli army told AFP it was "looking into" both incidents, which, according to the civil defence agency, occurred near distribution centres run by the US- and Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation.

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.

Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian warned Saturday that his country's response to continued Israeli "aggression" will be "more devastating", as fighting raged between the two foes for a ninth day.

"Our response to the continued aggression of the Zionist regime will be more devastating," said Pezeshkian during a phone call with French President Emmanuel Macron, according to the official IRNA news agency.

Tens of thousands of pro-Palestinian protesters marched in London on Saturday calling for an end to the war in Gaza, amid concerns that the Iran-Israel conflict could spark wider regional devastation.

Protesters waved Palestinian flags, donned keffiyeh scarves and carried signs including "Stop arming Israel" and "No war on Iran" as they marched in the sweltering heat in central London.

"It's important to remember that people are suffering in Gaza. I fear all the focus will be on Iran now," said 34-year-old Harry Baker, attending his third pro-Palestinian protest.

"I don't have great love for the Iranian regime, but we are now in a dangerous situation," he added.

There have been monthly protests in the British capital since the start of the 20-month-long war between Israel and Hamas, which has ravaged Gaza.

Saturday's march comes amid heightened global tensions as the United States mulls joining Israel's strikes against Iran.

Cries of "Palestine will be free" rang out as protesters carried signs saying "Hands off Gaza" or "Stop starving Gaza".

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar accused Iran's Revolutionary Guards on Saturday of trying to attack Israeli citizens in Cyprus.

In a post on X, Saar said the attack was thwarted, "thanks to the activity of the Cypriot security authorities, in cooperation with Israeli security services."

Saar gave no details about the nature of the attack.

There was no immediate comment from Iran.

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.

"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.

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan on Saturday told Iran's foreign minister that resuming Iranian-US talks on Tehran's nuclear programme was the only way to achieve a solution to their dispute and the conflict with Israel, the Turkish Presidency said.

Erdogan met Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on the sidelines of an Organisation of Islamic Cooperation meeting in Istanbul. In a statement, his office noted that Erdogan said Israel had to be stopped immediately.

Erdogan said Turkey was ready to play a facilitator role to help resume the nuclear talks, adding "steps should be taken as soon as possible to open up diplomacy via technical and leaders-level talks between Iran and the US," his office added.

The UN nuclear agency confirmed on Saturday that a centrifuge manufacturing workshop at Iran's Isfahan nuclear site had been hit, in the latest strike amid Israel's bombing campaign.

"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," the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said in a statement quoting its chief Rafael Grossi.

"We know this facility well. There was no nuclear material at this site and therefore the attack on it will have no radiological consequences," Grossi was quoted as saying

The discussions and proposals made by the European powers to Iran over its nuclear programme in Geneva were unrealistic and insisting on them will not bring both sides closer to an agreement, a senior Iranian official told Reuters.

"In any case, Iran will review the European proposals in Tehran and present its responses in the next meeting," the official said.

He added that zero enrichment was a dead end and that Iran would not negotiate over its defensive capabilities, including its missile programme.

Germany has temporarily relocated the staff of its embassy in Tehran abroad due to the current threat situation, a foreign ministry official said on Saturday.

The embassy remains operational and can be contacted via phone by Germans who are still in Iran, the official said, adding it would continue to advise on possible options for leaving the country by land. 

 Iran for the first time acknowledges detaining a German bicyclist as Israel war rages.

The United Nations said on Saturday the Iran-Israel war must not be allowed to trigger another refugee crisis in the Middle East, saying once people fled there was no quick way back.

UNHCR, the UN's refugee agency, said the intensity of the attacks between the two sides was already triggering population movements in both countries.

Such movements had already been reported from Tehran and other parts of Iran, it said, with some people crossing into neighbouring countries.

Strikes in Israel had caused people to seek shelter elsewhere in the country and in some cases abroad.

"This region has already endured more than its share of war, loss and displacement. We cannot allow another refugee crisis to take root," said Filippo Grandi, the UN high commissioner for refugees.

"The time to de-escalate is right now. Once people are forced to flee, there's no quick way back - and all too often, the consequences last for generations."

Several "powerful explosions" were heard on Saturday afternoon in southwestern Iran's Ahvaz, the daily Shargh reported, on the ninth day of hostilities between the Islamic republic and Israel.

Ahvaz is the capital of Khuzestan province, which is situated on the Iraqi border and is Iran's main oil-producing region. The Israeli military had previously announced it was striking "military infrastructure" in the southwest.

French President Emmanuel Macron said on Saturday he had received a call from his Iranian counterpart Masoud Pezeshkian and that they had agreed to accelerate negotiations between European powers and Iran over its contested nuclear programme.

"I am demanding: Iran must never acquire nuclear weapons, and it is up to it to provide every assurance that its intentions are peaceful," Macron said on social media X.

"I am convinced that there is a way out of the war and to avoid greater dangers." 

Israel's rescue services said on 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.

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.

"However, service remains diminished in some areas and overall connectivity remains below ordinary levels," the internet watchdog added.

Iran on Thursday imposed a "nationwide internet shutdown" according to NetBlocks, resulting in the most extensive blackout since widespread anti-government protests in 2019.

On Saturday, access to the internet remained highly unstable and patchy in Tehran, with many websites still inaccessible, according to AFP journalists.

At least 21 Palestinians were killed on Saturday as Israeli forces continued attacks across the Gaza Strip, including targeting those waiting for humanitarian aid, medical sources said, as cited by the Palestinian Wafa agency.

In western Rafah, in southern Gaza, six Palestinians were shot dead and at least 10 others injured while waiting at an aid distribution point.

In central Gaza, five Palestinians were killed and 15 others wounded near the al-Shohada Junction in Nuseirat, after Israeli forces opened fire on crowds seeking food aid, al-Awda Hospital said.

Meanwhile, three others were killed by an Israeli airstrike on the Zaytoun neighbourhood in southern Gaza City.

Others were killed Another three brothers were killed in an Israeli airstrike on al-Mansoura Street in Shujaiya, while another was shot near Khan Younis.

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.

At least 430 people were killed and 3,500 were wounded in Iran since the start of the Israeli-Iranian conflict on June 13, Iranian state-run Nour News reported on Saturday, citing the country's health ministry.

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.

"The foreign minister arrived in Istanbul this morning to participate in the Organization of Islamic Cooperation foreign ministers' meeting," Tasnim said.

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," Araghchi said, according to the news agency.

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan told his counterparts from Muslim countries that Israel was dragging the region into "total disaster" with its attacks on Iran, and added world powers must prevent the war from spiralling into a wider conflict.

Speaking at a foreign ministers' meeting of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation in Istanbul, Fidan called on Muslim countries to stand with Iran against Israel, and said the region had an "Israel problem" after its assault on Gaza and attacks on Lebanon, Syria, Yemen and Iran. 

Israel targeted "two centrifuge production sites" at Iran's Isfahan nuclear facility overnight in a second wave of strikes on the location since the start of the war, 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 the targeting of two centrifuge production sites in Isfahan was "in addition to a couple more centrifuge production sites that we have been able to strike successfully in recent days".

The repeated raids by the Israeli air force have "dealt a severe blow to Iran's centrifuge production capabilities," the official added.

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."

US President Donald Trump has given Iran a "maximum" of two weeks to negotiate before possible US air strikes, but Tehran said it would not hold talks while under attack.

"De-escalation is extremely important," Gargash said. "We still feel that there is a path back to negotiations on these issues."

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.

The Iranian Revolutionary Guards says five of its members have been killed in Israeli strikes in the city of Khorramabad on Saturday, Reuters said, citing Iranian media.

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's Defense Minister Israel Katz said on Saturday that the military had killed a veteran commander in the Iranian Revolutionary Guards' overseas arm, in a strike in an apartment in Iran's Qom.

The veteran commander, Saeed Izadi, who led the Palestine Corps of the Quds Force, Katz said in a statement.

There was no confirmation from the IRGC.

The Quds Force built up a network of Arab allies known as the Axis of Resistance, establishing Hezbollah in Lebanon in 1982 and supporting the Palestinian militant Islamist group Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

Katz said Izadi financed and armed Hamas during the initial attacks, describing the commander's killing as a "major achievement for Israeli intelligence and the Air Force".

Police in Iran's Qom province said Saturday that 22 people "linked to Israeli spy services" had been arrested since 13 June, 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 regularly announces arrests of suspected spies. Several have been executed in recent weeks.

Israel's military said on Saturday its navy hit a Hezbollah "infrastructure site" near the southern Lebanese city of Naqoura, a day after Israel's foreign minister warned the Lebanese armed group against entering the Iran-Israel war.

"Overnight, an Israeli Navy vessel struck a Hezbollah 'Radwan Force' terrorist infrastructure site in the area of Naqoura in southern Lebanon", the military said in a statement.

The military said the site was used by Hezbollah "to advance terror attacks against Israeli civilians".

In a separate statement on Saturday, the military said it had "struck and eliminated" a Hezbollah militant in south Lebanon the previous day, despite an ongoing ceasefire between both sides.

In a statement carried by the official National News Agency, Lebanon's health ministry said late on Friday that one person was killed in a "strike carried out by an Israeli enemy drone on a motorcycle" in the same south Lebanon village.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said in an interview with SkyNews Arabia that Russia has repeatedly notified Israel that Iran has no alleged intentions of obtaining nuclear weapons, Russian news agency RIA Novosti reported on Saturday.