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TEHRAN / TEL AVIV / MOSCOW: Israel bombed nuclear targets in Iran on Thursday and Iran fired missiles and drones at Israel after hitting an Israeli hospital overnight, as a week-old air war escalated with no sign yet of an exit strategy from either side.
Russia, meanwhile, warned the US against taking any military action against Tehran, as its President Donald Trump kept the world guessing over what his intentions are.
On Thursday, the US president pushed back on a Wall Street Journal report, claiming he privately approved attack plans for Iran but delayed a final go-ahead in hopes Iran would abandon its nuclear programme.
Writing on his social media platform Truth Social, he said: “The Wall Street Journal has no idea what my thoughts are concerning Iran!”
Subsequently, a White House spokesperson said the president would make a decision on whether to attack Iran “within two weeks”, Reuters reported.
On the other hand, Iran’s deputy foreign minister warned Washington against intervening to back up its ally Israel, adding that his country was ready to defend itself in case of escalation.
“If the US wants to actively enter the field in favour of the Zionist regime, Iran will have to use its tools to both teach a lesson to aggressors and defend its national security and national interests,” said deputy foreign minister Kazem Gharibabadi, according to state TV.
“Naturally, our military decision makers have all the necessary options on the table,” he added.
However, Reuters reported that Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi had spoken by phone several times since Israel began its strikes last week, in a bid to find a diplomatic solution.
According to the diplomats, who asked not to be identified due to the sensitivity of the matter, Araqchi said Tehran would not return to negotia-tions unless Israel stopped the attacks, which began on June 13.
They said the talks included a brief discussion of a US proposal given to Iran at the end of May that aims to create a regional consortium that would enrich uranium outside of Iran, an offer Tehran has so far rejected.
Trading blows
In the latest wave of attacks, Israel said it had struck Iran’s Natanz and Isfahan nuclear sites. It initially said it had also hit Bushehr, site of Iran’s only functioning nuclear power plant, but a spokesperson later said it was a mistake to have said this.
An Iranian diplomat told Reuters Bushehr was not hit and Israel was engaged in “psychological warfare” by discussing it. Any attack on the plant, near Arab neighbours and housing Russian technicians, is viewed as risking nuclear disaster.
Earlier, the Israeli military said it targeted the Khondab nuclear site near Iran’s central city Arak overnight, including a partially-built heavy-water research reactor. Heavy-water reactors produce plutonium, which, like enriched uranium, can be used to make the core of an atom bomb.
Iranian TV showed footage of smoke billowing from the direction of Arak, but Iran’s atomic energy agency said the attack caused no casualties.
The Israeli military also said it attacked launch sites in western Iran after attempts to restore them were detected.
Israel claimed that retaliatory strikes from Iran killed at least two dozen civilians.
On Thursday, the Revolutionary Guards had claimed launching combined missile and drone attacks at military and industrial sites linked to Israel’s defence industry in Haifa and Tel Aviv.
A hospital in southern Israel was hit as Iran fired a barrage of “dozens” of missiles, officials said, with impacts also reported in two Israeli towns close to commercial hub Tel Aviv.
Although Israel cried foul over the act, Iran said the main target was an Israeli military and intelligence base, not the health facility.
“The main target of the attack was the Israeli Army Command and Intelligence Base (IDF C4I) and the Army Intelligence Camp in Gav-Yam Technology Park, located in the vicinity of the Soroka Hospital,” state news agency IRNA said.
It said the hospital was “exposed only to the blast wave”, and that the “direct and precise target” was the mili-tary facility.
Russia, China concerned
Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping on Thursday strongly condemned Israeli attacks on Iran in a phone call and stressed the need for a diplomatic solution, Moscow and Beijing said.
Xi told Putin that a ceasefire was the “top priority” and urged Israel to halt its attacks, Chinese state media reported.
Beijing “opposes any act that... infringes upon the sovereignty, security and territorial integrity of other countries, and opposes the use or threat of use of force in international relations”, foreign ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun told a regular press briefing.
Published in Dawn, June 20th, 2025
