Iran, Israel launch new attacks after Tehran rules out nuclear talks
JERUSALEM/WASHINGTON: Iran and Israel exchanged fresh attacks early on Saturday, a day after Tehran said it would not negotiate over its nuclear programme while under threat and Europe tried to keep peace talks alive.
Shortly after 2:30 a.m. in Israel (2330 GMT on Friday), the Israeli military warned of an incoming missile barrage from Iran, triggering air raid sirens across parts of central Israel, including Tel Aviv, as well as in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
Interceptions were visible in the sky over Tel Aviv, with explosions echoing across the metropolitan area as Israel's air defence systems responded.
At the same time, Israel launched a new wave of attacks against missile storage and launch infrastructure sites in Iran, the Israeli military said.
Sirens also sounded in southern Israel, said Magen David Adom, Israel's national emergency service. An Israeli military official said Iran had fired five ballistic missiles and that there were no immediate indications of any missile impacts.
• Interceptions visible in skies over Tel Aviv
• Israel says it targeted Iranian missile storage, infrastructure
• Iran says no talks with US under 'Israeli aggression'
There were no initial reports of casualties.
The emergency service released images showing a fire on the roof of a multi-storey residential building in central Israel. Local media reported that the fire was caused by debris from an intercepted missile.
Israel began attacking Iran last Friday, saying its longtime enemy was on the verge of developing nuclear weapons. Iran, which says its nuclear programme is only for peaceful purposes, retaliated with missile and drone strikes on Israel.
Israel is widely assumed to possess nuclear weapons. It neither confirms nor denies this.
Its air attacks have killed 639 people in Iran, according to the Human Rights Activists News Agency, a U.S.-based human rights organisation that tracks Iran. The dead include the military's top echelon and nuclear scientists.
In Israel, 24 civilians have been killed in Iranian missile attacks, according to authorities.
Reuters could not independently verify casualty figures for either side.
TALKS SHOW LITTLE PROGRESS
Iran has repeatedly targeted Tel Aviv, a metropolitan area of around 4 million people and the country's business and economic hub, where some critical military assets are also located.
Israel said it had struck dozens of military targets on Friday, including missile production sites, a research body it said was involved in nuclear weapons development in Tehran and military facilities in western and central Iran.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said there was no room for negotiations with the U.S. "until Israeli aggression stops". But he arrived in Geneva on Friday for talks with European foreign ministers at which Europe hopes to establish a path back to diplomacy.
U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday reiterated that he would take as long as two weeks to decide whether the United States should enter the conflict on Israel's side, enough time "to see whether or not people come to their senses", he said.
Trump said he was unlikely to press Israel to scale back its airstrikes to allow negotiations to continue.
"I think it's very hard to make that request right now. If somebody is winning, it's a little bit harder to do than if somebody is losing, but we're ready, willing and able, and we've been speaking to Iran, and we'll see what happens," he said.
The Geneva talks produced little signs of progress, and Trump said he doubted negotiators would be able to secure a ceasefire.
"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.
Hundreds of U.S. citizens have fled Iran since the air war began, according to a U.S. State Department cable seen by Reuters.
Israel's envoy to the United Nations, Danny Danon, told the Security Council on Friday his country would not stop its attacks "until Iran's nuclear threat is dismantled". Iran's U.N. envoy Amir Saeid Iravani called for Security Council action and said Tehran was alarmed by reports that the U.S. might join the war.
Russia and China demanded immediate de-escalation.
A senior Iranian official told Reuters that Iran was ready to discuss limitations on uranium enrichment but that it would reject any proposal that barred it from enriching uranium completely, "especially now under Israel's strikes".
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Arab News
an hour ago
- Arab News
Israel-Tehran conflict cripples border trade between Pakistan and Iran
QUETTA: The ongoing conflict between Israel and Iran has crippled border trade between Pakistan and Iran, transporters and traders said this week, with markets closed and dozens of trucks stranded on the Pakistani side of the border. Pakistan shares a 959-kilometer border with Iran in its southwest and the trade volume between the two countries stood at $2.8 billion in the last fiscal year that ended in June 2024, according to Pakistani state media. In Feb., the two neighbors signed an agreement to take the bilateral trade volume to $10 billion, but tensions between Iran and Israel prompted Pakistan to suspend operations at the Taftan border crossing in Balochistan on June 15, mirroring the Iranian side's restrictions following Israeli airstrikes. 'We've been stuck here in Taftan for four to five days, with six to seven vehicles,' Syed Khalil Ahmed, a local transporter, told Reuters on Friday. 'We're waiting for it to reopen so we can load our goods. The market is closed, and there's a shortage of food and drinks.' Israel began attacking Iran on June 13, saying its longtime enemy was on the verge of developing nuclear weapons. Iran, which says its nuclear program is only for peaceful purposes, retaliated with missile and drone strikes on Israel. The Taftan border, a vital trade artery which typically handles daily exchanges in fuel, food and household goods, is now left paralyzed. Local traders said 90 percent of goods in Taftan typically come from Iran. 'With the border closed, no goods are arriving [from Iran] ... Local traders with Pakistani passports can't enter Iran, and Iranian passport holders can only reach the border and return,' said Hajji Shaukat Ali, an importer of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG). 'This is hurting local businesses and traders. For us, as major LPG gas traders, some of our vehicles are stuck en route and won't be able to reach us now.' Ahmed said they were losing approximately Rs20,000 ($70) per truck daily while facing critical shortages of essential supplies. 'We're managing with what we have, but it's tough,' he added.
Arab News
an hour ago
- Arab News
Netanyahu using Iran war to stay in power ‘forever': former US president Clinton
DUBAI: Former US president Bill Clinton said Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been wanting to fight Iran for a longtime because that way he can stay in the office forever. 'Netanyahu has long wanted to fight Iran because that way he can stay in office forever and ever. I mean, he's been there most of the last 20 years,' the former president said during an appearance on 'The Daily Show'. Clinton said he called on US President Donald Trump to 'defuse' the current conflict between Israel and Iran, and end the 'outright constant killing of civilians.' 'But I think we should be trying to defuse it, and I hope President Trump will do that.' The former president said he does not think either Netanyahu or Trump want to trigger a full-scale regional disaster. He also emphasized the importance of the US protecting its allies in the region, while simultaneously advocating for restraint. 'We have to convince our friends in the Middle East that we'll stand with them and try to protect them,' he stated. 'But choosing undeclared wars in which the primary victims are civilians, who are not politically involved, one way or the other, who just want to live decent lives, is not a very good solution.' The US by far has stayed out of direct action in the conflict between Iran and Israel. But it has helped Israel shoot down missiles from Tehran and has supplied it with military equipment.
Arab News
an hour ago
- Arab News
Putin says Russia has told Israel there's no evidence Iran wants nuclear weapons, Sky News Arabia reports
MOSCOW: Russia has repeatedly told Israel that there is no evidence Iran is aiming to get nuclear weapons, Sky News Arabia on Saturday quoted Russian President Vladimir Putin as saying in an interview. 'Russia, as well as the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency), has never had any evidence that Iran is preparing to obtain nuclear weapons, as we have repeatedly put the Israeli leadership on notice,' Sky News Arabia quoted Putin as saying. Russia is ready to support Iran in developing a peaceful nuclear program, Putin was quoted as saying, adding that Iran has the right to do so. Speaking at an economic forum in St. Petersburg on Friday, Putin said Russia was sharing its ideas on how to stop the bloodshed in the Iran-Israel conflict with both sides. He did not give details of those ideas.
