According to Reuters, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) confirmed that an Israeli military strike directly hit the underground uranium enrichment plant at Natanz, revising earlier assessments that had only indicated damage to an above-ground facility.
According to Sky News UK, Israeli airstrikes have targeted multiple critical infrastructures across Iran, including nuclear, missile, military, and energy facilities in Tehran, Parchin, Tabriz, and Shiraz, with explosions reported in eastern Tehran and other cities. Sky notes that the Israeli strategy appears aimed at crippling Iran’s nuclear capabilities and weakening the regime’s command structure.
According to Al Arabiya, citing both the Israeli military and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Israeli airstrikes struck key centrifuge production facilities near Tehran, including the TESA Karaj workshop and the Tehran Research Center, both previously monitored under the JCPOA. An additional building manufacturing advanced centrifuge rotors in Tehran was also hit.
Ynetnews reported that Israeli airstrikes targeted the Khojir missile production facility near Tehran and Imam Hossein University, affiliated with the IRGC, as part of a broader operation involving over 50 fighter jets striking missile and air-defense manufacturing sites.
Asr-e-Iran reported on June 18 that the conflict between Iran and Israel continues with reciprocal attacks. Israel reportedly targeted the Imam Hossein Military University in Tehran, a key IRGC facility. Iran responded with missile strikes on Israeli cities, including Tel Aviv, and claimed it downed an Israeli Hermes drone over Isfahan. Both capitals experienced heavy overnight bombardments.
In a series of warnings, President Trump says the US knows where Iran's supreme leader is and calls him "an easy target," but says he is safe "for now" https://t.co/NP2PWMQGUp pic.twitter.com/Gs0pWfvQUG
— CNN (@CNN) June 17, 2025
Times of Israel reported that approximately 25 missiles were launched by Iran in two overnight barrages targeting central and northern Israel. No casualties were reported, but there was some damage to urban infrastructure.
According to the IDF, the regime in Iran has launched approximately 350 ballistic missiles at Israel since Friday, June 13. The vast majority were intercepted, but some missiles hit central and northern Israel, causing casualties and damage. In the latest barrage alone, around 40 missiles were fired, resulting in 8 deaths and 95 injuries, including direct hits in Petah Tikva, Haifa, and Bnei Brak.
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) claimed it used a new missile tactic to breach Israeli air defenses during the June 16 attack, according to the Kyiv Independent, citing Reuters. The IRGC claimed its missiles were guided in a way that caused Israeli interceptors to target one another, disrupting systems like Iron Dome and David’s Sling. Israeli officials later acknowledged that 5–10% of Iranian missiles penetrated the defenses, killing at least eight people.
On Friday, Israel launched a wave of strikes on Iran, including on its nuclear facilities.
Here’s what we know about the sites that Israel has attacked so far, why they are so difficult to destroy and what nuclear hazards the strikes could pose. https://t.co/wFtlyMEWAY
— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) June 18, 2025
Reuters reports that the U.S. is deploying F-16, F-22, and F-35 fighter jets to the Middle East and extending other air force deployments in response to the escalating Israel-Iran conflict. U.S. officials described the move as defensive, aimed at protecting American forces and regional allies from potential Iranian retaliation.
The White House reiterated on June 17 that President Trump’s position remains unchanged: Iran must never be allowed to acquire a nuclear weapon. In a statement emphasizing consistency, the administration underscored that this has been a central pillar of Trump’s national security policy, reaffirming that any diplomatic resolution with Tehran hinges on “permanently and verifiably” halting its nuclear ambitions.
CNN reported that U.S. President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held a phone call on June 17 ahead of a Situation Room meeting at the White House, as the two leaders coordinated amid the intensifying Israel-Iran conflict.
Two U.S. officials told CNN that Trump is increasingly open to using U.S. military assets to strike Iranian nuclear facilities. Israeli officials are reportedly waiting to see if Trump will “help finish the job” of dismantling Iran’s nuclear capabilities.
BREAKING: Iran’s supreme leader warns the United States that joining the Israeli strikes now targeting the Islamic Republic will “result in irreparable damage for them.” https://t.co/qjvogfwLBb
— The Associated Press (@AP) June 18, 2025
As Israeli airstrikes continue, thousands of Iranians have fled major cities like Tehran, leading to packed highways, fuel shortages, and widespread panic. With no formal bomb shelters, many seek refuge in metro stations and mosques, while blackouts and disrupted services worsen daily life. The war compounds Iran’s already fragile economy, strained by years of sanctions, inflation, and poverty. Public services are overwhelmed, and the displacement is creating both immediate humanitarian needs and long-term socio-economic instability.
Iranian state media report that over 585 people have been killed and more than 1,300 wounded in Israeli airstrikes across Iran since last Friday, as the Israeli military launched renewed attacks on Tehran on Wednesday. The offensive follows Israel’s initial wave of strikes on military and nuclear sites, which prompted Iranian missile retaliation that reportedly killed 24 and injured hundreds in Israel.
Iran's state-run television broadcaster IRIB has reported that three of its staff members were killed when an Israeli strike struck its headquarters in a residential district of Tehran on Monday.
The station resumed broadcasting shortly afterward. pic.twitter.com/Tqc1lG81Zp
— DW News (@dwnews) June 18, 2025
The regime’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei issued multi-language messages signaling his position amid the escalating conflict. In Persian, he invoked Imam Ali with poetic language—“Ali returns to Khaybar with his Zulfiqar”—framing the regime’s military response as divinely sanctioned and heroic. In Arabic, he warned that any U.S. military intervention would lead to “an irreparable loss,” clearly aimed at deterring Washington from entering the war. In English, his office emphasized that Israel’s attack came while Iran was engaged in indirect negotiations with the U.S., and that Tehran had shown no military intent—casting Israel as the aggressor and Iran as unjustly provoked.
The US President threatens us. With his absurd rhetoric, he demands that the Iranian people surrender to him.
They should make threats against those who are afraid of being threatened. The Iranian nation isn’t frightened by such threats.— Khamenei.ir (@khamenei_ir) June 18, 2025