A week into their war, Israel and Iran exchanged more strikes on Friday as new diplomatic efforts led by the Europeans took place in Geneva. Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi held several hours of talks with the European Union’s top diplomat and counterparts from the United Kingdom, France and Germany.
Afterwards, Britain’s foreign secretary said they were “keen to continue ongoing discussions and negotiations with Iran,” however the European ministers gave few details and took no questions.
Earlier Friday, thousands of people protested in Iran’s capital over the ongoing Israeli strikes, with one hard-line demonstrator telling The Associated Press: “How can we compromise with an enemy that breaches deals?”
Israel’s military says 25 fighter jets carried out airstrikes Friday morning targeting “missile storage and launch infrastructure components” in western Iran. In the Israeli city of Haifa, at least 19 people were wounded by an Iranian missile barrage.
A week of Israeli strikes on Iran have killed at least 657 people and wounded 2,037 others, the Washington-based group Human Rights Activists said Friday.
Chinese evacuation flight arrives in Beijing
An evacuation flight carrying 330 Chinese citizens returning from Iran has arrived at Beijing airport, state broadcaster CCTV reported on Saturday. The flight from Ashgabat, the capital of Turkmenistan, landed in Beijing on Friday evening, it said.
Li Chunlin, a deputy director general at China’s foreign ministry’s consular affairs department, told the broadcaster that some 2,000 Chinese citizens have been evacuated from Iran.
Chinese Ambassador to Israel Xiao Junzheng told state-run media outlet CGTN that about 400 Chinese citizens were also evacuated from Israel.
Friday’s talks were held at Iraq’s request to discuss the regional repercussions of the Israel-Iran war, ahead of an Organisation of Islamic Cooperation meeting scheduled over the weekend.
Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein told the gathering that “the great danger is not limited to Iran alone, but rather includes the entire region” and called for “taking practical steps to influence the positions of European countries and direct communication with the United States of America,” the state-run Iraqi News Agency reported.
Iraq’s top diplomat also warned that expansion of the conflict could lead to the targeting of energy facilities in the region and closure of the Strait of Hormuz, “which could lead to the loss of nearly five million barrels of oil per day to the markets.”
“There were no weapons of mass destruction. I never thought there were. And that was somewhat pre-nuclear. You know, it was, it was a nuclear age, but nothing like it is today,” Trump said of his past criticism of the Bush administration.
Some have pointed to Trump’s past criticism of the U.S. invasion of Iraq as being at odds with his more aggressive stance toward Iran now.
The president also said his director of national intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, was “wrong” when she told lawmakers in March that U.S. spy agencies believed Iran hadn’t made a decision to build a nuclear weapon.
Trump said he was skeptical that Iran wants nuclear power for civilian use.
“You’re sitting on one of the largest oil piles anywhere in the world,” he said. “It’s a little bit hard to see why you’d need that.”
U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said U.N. officials were able to retrieve fuel already in Gaza from the Al-Tahreer station in Rafah on Wednesday.
He said a limited amount of that fuel was delivered Thursday to public utilities in southern Gaza, allowing the continued operation of desalination plants, water trucking services and sewage pumping stations.
Dujarric said fuel was also dispatched to northern Gaza on Friday, but “fuel instability and fuel shortages continue to limit operations, resulting in reduced operating hours and capacity.”
He said U.N. humanitarian officials also report that Israeli authorities issued another evacuation order for two neighborhoods where hundreds of families live in Gaza governorate, citing Palestinian rocket fire from that area.
The U.N. children’s agency UNICEF says 5,100 children aged six months to five years were admitted for treatment for acute malnutrition in May, a nearly 50% increase from April, and a 150% increase from February when a ceasefire was in effect.
Between Jan. 1 and May 30, it said more than 16,700 children have been admitted for malnutrition treatment in Gaza.
U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters Friday that “the food, water and nutrition treatments these children so desperately need are being blocked from reaching them.” UNICEF calls on Israel to urge large-scale deliveries of aid through all border crossings, he said.
Iran’s U.N. Ambassador Amir Saeid Iravani said hundreds of civilians have been killed, including at least two pregnant women and their unborn children, and thousands injured since Israel launched their large-scale attacks on June 13.
As examples, he said Israel on June 16 attacked the Hakim Children’s Hospital in Tehran, Farabi Rehabilitation Hospital in Kermanshah, the Iranian Red Crescent Society building and ambulances. He said physicians, patients and medical personnel have been killed and injured.
“These were not accidents,” Iravani told an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council on the escalating Israel-Iran war. “These were not ‘collateral damage.’ They were deliberate war crimes, acts of state terror, and examples of barbaric warfare.”
Iran hit with magnitude 5.5 earthquake
Iranian state-run media reported that a magnitude 5.5 earthquake rattled parts of Iran on Friday. The United States Geological Survey put the magnitude of the tremor at 5.1.
Authorities in Iran said the quake occurred at 9:19 p.m. local time at a depth of 10 kilometers (6 miles). Its epicenter was roughly 170 kilometers (105 miles) to the east of Tehran, near Semnan province, which stretches from the slopes of the Alborz Mountains to the edge of the Iranian desert. The province is home to several important military and missile facilities.
There were no immediate reports of damage or casualties from the quake, which was considered moderate in strength.
Iran says it’s open to European diplomacy but Israel must to stop the war first
In a statement following a meeting in Geneva with European diplomats, Iran’s foreign minister said his country is ready to consider diplomacy only if Israel halts its attacks and those responsible are held accountable.
Foreign Minister Abbas Araghch expressed his “serious concern” over the failure of the three European countries and the EU to condemn Israel’s sneak attack and ongoing strikes on Iran. He said any attack on Iran’s peaceful nuclear facilities would be a grave breach of international law.
“I explicitly and clearly stated that Iran’s defensive capabilities are not negotiable,” the minister said. However, he added that Iran is ready to keep talking with the Europeans “in the near future.”
His comments came as Israel’s top general said the country’s military was ready for a protracted conflict, and were reported by the Iranian state TV channel on the messaging app Telegram.
The U.S. State Department says more than 25,000 Americans have reached out to it for information in leaving Israel, the West Bank and Iran as the conflict escalates.
Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce told reporters on Friday that those people had sought “information and support” and “seeking guidance” on departing. She would not give a breakdown of where the queries had come from.
The U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem has said it is working on possible evacuation flights and ships for Americans wanting to leave Israel. However, with the exception of one government flight on Wednesday that took out a number of nonessential embassy staffers and family members, no such evacuations have been organized.
There are about 700,000 American citizens in Israel, the vast majority of whom are dual citizens who may not want to leave. There are several thousand Americans believed to be in Iran, most of them also dual citizens.
Europeans’ meeting with Iranian foreign minister yields hope of more talks
Britain’s foreign secretary said after several hours of talks Friday between top European diplomats and their Iranian counterparts that the Europeans are “keen to continue ongoing discussions and negotiations with Iran.”
Foreign Secretary David Lammy said the Europeans were clear in talks in Geneva that Iran “cannot have a nuclear weapon.” German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said that “very serious talks” were held Friday with Iran’s Abbas Araghchi.
The European ministers gave few details and took no questions.
Putin says Israel agreed not to harm Russian personnel at Iran’s nuclear plant
President Vladimir Putin said Friday that the Israeli and U.S. leaders had both agreed to keep Russian workers safe at the Bushehr power plant. The reactor on the Persian Gulf is fueled by uranium produced in Russia.
Speaking at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, Putin rejected criticism that Moscow has abandoned its allies in Tehran. He stressed that Russia has close ties with both Iran and Israel, citing the large number of Russian speakers living in Israel and Moscow’s support for Iran’s peaceful nuclear program.
UN chief says the Israel-Iran war ‘could ignite a fire that no one can control’
Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is calling this a “defining” moment for global peace “when the direction taken will shape not only the fate of nations, but potentially our collective future.”
He told the U.N. Security Council that Iran’s nuclear program remains the central question, and urged a return to serious negotiations to establish “a credible, comprehensive and verifiable solution.”
Germany flies dozens of citizens out of Israel
The 64 people were flown on two German military aircraft Friday evening, the foreign and defense ministries said, with a focus on families with children and other vulnerable people.
The flights were arranged quickly in coordination with Israeli authorities, Earlier in the week, 345 Germans were from home from Amman, Jordan, on commercial chartered flights.
Missile warning at a US base in Turkey was sent in error, US official says
An automated message that was sent out to military personnel at Incirlik Air Base in Turkey Friday afternoon warning of an incoming ballistic missile was sent in error, and there was no missile threat, a U.S. official told The Associated Press.
Officials are still looking into why the alert message was sent. The official spoke on condition of anonymity to provide details that have not been made public yet.
— By Tara Copp in Washington.
UN nuclear watchdog can guarantee Iran will not develop nuclear weapons
U.N. nuclear chief Rafael Grossi told the U.N. Security Council the International Atomic Energy Agency can do this “through a watertight inspection system.”
He said elements for an agreement on reining in Iran’s nuclear program have been discussed.
Grossi called for “maximum restraint” on the Israel-Iran war, adding: “A diplomatic solution is within reach if the necessary political will is there.”
More on the Tehran Research Reactor
The Tehran Research Reactor is at the headquarters of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, the civilian body overseeing the country’s atomic program.
The U.S. actually provided Iran the reactor in 1967 as part of America’s “Atoms for Peace” program during the Cold War. It initially required highly enriched uranium but was later retrofitted to use low-enriched uranium over proliferation concerns
More on the Bushehr nuclear power plant
Iran’s only commercial nuclear power plant is in Bushehr on the Persian Gulf, some 750 kilometers (465 miles) south of Tehran. Construction on the plant began under Iran’s Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi in the mid-1970s. After the 1979 Islamic Revolution, the plant was repeatedly targeted in the Iran-Iraq war. Russia later completed construction of the facility.
Iran is building two other reactors like it at the site. Bushehr is fueled by uranium produced in Russia, not Iran, and is monitored by the United Nations’ International Atomic Energy Agency.
Attacking Iran’s nuclear reactors could trigger radiation leaks, UN watchdog says
U.N. nuclear chief Rafael Grossi on Friday warned against any potential attack on Iran’s only commercial nuclear power plant as well as a research reactor near Tehran, saying it could lead to radiation leaks with “severe consequences.”
The director-general of the International Atomic Energy Agency spoke Friday at an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council about the Israel-Iran conflict.
Even a hit that disabled the two lines supplying electrical power to the Bushehr plant “could cause its reactor core to melt, which could result in a high release of radioactivity to the environment,” Grossi said.
Grossi said Israeli attacks on nuclear sites at Natanz and Isfahan and at the Arak heavy water plant have so far not led to any radiological release.
He said an Israeli military official erroneously reported Thursday that Bushehr was hit by an airstrike, but Israel then retracted that claim. He said the confusion “underscored the vital need for clear and accurate communication.”
US Treasury targets alleged Houthi oil and goods shipment network
The U.S. on Friday said it has taken its single largest sanctions action to date against Yemen’s Houthi rebel group, a key Iranian ally, by imposing sanctions on four people, 12 entities, and two ships that Washington alleges import oil and other goods for the group.
Treasury’s Deputy Secretary Michael Faulkender said Friday’s action “underscores our commitment to disrupting the Houthis’ financial and shipping pipelines that enable their reckless behavior in the Red Sea and the surrounding region.”
The Houthis have launched missile and drone attacks against commercial and military ships in the Red Sea corridor as an effort to end Israel’s offensive in Gaza. They’ve also targeted Israel with long-range missiles.
At least 19 wounded in Israel by Iranian missile barrage
Rambam hospital in the port city of Haifa said it received 19 wounded people from the site of an Iranian missile strike. Two people had serious-to-moderate injuries and the rest were lightly hurt, the hospital said.
Switzerland says it is temporarily closing its embassy in Tehran
Switzerland says it’s closing the embassy in view of the “intensity of military operations” and the unstable situation on the ground. The government in Bern said Friday that all expatriate staff safely left Iran and will return to Tehran as soon as the situation allows.
Since Tehran and Washington don’t have diplomatic relations, Switzerland has looked out for America’s interests in Iran since the 1979 U.S. Embassy hostage crisis. In its statement Friday, the Swiss government said it will continue to act as an intermediary transmitting communications “as and when both parties consider appropriate.”
Britain is withdrawing all UK staff from its Tehran embassy ‘as a precautionary measure’
The British Foreign Office said in a statement that “we take the protection of our staff and British nationals extremely seriously and we have long advised against all travel to Iran.”
The decision is based on the “current security situation” and not the anticipation that the war between Israel and Iran will escalate further, the statement said. It says the embassy in will operate remotely for the time being.
U.S. President Donald Trump has said he will decide within two weeks whether the U.S. will get directly involved.
Iran’s foreign minister arrives for talks in Geneva with top European diplomats
Iran’s foreign minister arrived Friday for talks with top European diplomats in Geneva about the crisis that centers on concerns about his country’s nuclear program, a week after the long-simmering dispute erupted into war between Israel and Iran.
Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi arrived at a hotel in the Swiss city for a meeting with his counterparts from France, Germany and the U.K. and the European Union’s foreign policy chief. It is the first face-to-face meeting between Western and Iranian officials since the start of the conflict.
At the UN, Iran’s foreign minister calls Israel’s attacks ‘unprovoked aggression’
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi addressed the U.N. Human Rights Council in Geneva ahead of a meeting with top European diplomats.
He said “this is an unjust war imposed on my people.” He said that Israel’s “attacks on nuclear facilities are grave war crimes.”
Araghchi asserted that “any justification for this unjust and criminal war would be tantamount to complicity.”
He said that “we are entitled … and determined to defend our territorial integrity, national sovereignty and security with all force. This is our inherent right.”
Source: AP News
