Israelis to be ready for a ‘prolonged campaign' in Iran, military chiefs warn

Israel's military chief on Friday said Israelis 'must be ready for a prolonged campaign' in Iran as the deadly conflict between the two countries entered its second week. As Iran's foreign minister met with European counterparts, he said Iran would not resume nuclear negotiations with the US until Israel stopped its attacks on the Islamic Republic.
Iran
said Friday it would
not resume nuclear negotiations
with the United States until Israel halts its attacks, as
Israel
's military chief warned the week-old war will be 'prolonged'.
A series of blasts were heard in Tehran on Friday as Iran's Fars news agency said air defences had been activated, as Israel kept up its bombardment and Iran launched missiles at its arch enemy.
'We must be ready for a prolonged campaign,' Israeli military chief Eyal Zamir told Israelis in a video statement, eight days after his country launched a massive wave of strikes it said were aimed at stopping Iran from developing
nuclear weapons
– an ambition Tehran has denied.
'The campaign is not over. Although we have made significant achievements, difficult days still lie ahead,' he said.
MIDDLE EAST
Israel's military chief on Friday said Israelis 'must be ready for a prolonged campaign' in Iran as the deadly conflict between the two countries entered its second week. As Iran's foreign minister met with European counterparts, he said Iran would not resume nuclear negotiations with the US until Israel stopped its attacks on the Islamic Republic.
Issued on: 20/06/2025 – 11:25Modified: 20/06/2025 – 21:14
5 min Reading time
By:
FRANCE 24
/
FRANCE 24
Iran
said Friday it would
not resume nuclear negotiations
with the United States until Israel halts its attacks, as
Israel
's military chief warned the week-old war will be 'prolonged'.
A series of blasts were heard in Tehran on Friday as Iran's Fars news agency said air defences had been activated, as Israel kept up its bombardment and Iran launched missiles at its arch enemy.
'We must be ready for a prolonged campaign,' Israeli military chief Eyal Zamir told Israelis in a video statement, eight days after his country launched a massive wave of strikes it said were aimed at stopping Iran from developing
nuclear weapons
– an ambition Tehran has denied.
'The campaign is not over. Although we have made significant achievements, difficult days still lie ahead,' he said.
Israeli forces cordon off an area in the coastal city of Haifa after Iranian missile fire. © Fadel Senna, AFP
As US President
Donald Trump
mulls
the prospect of entering the war
As US President
Donald Trump
mulls
the prospect of entering the war
between the two foes, top diplomats from Britain,
France
and
Germany
met with their Iranian counterpart Abbas Araghchi in Geneva.
Referring to nuclear negotiations with Washington that had been derailed by the war, Araghchi said after the meeting that 'Iran is ready to consider
diplomacy
once again and once the aggression is stopped'.
Tehran did 'support the continuation of discussion with' the European countries and was willing 'to meet again in the near future', Araghchi told reporters.
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'.
Barrot said there 'can be no definitive solution through military means to the Iran nuclear problem' and warned that it was 'dangerous to want to impose a regime change' in Iran, after Israeli Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu
did not rule out killing supreme leader
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei
On the streets of Tehran, many shops were closed and normally busting markets largely abandoned on Friday, an AFP journalist reported.
'I'm not afraid of the war, I stay open but business is really bad,' said a vendor at the Tajrish market who declined to give his name for security reasons.
Nearby, police set up a checkpoint while workers repaired a road damaged in a recent Israeli strike.
Since Israel launched its offensive on June 13, targeting nuclear and military sites but also hitting residential areas, Iran has responded with barrages which Israeli authorities say have killed at least 25 people.
A hospital in the Israeli port of Haifa reported 19 injured, including one person in serious condition, after the latest Iranian salvo.
Iran said on Sunday that Israeli strikes had killed at least 224 people, including military commanders, nuclear scientists and civilians. It has not updated the toll since.
A US-based NGO, the Human Rights Activists News Agency, provided a toll on Friday based on sources and media reports, saying at least 657 people have been killed in Iran, including 263 civilians.
Israel's military said it struck missile launchers in southwestern Iran after overnight air raids on dozens of targets including a nuclear research centre
In Israel, sirens sounded in the afternoon after missiles were launched from Iran for the second time on Friday. Iran's Revolutionary Guards said they had targeted military sites and air force bases.
Trump said on Thursday he will decide 'within the next two weeks' whether to involve the United States in the fighting.
A US Navy official said Friday that an aircraft carrier will be moved closer to the
Middle East
next week, making it the third in or near the region.
'This is a perilous moment, and it is hugely important that we don't see regional escalation of this conflict,' said Britain's Foreign Secretary David Lammy, who earlier stated 'Iran can never develop or acquire a nuclear weapon'.
Western governments suspect Iran of seeking a nuclear weapons capability.
'So, saying how long it would take for them, it would be pure speculation because we do not know whether there was somebody … secretly pursuing these activities,' the agency's chief Rafael Grossi told CNN.
'We haven't seen that and we have to say it.'
In an interview with German publication Bild, Israel's top diplomat Gideon Saar said he did not 'particularly' believe in diplomacy with Iran.
'All diplomatic efforts so far have failed,' said Saar, whose country had supported Trump's 2018 decision to abandon a previous nuclear agreement between Iran and world powers.
Turkish President
Recep Tayyip Erdogan
warned the escalating confrontation is quickly reaching 'the point of no return', saying 'this madness must end as soon as possible'.
Iranians rally in support of their leaders, in Tehran. © AFP
UN
chief
Antonio Guterres
meanwhile pleaded with all sides to 'give peace a chance'.
Any US involvement in Israel's campaign would be expected to involve the bombing of an underground
uranium
enrichment facility in Fordo, using powerful bunker-busting bombs that no other country possesses.
Switzerland
announced it was temporarily closing its embassy in Tehran, adding that it would continue to fulfil its role representing US interests in Iran.
(FRANCE 24 with AFP)
.

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Learn with AIFact CheckingText to SpeechAI Summary

Related Articles

Nahar Net

2 hours ago

• Nahar Net

Israel says hit Hezbollah site in Naqoura after questioning member

by Naharnet Newsdesk 21 June 2025, 13:08 Israel's military said Saturday its navy hit a Hezbollah "infrastructure site" near the southern Lebanese city of Naqoura, a day after Israel's defense 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 Israeli army 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 southern town of Baraasheet. Earlier in the day, Israeli warplanes launched a wave of airstrikes on the heights of the Jezzine district, with the Israeli army saying the raids targeted "Hezbollah rocket launchpads and arms depots" and claiming that the Lebanese group had been "trying to rebuild its capabilities in these sites" in violation of the ceasefire understandings. The November ceasefire aimed to end hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah, which sparked months of deadly hostilities by launching cross-border attacks on northern Israel in solidarity with Palestinian ally Hamas following its October 7, 2023 attack on Israel. Lebanon's army, which has been dismantling Hezbollah infrastructure as part of the truce, said earlier in June that the Israeli military's ongoing violations and "refusal to cooperate" with the ceasefire monitoring mechanism "could prompt the (Lebanese) military to freeze cooperation" on site inspections.

LBCI

4 hours ago

• LBCI

Washington Post: Trump backs diplomacy as internal debate intensifies over potential strike on Iran

According to The Washington Post, U.S. President Donald Trump is supporting diplomatic efforts underway in Geneva aimed at bringing Iran closer to a new agreement. The report highlights growing tensions within Trump's inner circle, with a fierce debate unfolding between those pushing for a military strike on Iran and others urging restraint. Sources cited by the newspaper indicate that opponents of military action, who advocate for negotiations, have recently made a breakthrough in persuading the president to prioritize diplomacy over escalation.

Ya Libnan

5 hours ago

• Ya Libnan

How Trump, a self-proclaimed 'peacemaker,' embraced Israel's campaign against Iran

By Gram Slattery , Phil Stewart , Steve Holland and Jonathan Landay WASHINGTON- Roughly one month ago, from the stage at an investment forum in Saudi Arabia, U.S. President Donald Trump issued a warning to Iran that would prove prophetic. 'We'll never allow America and its allies to be threatened with terrorism or nuclear attack,' Trump told the crowd, sending a message to the leadership in Tehran. 'The time is right now for them to choose. Right now. We don't have a lot of time to wait. Things are happening at a very fast pace.' That May 13 ultimatum received little attention at the time. But behind the scenes, the president already knew an attack on Iran could be imminent – and that there might be little he could do to stop it, according to two U.S. officials. By mid-May, the Pentagon had begun drawing up detailed contingency plans to aid Israel if it followed through on its long-held ambition to strike Iran's nuclear program, the officials said. And the U.S. had already diverted thousands of defensive weapons away from war-torn Ukraine toward the Middle East in preparation for potential conflict, according to a Western source familiar with the matter and a Ukrainian source. The Pentagon declined to comment for this story. This account of the weeks and days leading up to Trump's decision to throw his support behind Israel's bombing campaign is based on interviews with over a dozen administration officials, foreign diplomats and Trump confidantes, most of whom spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss private deliberations. The picture that emerges is that of a long, secretive preparation process and a president who for weeks found himself torn between diplomacy and supporting military action – and was ultimately persuaded in part by an ally whose actions he did not fully control. While Trump has long described himself as a peacemaker – dispatching Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff to the region several times to try to seal a diplomatic accord – he had several trusted political allies pushing him to back an Israeli attack on Iran's nuclear facilities. And U.S. intelligence had indicated a unilateral Israeli strike was possible, even likely, even if Trump wanted to wait, according to two U.S. officials. While it is unclear if Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu or Trump's more hawkish allies ever got him to a 'yes' to Israel's plans, by the days leading up the strike he was at least not a 'no,' according to two senior U.S. officials and a senior Israeli source. That stance, people familiar with the dynamics said, helped tip Israel into action. Seven days into the Israel-Iran conflict, Trump is left with a dilemma, said Aaron David Miller, a veteran diplomat who has advised six secretaries of state on Middle East policy. He can try again to pursue a diplomatic resolution with Iran, allow Iran and Israel 'to fight it out,' or he can enter the war with U.S. airstrikes on the deeply buried Fordow enrichment plant, a step that would have unknown consequences for the region. Trump 'let it (the Israeli attack) happen,' said Miller, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace policy institute. 'He got on the tiger and he's riding it.' The White House on Thursday said that Trump will make a decision on whether the U.S. will get involved in the conflict in the next two weeks. The White House, the Israeli prime minister's office and Iran's delegation to the United Nations did not respond to a request for comment. Tehran has consistently said its nuclear program is designed for peaceful purposes only, a conclusion Washington has rejected. THE COMING STORM One of the first hints that Trump might sign off on an Israeli bombing campaign came in April. During a closed-door meeting on April 17, Saudi Arabia's defense minister delivered a blunt message to Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian: Take Trump's offer to negotiate an agreement seriously because it presents a way to avoid the risk of war with Israel. Reuters could not determine whether the message was sent at Washington's behest, nor whether Iran's leaders took that message seriously. With hindsight, they should have. The Israel Defense Forces and the head of U.S. Central Command, General Michael 'Erik' Kurilla, were discussing detailed intelligence about Iran's missile buildup and nuclear program and steps that could be required to defend U.S. troops and Israel itself in any conflict with Iran, according to a U.S. official and senior Israeli official. Meanwhile, the U.S. was funneling weapons to Israel that would be useful for an air war with Iran. In one instance in early May, a large shipment of defensive missiles originally meant for Ukraine was diverted to Israel instead, according to the Western source and the Ukrainian source. The diverted shipment caused consternation in Kyiv and sparked continued fears that additional weapons needed to defend against Moscow will instead be used to defend U.S. interests elsewhere, the Ukrainian source said. In the opening months of Trump's term, Israel had already proposed to Washington a series of options to attack Iran's facilities, according to sources. While Trump had rebuffed those ideas, saying he preferred diplomacy for the time being, several people close to him said he was never dead-set against using military force against Iran. He had done so before. In 2020, despite a foreign policy during his first term that was otherwise marked by restraint, Trump ordered a drone strike that killed major general Qassem Soleimani, the head of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards' division responsible for its international operations. The Iranian government has since sought to murder Trump in revenge, U.S. prosecutors have said , an allegation Tehran denies. Behind the scenes, Trump had been pulled in multiple directions on the Iran issue since before he even took office. On one side, many supporters – including conservative media personality Tucker Carlson – and administration officials saw Trump's Make America Great Again movement as an antidote to decades of foreign wars that cost thousands of American lives without significantly advancing American interests. On the other, several close Trump allies – from conservative commentator Mark Levin to Republican Senator Lindsey Graham – were portraying a nuclear Iran as an existential threat that must be removed at any cost. Trump himself took pride in being a broker of peace. 'My proudest legacy,' he said during his inauguration address, 'will be that of a peacemaker and unifier.' 'IT'S A TANGO' Ultimately, no U.S. official, Trump confidante or diplomat Reuters talked to identified an epiphany that tipped the scales for the president. One senior administration official said that after months of sitting on the fence a lack of diplomatic progress, a push from the Israelis and appeals by hawkish allies likely wore him down. Trump aides and allies have noted that Israel's attack unfolded just after the expiry of a 60-day deadline the Trump administration had set for a diplomatic breakthrough with Iran. The senior U.S. official said another dynamic was at play: As U.S. intelligence consistently showed Israel might go ahead with an attack with or without U.S. support, the administration could look caught off guard if they did not get behind it. Worse, it could appear that the U.S. was opposing a longtime ally. Although Trump had appeared to some to snub Netanyahu as he pushed for a peaceful solution to the crisis, privately, Israel understood that Washington would stand by it, said a separate official. By the time Trump talked to Netanyahu on Monday, June 9 – one of many phone calls in recent days – his stance was one of tacit, if not explicit approval, according to one U.S. and one Israeli official. The Wall Street Journal reported that Trump had said he would like more time to see diplomacy play out. But the U.S. official said that he did not explicitly veto Israel's plans. By Wednesday, June 11, it was clear to Washington that Israel's plans were a go. That day, Reuters reported that the U.S. was preparing a partial evacuation of its Iraqi embassy amid fears of reprisals from Iran following an imminent attack. The next day, June 12, Washington sent a formal diplomatic note to several regional allies, warning them that an attack was imminent. That evening, Israel launched its overnight barrage , an attack that almost immediately escalated into an air war. Trump and some key cabinet members watched the events live from the wood-paneled 'JFK room,' part of the White House Situation Room. Other officials watched the events nearby. On the menu, per one official: stone crabs from a local restaurant. The initial attack appeared to be a success, with several close advisers to Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei killed and key nuclear sites seriously damaged. Over the weekend, the Israelis considered killing Khamenei himself , but were waved off by Trump, according to two U.S. officials. Almost immediately, a political civil war erupted in Trump's Republican Party, with several high-profile conservatives, including members of Congress, accusing his administration of fanning the flames of war. Seven days on, the U.S. intelligence community believes the strikes have set Iran's nuclear ambitions back by only months, according to a source familiar with U.S. intelligence reports, confirming a CNN report. A significant blow to Iran's nuclear ambitions, most analysts say , will require dropping bunker-busting bombs on the Fordow Fuel Enrichment Plant, the crown jewel of Iran's nuclear program. Only the U.S. has that capability. Trump has said he is considering such a strike, which would represent a major escalation for the United States. As of Thursday, his intentions were still unclear . (Reuters)