Iranian missiles hit a major hospital in southern Israel and struck residential buildings in Tel Aviv on Thursday, wounding 240 people and causing extensive damage. Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz blamed Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and said the military “has been instructed and knows that in order to achieve all of its goals, […]
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Israel threatens Iran’s supreme leader as Iranian strikes wound over 200
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Iranian missiles hit a major hospital in southern Israel and struck residential buildings in Tel Aviv on Thursday, wounding 240 people and causing extensive damage.
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz blamed Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and said the military “has been instructed and knows that in order to achieve all of its goals, this man absolutely should not continue to exist.”
Israel, meanwhile, carried out strikes on Iran’s Arak heavy water reactor, its latest attack on Iran’s sprawling nuclear program. Iranian state television said there was “no radiation danger whatsoever” and that the facility had been evacuated before the attack.
The White House says President Donald Trump will decide within the next two weeks whether to strike Iran. It says Trump still sees a “substantial” chance that negotiations can achieve U.S. and Israeli demands on Iran’s nuclear program.
Here’s the latest:
Australia closes its embassy in Tehran
Australia closed its embassy in Tehran and evacuated staff and their families due to the “deteriorating security environment,” the Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Friday that also urged Australian citizens still in Iran to leave quickly.
Foreign Minister Penny Wong said she spoke with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and they agreed to work “closely” to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapon and to pursue peace.
“There is an opportunity … over the next two weeks for de-escalation, dialogue and diplomacy,” Wong said from Adelaide on Friday.
Britain’s foreign secretary says situation in Middle East ‘remains perilous’
British Foreign Secretary David Lammy said the “situation in the Middle East remains perilous,” after meeting Thursday at the White House with his U.S. counterpart, Marco Rubio, and presidential envoy Steve Witkoff.
“We are determined that Iran must never have a nuclear weapon,” Lammy wrote in a post on X.
“We discussed how a deal could avoid a deepening conflict. A window now exists within the next two weeks to achieve a diplomatic solution,” he added.
Iran’s foreign minister due to meet with European diplomats in Geneva
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi was due Friday in Geneva to negotiate with European diplomats, the country’s first face-to-face talks in the crisis.
Israeli military issued warning to flee Rasht in Iran ahead of strikes
Ahead of the Israeli strikes near Rasht in Iran, the Israeli military put out a warning urging the public to flee the area around Rasht’s Industrial City, which sits about 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’s unclear just how many people in Iran would be able to see the message.
Getting information out of Iran is increasingly difficult
After a week of Israeli airstrikes, getting any information out of Iran has grown incredibly difficult. Those outside of the country are broadly unable to dial any phone number in the country.
Meanwhile, Iran’s state-run television and radio stations offer irregular updates on what’s happening inside of the country, instead focusing their time on the damage wrought by their strikes on Israel.
Iran is one of the world’s top jailer of journalists, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists, and in the best of times, reporters face strict restrictions.
Iran has shut off its internet to the outside world, both locking its public out from seeing news from the outside and restricting those abroad from reading news outlets’ websites. NetBlocks, a group that monitors nations’ interference with internet access, said Iran has been disconnected from the rest of the world for 36 hours.
That’s left many scrambling on various social media app to see what’s happening — again, only a glimpse of life in a country of over 80 million people.
Israeli airstrikes reach into the city of Rasht
Israeli airstrikes reached into the city of Rasht on the Caspian Sea early Friday, Iranian media reported as the conflict reached the one-week mark.
It wasn’t immediately clear what Israel was targeting in the city in Iran’s Gilan province.
Social media video posted online appeared to show explosions around the city.
The semiofficial Fars news agency reported that local air defense systems were firing into the night sky against the Israelis.
Several U.S. airlines suspend flights to the Middle East
United Airlines has indefinitely paused flights between Newark, New Jersey, and Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
American Airlines said it is suspending flights between Philadelphia and Doha, Qatar, at least through Sunday and will make “additional adjustments as needed.”
Both airlines said they are monitoring the situation and are working to rebook customers.
Last week, Delta Air Lines said it was suspending service to Tel Aviv, Israel, where Ben Gurion Airport remains closed to regularly scheduled passenger flights.