Israel strikes Iranian state TV headquarters
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More news: Israel struck Iran’s state broadcaster headquarters in Tehran on Monday during a live broadcast, after telling residents to evacuate the area.
The building caught fire and several employees were injured, according to Iranian officials.
Before the strike, Israel’s defence minister, Israel Katz, said in a statement that “the mouthpiece of Iranian propaganda and incitement is about to disappear.”
The context: The attack came as Israel expanded its bombardment of Iranian cities, with its military claiming “full aerial operational control above Tehran” and stating it had hit more than 100 sites, mainly missile launchers.
Iran retaliated with missile strikes that killed at least eight people in Israel. Since Friday, at least 224 people have been killed in Iran, most of them civilians, and more than 1,400 injured. Israel reported 24 civilians killed and around 600 wounded.
Iranian state media reported on Monday that the country was preparing its “largest and most intense missile attack” yet against Israel, while separate reports said Tehran had asked regional powers to press the US to push for a ceasefire, in return for flexibility in nuclear negotiations. Oil prices moved lower following those reports.
What they said: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said, “We are on the path to victory,” adding Israel was achieving its “two goals: eliminating the nuclear threat and eliminating the missile threat.”
In a post on X Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said, “It takes one phone call from Washington to muzzle someone like Netanyahu... that may pave the way for a return to diplomacy.”
President Masoud Pezeshkian told parliament: “We were not the ones who abandoned the negotiating table,” he said. “We went and even began indirect negotiations — we were negotiating.” He added “We do not seek to escalate the conflict, but we will respond to any attack on Iranian soil in a manner that will make them regret it.”
Asked about reports that Iran is seeking to negotiate at the G7 summit in Canada, US President Donald Trump said, “Yeah," adding "they’d like to talk, but they should have done that before... It’s painful for both parties but I would say that Iran is not winning this war. They should talk and they should talk immediately, before it's too late.” When asked about US military involvement, said he didn’t want to discuss it.
Iran signals desire for de-escalation on condition that US does not get involved: WSJ
More news: Iran has been signalling that it seeks an urgent end to hostilities with Israel and would resume talks over its nuclear programs, provided the US does not join Israel’s attacks, the Wall Street Journal reports.
Middle Eastern and European officials told the Journal that Iran has been sending messages via Arab intermediaries that it is seeking talks with both the US and Israel. Tehran also reportedly passed messages to Israel saying that it is in the interest of both sides to keep the violence contained.
Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu has said that the attacks will continue until Iran’s nuclear program and ballistic missiles are eliminated, having already taken out high-ranking military officials and key nuclear targets. Israeli officials said that they are prepared to carry out at least two weeks of strikes.
Countries across the Middle East, Europe, Russia and the US have called for Israel and Iran to return to the negotiating table to reach an agreement.
While warning on Sunday that if Iran attacked the US “in any way, shape or form,” the full might of the US Armed Forces would respond “at levels never seen before,” US President Donald Trump also said: “I think it’s time for a deal, and we’ll see what happens, but sometimes they have to fight it out.”
Israel claims to “control the skies” over Tehran
The news: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that the Israeli Air Force “controls the skies of Tehran,” as strikes between the two nations continue for the fourth consecutive day.
The numbers: Conflict between the two powers intensified on Monday, with Israel saying eight people were killed by Iranian missiles, bringing the country’s death toll to 23 since Friday.
On Sunday Iranian officials said that 224 civilians and 17 high-ranking military officials had been killed by Israeli strikes since Friday.
The context: Speaking from the Tel Nof Airbase with Defence Minister Israel Katz, Netanyahu said: “This is a change of the entire campaign.”
He said Israel is “on the way to achieving our two goals: elimination of the nuclear threat and elimination of the missile threat…When we control the skies of Tehran, we strike these targets, the regime's targets, in contrast to the criminal regime of Iran that targets our civilians and comes to kill children and women. We say to the citizens of Tehran: 'Evacuate' — and we act.”
Katz warned that residents in certain parts of the Iranian capital would be forced to evacuate their homes as Israel planned to attack Iranian regime and security targets in Tehran.
The UN’s nuclear watchdog also said on Monday that Iran’s Fordow nuclear plant, located deep underground, had not been damaged by Israeli strikes, despite Tehran saying that Israel had attacked the uranium enrichment facility. “No damage has been seen at the site of the Fordow fuel enrichment plant,” said Rafael Grossi, director-general of the International Atomic Energy Agency.
Also on Monday, Putin and Erdogan condemned Israel’s actions against Iran over a phone call, the Kremlin said, calling for an “immediate cessation of hostilities and the settlement of contentious issues, including those related to the Iranian nuclear program, exclusively by political and diplomatic means."
While the US has been careful to distance itself from Israel’s strikes on Iran, the US aircraft carrier USS Nimitz has left the South China Sea and begun heading West. Sources told Reuters that the carrier had been scheduled to visit Vietnam last this week, but that the visit had been cancelled.
On Sunday Trump warned that if the US were “attacked in any way, shape or form by Iran, the full strength and might of the US Armed Forces will come down on you at levels never seen before.”
The sources: IAEA statement, Netanyahu statement, FT, Reuters, Wall Street Journal
