Here are the key events on day nine of the Israel-Iran conflict.
Here’s where things stand on Saturday, June 21:
Fighting
- Israeli air strikes hit a key nuclear site in Iran’s Isfahan province. An Israeli army spokesperson said the air force “struck the central facility along with buildings used to produce centrifuges”.
- The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) confirmed that a centrifuge manufacturing workshop at the site was hit, adding that there was no nuclear material at the site and therefore no radiological consequences.
- The deputy governor of Isfahan said the cities of Lanjan, Mobarakeh, Shahreza and Isfahan were targeted.
- Iranian media reported a drone attack on Isfahan later.
- Israeli forces also hit a military installation in Shiraz.
- Fars news agency reported attacks on two cities in the oil-rich province of Khuzestan, saying “frightening explosions” were heard in the provincial capital of Ahvaz and a large column of smoke had risen above the port city of Mahshahr.
- In other Israeli attacks, defence systems were activated over Najafabad, while explosions were reported in Malard. There were also reports of attacks on Tehran.
- The Israeli military’s chief spokesperson said the army had been told to be prepared for a “prolonged campaign” to destroy Iranian targets.
- The Iranian army said that the seventh and eighth stages of launching dozens of “destructive” drones towards Israel had been carried out, with a report saying “most of the drones hit the intended targets”.
- Iran’s armed forces threatened to strike shipments of military aid to Israel, warning that “any military or radar equipment by boat or aircraft from any country to assist the Zionist regime” would be considered a “legitimate target”.
- The Israeli army said it had shot down approximately 40 drones launched from Iran.
- German newspaper Bild reported that Israel’s foreign minister claimed that attacks on Iran had delayed the country’s prospects of creating a nuclear bomb by “at least two or three years”.
- Explosions were heard above Tel Aviv, where buildings were seen on fire. In central Israel, the emergency services released images showing fire on the roof of a multistorey residential building.
- A spokesperson for Yemen’s Houthi group, in a video statement, threatened to attack US “ships and warships” in the Red Sea should Washington get involved in Israel’s campaign against Iran.
Casualties and disruptions
- Israel’s defence minister said that Israeli forces killed three senior commanders of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
- The IRGC said five of its members had died in Israeli attacks.
- At least five people were killed in Israeli attacks in the Iranian city of Khorramabad.
- An Israeli aircraft struck a residential building in Qom, killing a 16-year-old and injuring two people.
- Hussein Khalil, a former bodyguard for Hezbollah’s slain leader Hassan Nasrallah killed in an Israeli strike on Tehran.
- Iran’s Fars news agency quoted Health Minister Mohammadreza Zafarghandi as saying Israel had struck six ambulances and three hospitals, killing two health workers and a child in the attacks.
- Iran’s deputy health minister said the department was preparing to treat any victims suffering from the effects of Israel’s continued targeting of the country’s nuclear capability, “in the event that nuclear reactors are targeted”.
- Tasnim News Agency reported Iran’s information minister as saying that access to “international” internet should be fully restored across the country by 8pm on Saturday.
- Iran’s health ministry said that Israeli strikes over the past nine days had killed at least 430 people and wounded approximately 3,500.
- In Israel, Iran’s strikes have killed at least 25 people.
- The head of Qom province’s intelligence police said the force had arrested 22 people “on charges of being connected to the Zionist regime’s spy services” since Israel’s assault on the country began on June 12.
Protests
- In Berlin, more than 10,000 people gathered in the centre of the city in support of Gaza.
- More than 1,000 protesters joined a rally in front of Berlin’s Reichstag, seat of the German Bundestag, to call for the leadership in Iran to be deposed.
- In London, pro-Palestine demonstrators marched through the city centre waving Iranian flags and calling for the UK government to stop allowing arms exports and military cooperation with Israel.
- A pro-Palestine march also took place in Stockholm.
- A mass rally took place in Baghdad’s Shia district of Kadhimiya, under the slogan “Iran is not alone”.
Politics and diplomacy
- Iran’s president spoke with his French counterpart, warning of a “more devastating” retaliation should Israel’s bombing campaign continue, saying that Iran would not halt its nuclear programme “under any circumstances”.
- Macron said that the pair had agreed to “accelerate” nuclear negotiations between European powers and Iran. Iran must never acquire nuclear weapons, and it is up to it to provide every assurance that its intentions are peaceful,” he said.
- Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson said no country has violated international human rights more than Israel, which “has always felt complete immunity from punishment for its crimes”.
- Attending a meeting of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in Istanbul, Iran’s foreign minister said the United States had been involved in Israel’s “aggression” from “day one”, despite denials from Washington.
- Addressing the OIC summit, Turkiye’s president said Netanyahu was the “biggest obstacle to regional peace” and that Israel’s attacks on Iran aimed to sabotage nuclear talks with the US.
- Qatar’s state news agency reported that Gulf Cooperation Council ambassadors expressed concerns to UN nuclear watchdog chief Rafael Grossi about the “dangerous repercussions” of Israel targeting Iran’s nuclear facilities close to their countries.
- A German Foreign Ministry official said the country had temporarily relocated the staff of its embassy in Tehran abroad.
- India’s embassy in Iran said it was “evacuating all Indian Nationals in Iran”.
- Hundreds of US citizens have departed Iran using land routes over the past week.
