Latest news with #IranianMedia
LBCI
18 hours ago
- Politics
- LBCI
Iran air defenses 'confront hostile targets' over Tehran: State media
Iranian state media said air defense systems were activated Thursday against "hostile targets" over the capital, Tehran, a week into a war triggered by major Israeli attacks. "Iran's air defenses confront hostile targets in northern Tehran," said the official news agency IRNA without elaborating. Another news agency, Mehr, gave the same report. AFP
LBCI
a day ago
- Politics
- LBCI
Israel says it targeted nuclear sites in Iran's Natanz and Arak overnight
The Israeli military said on Thursday it had targeted the Arak nuclear reactor in Iran overnight and struck what it said was a nuclear weapons development site in the area of Natanz. Among its nuclear sites, Iran had a partially built heavy-water research reactor originally called Arak and now Khondab. Iranian media reported on Thursday morning that air defenses were activated in the area of the Khondab nuclear facility, with two projectiles hitting an area close to it. Officials told Iranian state TV that evacuations were made prior to the strikes and that no risks of radiation or casualties were detected. There was no mention of any damage. Natanz, which Israel had previously struck during its six-day-old aerial war with Iran, was the site of a complex at the heart of Iran's nuclear program that included two enrichment plants. The Israeli military added that it targeted the structure of the reactor's core seal in Arak, which it identified as a key component in plutonium production. Khondab hosts a partially-built heavy-water research reactor. Reuters
Al Jazeera
a day ago
- Health
- Al Jazeera
Israel attacks Arak nuclear reactor as Iran strikes hospital
A new wave of Iranian missiles has struck multiple sites across Israel, damaging a hospital, and Israel has attacked Iran's Arak heavy water nuclear reactor as the two countries trade fire for a seventh consecutive day. Rescue operations were under way on Thursday after an Iranian missile hit the Soroka Medical Center in the city of Beersheba in southern Israel. Iran said it was targeting a military site in the attack. Reports said the Iranian projectiles made impact in at least six other locations, including in Tel Aviv and two of its districts – Holon and Ramat Gan. Emergency crews said at least 50 people were injured, including four who were in critical condition. The Israeli army said its fighter jets struck dozens of sites in Iran, including the Arak heavy water nuclear reactor. The partially built reactor was originally called Arak and is now named Khondab. The military said it specifically targeted 'the structure of the reactor's core seal, which is a key component in plutonium production'. Iranian media reported air defences were activated in the area of the Khondab nuclear facility and two projectiles hit an area close to it. Officials told Iranian state TV that evacuations were made before the strikes and no risk of radiation or casualties was detected. There was no mention of any damage. The attacks were carried out as the two countries traded fire for a seventh day after Israel launched a major attack on Friday on Iranian military facilities and nuclear sites, killing senior military officials and top nuclear scientists. Iran responded to that attack with air strikes on Israel, and the conflict has since widened to include civilian targets, including residential areas and oil and gas facilities. Iran has fired hundreds of missiles and drones at Israel although most have been shot down by Israel's multitiered air defences. The Soroka Medical Center, which has more than 1,000 beds and provides services to about 1 million residents of southern Israel, said in a statement there was 'extensive damage' in several areas of the hospital and the emergency room was treating several minor injuries. The hospital was closed to all new patients except for life-threatening cases. Many hospitals in Israel have activated emergency plans in the past week, converting underground parking to hospital floors and moving patients underground, especially those who are on ventilators or are difficult to move quickly. 'This is a war crime committed by the Iranian regime,' Israeli Health Minister Uriel Buso was quoted as saying by Israeli Army Radio in reference to the attack on Soroka. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned the Iranian leaders they would pay 'a heavy price' for the attack. The Iranian news agency IRNA said the 'main target' of the Beersheba attack 'was the large [Israeli army] Command and Intelligence (IDF C4I) headquarters and the military intelligence camp in the Gav-Yam Technology Park'. The facility is next to the Soroka Medical Center, it said, claiming the health facility suffered only minor damage from the shockwave resulting from the missile strike. Tight military censorship in Israel means information about sites such as military and intelligence facilities are not released to the public. According to Israeli media reports, a building next to the hospital described as 'sensitive' sustained heavy damage. Ori Goldberg, an Israeli political commentator, told Al Jazeera that Israeli authorities were focusing on the hospital attack and trying to send a 'message that the Iranians target hospitals'. 'Of course, Israelis target hospitals as well. It's important to mention that there really are very sensitive installations and headquarters very near to the hospital because Israel places its military headquarters in the midst of civilian neighbourhoods and towns,' he added, speaking from Tel Aviv. Iranian state TV, meanwhile, reported the attack on the Arak site, saying there was 'no radiation danger whatsoever'. An Iranian state television reporter, speaking live in the nearby town of Khondab, said the facility had been evacuated and there was no damage to civilian areas around the reactor. Israel had warned earlier on Thursday morning that it would attack the facility and urged the public to leave. The Israeli military said its latest round of air strikes also targeted Tehran and other areas of Iran, without elaborating. The strikes came a day after Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei rejected United States calls for a surrender and warned that any US military involvement in the conflict would cause 'irreparable damage to them'. A Washington, DC-based Iranian human rights group said at least 639 people, including 263 civilians, have been killed in Iran in the past week of air strikes and more than 1,300 have been wounded. Iran has fired about 400 missiles and hundreds of drones at Israel, killing at least 24 people and wounding hundreds.
The Independent
a day ago
- Health
- The Independent
Watch: Smoke pours from Israeli hospital heavily damaged by Iran missile
A hospital in Israel has been extensively damaged by a direct hit from an Iranian missile, with at least 65 people being injured in the attack, according to emergency services. Footage shows plumes of smoke coming out of Soroka Hospital in Beersheba on Thursday (19 June), following a wave of overnight attacks. Iranian state media reported that the 'main target' of the missile strike was a military facility in the same area. Explosions were also heard in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, as the conflict enters its seventh day.
RNZ News
a day ago
- Politics
- RNZ News
Israel attacks Iranian nuclear sites, missile damages Israeli hospital
By Jana Choukeir, Alexander Cornwell and Crispian Balmer for Reuters Smoke billows from Soroka Hospital in Beersheba in southern Israel following an Iranian missile attack. Photo: JOHN WESSELS/AFP Israel struck a key Iranian nuclear site on Thursday (local time) and Iranian missiles hit an Israeli hospital, as President Donald Trump kept the world guessing about whether the US would join Israel in air strikes seeking to destroy Tehran's nuclear facilities. A week of Israeli air and missile strikes against its major rival has wiped out the top echelon of Iran's military command, damaged its nuclear capabilities and killed hundreds of people, while Iranian retaliatory strikes have killed at least two dozen civilians in Israel. The Israeli military said it targeted the Khondab nuclear reactor in Iran's Arak overnight, including its partially built heavy-water research reactor. Heavy-water reactors pose a nuclear proliferation risk, because they can easily produce plutonium, which - like enriched uranium - can be used to make the core of an atom bomb. Iranian media reported two projectiles hitting an area near the facility, which had been evacuated, and there were no reports of radiation threats. Israel's military said it also struck a site in the area of Natanz, which it said contained components and specialised equipment used to advance nuclear weapons development. On Thursday morning, several Iranian missiles struck populated areas in Israel, including a hospital in the southern part of the country, according to an Israeli military official. Trails of missiles and interception efforts were visible in the skies over Tel Aviv, with explosions heard, as incoming projectiles were intercepted. Israeli media also reported direct hits in central Israel. Emergency services said five people were seriously injured in the attacks and dozens of others hurt in three separate locations. People were still trapped in a building in a south Tel Aviv neighbourhood, they added. About a dozen mostly European and African embassies and diplomatic missions were located just a few hundred metres from the strike on Tel Aviv. Images showed buildings extensively damaged in Ramat Gan near Tel Aviv and emergency workers helping residents, including children. Soroka Medical Center in Beersheba, in southern Israel, reported it had sustained damage. Iran's Revolutionary Guard said it targeted Israeli military and intelligence headquarters near the hospital. The worst-ever conflict between the two regional powers has raised fears that world powers would be drawn in and further destabilise the Middle East. Speaking to reporters outside the White House, Trump declined to say if he had decided whether to join Israel's air campaign. "I may do it. I may not do it," he said. "I mean, nobody knows what I'm going to do." In later remarks, Trump said Iranian officials wanted to come to Washington for a meeting. Israeli air defence systems are activated to intercept Iranian missiles over Haifa amid a fresh barrage of Iranian rockets. Photo: JALAA MAREY/AFP "We may do that," he said, adding "it's a little late" for such talks. Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei rebuked Trump's earlier call for Iran to surrender in a recorded speech played on television, his first appearance since Friday. "Any US military intervention will undoubtedly be accompanied by irreparable damage," he said. "The Iranian nation will not surrender." Iran denied it sought nuclear weapons and said its programme was for peaceful purposes only. Last week, the International Atomic Energy Agency said Tehran was in breach of its non-proliferation obligations for the first time in 20 years. The foreign ministers of Germany, France and Britain plan to hold nuclear talks with their Iranian counterpart on Friday in Geneva to urge Iran to return to the negotiating table, a German diplomatic source told Reuters. Israel, which is not a party to the international Non-Proliferation Treaty, is the only country in the Middle East believed to have nuclear weapons. Israel does not deny or confirm that. Trump veered from proposing a swift diplomatic end to the war to suggesting the United States might join it. A source familiar with internal discussions said Trump and his team were considering options that included joining Israel in strikes against Iranian nuclear installations, but the prospect of a US strike against Iran had exposed divisions in the coalition of supporters that brought Trump to power, with some of his base urging him not to get the country involved in a new Middle East war. Senior US Senate Democrats urged Trump to prioritise diplomacy and seek a binding agreement to prevent Iran from attaining nuclear weapons, while expressing concern about his administration's approach. "We are alarmed by the Trump administration's failure to provide answers to fundamental questions," they said. "By law, the president must consult Congress and seek authorisation, if he is considering taking the country to war. "He owes Congress and the American people a strategy for US engagement in the region." In social media posts on Tuesday, Trump mused about killing Khamenei. Asked what his reaction would be if Israel did kill Iran's Supreme Leader with the assistance of the United States, Russian President Vladimir Putin said: "I do not even want to discuss this possibility, I do not want to." Putin said all sides should look for ways to end hostilities in a way that ensured both Iran's right to peaceful nuclear power and Israel's right to the unconditional security of the Jewish state. Since Friday, Iran has fired about 400 missiles at Israel, some 40 of which have pierced air defences, killing 24 people - all of them civilians - according to Israeli authorities. The Iranian missile salvoes marked the first time in decades of shadow war and proxy conflict that a significant number of projectiles fired from Iran had penetrated defences, killing Israelis in their homes. Iran reported at least 224 deaths in Israeli attacks, mostly civilians, but had not updated that toll for days. US-based Iranian activist news agency HRANA said 639 people were killed in the Israeli attacks and 1329 injured as of 18 June. Reuters could not independently verify the report. - Reuters
