On June 23, 2025, Israel launched airstrikes on the notorious Evin Prison in northern Tehran, the primary detention center for political dissidents of the Islamic regime.

It was around 1:30pm in Tehran on Monday when reports emerged of an explosion at Evin Prison, in the north of the Iranian capital.

Israel’s Foreign Minister Gideon Saar quickly posted video footage showing a prison door hit by a missile. The video was widely shared on social media, and while Saar did not specify the source of the video, other images from Tehran confirmed the strike.

This video posted on social media by Israel’s foreign minister, Gideon Saar, on June 23, 2025 shows an Israeli airstrike the same day on the main gate of Tehran’s Evin prison, in the southwestern part of the compound. To display this content from X (Twitter), you must enable advertisement tracking and audience measurement. Accept Manage my choices

According to Iranian media, the attack not only struck the prison’s main entrance but also damaged a prosecutor’s office and two courts within Evin, one known as “Kachouyi” in the northern part of the complex and another known as “Moghaddasi” in the southern part. The two courts are well-known for prosecuting protesters and dissidents, and the prison is notorious for imprisoning thousands of Iranians, including protesters from the “Woman, Life, Freedom” movement, university students, women activists, opposition figures, and artists. The explosions were so powerful that they reportedly shattered windows in sections 7 and 8 of the north wing of the prison.

In this video posted on June 23, 2025, smoke billows from the southwest wing of Tehran’s Evin prison, as a police officer moves people further east, away from the main gate. To display this content from Telegram, you must enable advertisement tracking and audience measurement. Accept Manage my choices

The FRANCE 24 Observers team geolocated these two videos.

Two videos of the attack (above) show the explosion at Evin Prison’s main gate, highlighted in green, with smoke rising from the Moghaddasi courthouse marked in yellow. The image below, taken before the explosion, is available on Google Maps. © Observers

Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz labelled Monday’s attack as part of an “unprecedented wave of strikes targeting key components of the Iranian regime, including internal repression facilities in the heart of the capital”.

This video captures the aftermath of the Israeli strike on Tehran’s Evin Prison on June 23, 2025. The ‘Kachouyi’ courthouse has been destroyed, and a nearby building in the vicinity of the prison has also been damaged. To display this content from Telegram, you must enable advertisement tracking and audience measurement. Accept Manage my choices

“Another video from the north wing of Evin Prison shows the attack on the ‘Kachouyi’ courthouse, highlighted in red, and a nearby building marked in blue (below). The images above show the same building before the attack, as seen on Google Maps.” © Observers

In addition to common criminals, Evin Prison is home to many political prisoners, including Narges Mohammad, winner of the Nobel Peace Prize in 2025, as well as foreign detainees.

On this map, the red, blue, yellow and light green markers indicate the locations of the June 23, 2025 airstrikes, while the dark green circles highlight wards 209 and 240 of Evin prison, where political prisoners are held. © Observers

‘All the windows are shattered’

Abolfazl Ghadyani, a prominent critic of the Islamic regime who is incarcerated in Evin, described the aftermath of the attack in a phone call with his son. “All the windows are shattered, and the prison hospital is partially damaged,” Ghadyani’s son said his father told him. Ahmad Ghadyani added: “Does the Islamic Republic intend to keep all these political prisoners in custody? Many of them are ill, what kind of madness and villainy is this?”

According to a former political prisoner with connections inside the prison, the women’s ward of Evin Prison was severely damaged, but no prisoners in the ward were seriously injured.

In addition to the prison, Katz’s office said that Israeli jets also targeted regime-affiliated installations in Tehran, including the Basij headquarters of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), internal security command centres, and the symbolic “Countdown to Israel’s Destruction” clock in Palestine Square, according to Ynet News .

The strikes on Evin Prison and Iranian security facilities came hours after US President Donald Trump suggested regime change in Iran. In a social media post, Trump remarked: “It’s not politically correct to use the term ‘Regime Change,’ but if the current Iranian regime cannot MAKE IRAN GREAT AGAIN, why wouldn’t there be a regime change??? MIGA!!!”

US President Donald Trump addresses the nation on striking Iran, alongside Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth

But with Trump musing about everything from “unconditional surrender” to regime change, it remains to be seen if the US intervention will remain limited — or if Iran will let it be.

Two days after the United States bombed Iran’s key nuclear sites as part of an Israeli-led military campaign, Iran fired missiles at a major US base in Qatar that were shot down.

Trump said that Iran gave advance notice of the missiles and offered thanks, apparently seeing a choreography to show that Iran can hit back without causing American casualties that would be sure to trigger another US strike.

Iran acted similarly in 2020 when Trump ordered the killing of top general Qasem Soleimani, hitting back at a base in Iraq housing US troops without killing any — and tensions then subsided.

But Israel’s strikes on Iran starting on June 13 mark the biggest attack on the region’s second most populous country since the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq war, with the risks potentially existential for the Islamic Republic.

Stacie Pettyjohn, director of the defense program at the Center for a New American Security, said that the US strike was “incredibly successful” on a tactical level but “it’s not clear that it’s actually achieved the operational or strategic objectives.”

Iran is suspected to have moved highly enriched uranium stockpiles out of targeted sites.

Iran also has plenty of other options to respond, including by threatening global oil prices through action in the oil-rich Gulf — which can range from closing the Strait of Hormuz to harassing ships with low-cost drones.

“The Middle East is a theater where US military success, hearkening back to the first Gulf War, has often proved to be rather ephemeral and led to long-term commitments in terms of US forces to maintain stability after that initial success,” she said.

Trump warms to interventionism

Trump campaigned by billing himself as anti-war and just last month delivered a speech in Riyadh in which he denounced “nation-builders” who failed by “intervening in complex societies that they did not even understand themselves.”

But Trump, always in tune with television images, quickly backed Israel after the apparent success of initial strikes, even through Trump had publicly urged Netanyahu to hold off and give a chance for diplomacy.

Since then, and despite criticism from some in his right-wing base who loathe US interventionism, Trump has dialed up the tone.

He has taken to social media to urge Tehran’s nearly 10 million people to evacuate, to demand “unconditional surrender” by Iran even though he said the United States was not at war, and to speak of the benefits of regime change, refashioning his campaign slogan to say, “Make Iran Great Again.”

Netanyahu has also expanded goals well beyond nuclear sites, with Israel striking the gate of Evin prison, notorious for jailing political prisoners.

Netanyahu has called on Iranians to rise up against Iran’s theocratic government, which has long faced wide domestic opposition. Iran under the Shah, who was deposed in 1979, was an ally of the West and Israel.

But some Iran watchers expect a nationalist backlash against US and Israeli strikes — and so long as the Islamic republic is in place, the next moves for Trump are murky.

The United States and Israel may have pushed back the Iranian nuclear program but it is unclear if Tehran would accept a binding agreement, said Max Boot, a military historian at the Council on Foreign Relations who was an advocate for the 2003 Iraq invasion.

If Iran does not, “we’re locked in this kind of perpetual war with Iran, where every time there’s any detection of any advance in their nuclear program, then Israeli aircraft are going to wind up having to bomb again,” he said.

“I’m not sure that there has been a carefully thought-out end-game in here.”

© 2025 AFP

Interceptor missiles are fired, after Iran’s armed forces say they targeted the Al-Udeid base in a missile attack, as seen from Doha, Qatar, June 23, 2025. REUTERS/Stringer TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY

Iran announced it had launched missiles at a US base in Qatar Monday in retaliation for American strikes on key nuclear facilities, with US President Donald Trump shrugging off the response as “very weak” and saying it was now time to make peace.

A US defence official said no one was hurt in the attack — which Trump said Iran had given advanced notice of – and oil prices sank afterwards as traders breathed a sigh of relief at what one analyst called the “somewhat measured” response.

Qatar, which lies 190 kilometres (120 miles) south of Iran and is home to the largest US military facility in the Middle East, said its “air defences successfully intercepted a missile attack targeting Al Udeid Air Base”.

Iran’s National Security Council confirmed having targeted the base “in response to the US aggressive and insolent action against Iran’s nuclear sites and facilities”.

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In its statement, the council said the number of missiles used “was the same as the number of bombs that the US had used”, in a signal that it had calibrated its response to be directly proportional.

After more than a week of Israeli strikes on nuclear and military targets across Iran, the United States joined its ally’s campaign on Sunday, carrying out attacks on three key Iranian nuclear facilities, including on an underground uranium enrichment facility at Fordo using massive bunker-busting bombs.

“Iran has officially responded to our Obliteration of their Nuclear Facilities with a very weak response, which we expected, and have very effectively countered,” Trump posted on his Truth Social platform after the attack, thanking Tehran “for giving us early notice, which made it possible for no lives to be lost, and nobody to be injured”.

Adding that Iran had “gotten it all out of their ‘system’,” he said: “Perhaps Iran can now proceed to Peace and Harmony in the Region, and I will enthusiastically encourage Israel to do the same.”

The New York Times, citing Iranian officials, reported that the response had been designed to allow “all sides an exit ramp”, drawing a parallel to a similar Iranian attack on a US base in Iraq following Washington’s assassination of top Iranian general in 2020.

With international concern mounting that Israel’s campaign in Iran could lead to a regional spillover – concern that only intensified after the US strikes – French President Emmanuel Macron said after the Iranian retaliation that “the spiral of chaos must end”.

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‘Right to respond’

Iran’s security council maintained that its “action does not pose any threat to our friendly and brotherly country, Qatar”.

But Qatari foreign ministry spokesman Majed Al-Ansari said his country “reserves the right to respond directly in a manner proportional to the nature and scale of this blatant aggression”.

Its much larger neighbour Saudi Arabia, historically a rival of Iran, condemned Tehran’s attack and offered “all its capabilities to support the sisterly State of Qatar in any measures it takes”.

AFP reporters heard blasts in central Doha and in Lusail, north of the capital, on Monday evening, and saw projectiles moving across the night sky.

The US defence official said Al Udeid was “attacked by short-range and medium-range ballistic missiles”, and Ansari said it had been evacuated as a precaution ahead of time.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps said six missiles had hit the base, according to state media.

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Iranians gathered in central Tehran on Monday night to celebrate the attack, images on state TV showed, with some waving the flag of the Islamic republic and chanting “Death to America”.

Earlier in the day, Qatar had announced the temporary closure of its airspace in light of “developments in the region”, while foreign embassies there including that of the United States had warned their citizens to shelter in place.

After the attack, Qatar said “the security situation in the country is stable, and there is no cause for concern”.

Tehran strikes

Just as Iran was announcing the new attacks, blasts were heard in the north of Tehran, according to an AFP journalist, who reported yellow flashes typical of Iranian air defences in the sky over the capital shortly before 9pm (1730 GMT).

Earlier in the day Israel reported carrying out what it said were its most powerful strikes yet on Tehran.

Iran, in turn, fired missile barrages at Israel.

Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said the military hit sites in Tehran including Evin prison, which Katz said “holds political prisoners and regime opponents”, as well as command centres for the domestic Basij paramilitary and the Revolutionary Guards.

Read moreWill Russia benefit from the Israel-Iran war?

Iranian media and the Israeli military said Israel also struck Fordo on Monday “in order to obstruct access routes” to the site.

Israeli strikes on Iran have killed more than 400 people, Iran’s health ministry has said. Iran’s attacks on Israel have killed 24 people, according to official figures.

China urged both Iran and Israel to prevent the conflict from spilling over, warning of potential economic fallout.

Oil prices fall

Oil prices sank more than six percent on Monday after the attack.

Around 1815 GMT, futures for West Texas Intermediate fell 6.5 percent to $69.96 a barrel, while Brent oil futures dropped 6.4 percent to $72.07 a barrel, its lowest level in 10 days.

John Kilduff of Again Capital described the Iranian action as “somewhat measured”.

“This is a face-saving measure by the Iranians and hopefully the diplomatic off-ramp will be taken,” Kilduff said.

On Sunday, after the Pentagon stressed the goal of US intervention was not to topple the Iranian government, Trump had openly toyed with the idea.

“If the current Iranian Regime is unable to MAKE IRAN GREAT AGAIN, why wouldn’t there be a Regime change???” Trump posted on his Truth Social platform.

(FRANCE 24 with AFP)

U.S. President Donald Trump said on social media Monday that Israel and Iran have agreed to a “complete and total ceasefire” to be phased in over 24 hours.

Iran’s foreign minister said Iran will stop its attacks if Israel stops its airstrikes by 4 a.m. local time in Tehran. Israel did not immediately acknowledge any ceasefire, but there were no Israeli strikes reported after 4 a.m.

“As of now, there is NO ‘agreement’ on any ceasefire or cessation of military operations,” Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi wrote on social media. “However, provided that the Israeli regime stops its illegal aggression against the Iranian people no later than 4 am Tehran time, we have no intention to continue our response afterwards.”

Here is the latest:

Israel’s military tells public they can leave shelters

Iran’s Ambassador to the International Atomic Energy Agency, IAEA, Reza Najafi, left, attends an IAEA Board of Governors meeting in Vienna, Austria, Monday, June 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Michael Gruber) Photo:

The announcement signals the missile barrage has ended.

Alerts and sirens in Israel

Alerts began going off on mobile phones in Israel, and sirens sounded in areas ahead of the missile barrage’s arrival.

Israel’s military warns public that Iran has launched missiles towards it

The launch came after a promised Iranian halt to fire at 4 a.m. local time Tehran.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Iran would halt its fire if Israel stopped its airstrikes. It’s unclear what the detected missile launch would do for that timeline.

Trump communicated directly with Israeli prime minister to secure ceasefire, White House official says

Trump communicated directly with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to secure the ceasefire, according to a senior White House official who insisted on anonymity to discuss the Monday talks.

Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and special envoy Steve Witkoff communicated with Iranians through direct and indirect channels.

The White House has maintained that the Saturday bombing by the U.S. on Iran helped get Israel to agree to the ceasefire and that the Qatari government helped to broker the deal.

Iran’s foreign minister said Iran would stop its attacks if Israel would, though it’s unclear what role Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s leader, played in the talks as he had said on social media that he would not surrender.

Significance of Trump’s name for the Israel-Iran war

On social media, Trump called the war between Israel and Iran the “12 Day War.” That recalls the 1967 Mideast war, known by some as the “Six Day War,” in which Israel fought a group of Arab countries including Egypt, Jordan and Syria.

Trump’s reference carries emotional weight for the Arab world, particularly Palestinians.

In the 1967 war, Israel captured the West Bank and east Jerusalem from Jordan, the Gaza Strip and the Sinai Peninsula from Egypt, and the Golan Heights from Syria. Though Israel later gave back the Sinai to Egypt, it still holds the other territories, setting the stage for decades of conflict that continue to reverberate today.

Qatar Airways resumes its flights

Qatar had shut down its airspace over the Iranian attack on Al Udeid Air Base.

Flight-tracking data showed commercial aircraft again flying in Qatari airspace early Tuesday, signaling the capital believed the threat on the energy-rich nation had passed.

Israeli airstrikes targeted Iran’s capital up until 4 a.m. local time

Intense Israeli airstrikes targeted Tehran and other areas up until 4 a.m. local time. Israel in other conflicts typically steps up its strikes just before ceasefires take effect.

Tehran will stop its attacks if Israel does by 4 a.m., Iran’s foreign minister says

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi says Tehran will stop its attacks if Israel stops its airstrikes by 4 a.m. local time.

The comment marked the first official remarks by Iran to Trump’s claimed ceasefire between Iran and Israel.

Araghchi sent his message on the social platform X at 4:16 a.m. Tehran time.

“As of now, there is NO ‘agreement’ on any ceasefire or cessation of military operations,” Araghchi wrote. “However, provided that the Israeli regime stops its illegal aggression against the Iranian people no later than 4 am Tehran time, we have no intention to continue our response afterwards.”

Iran warns Ramat Gan

Iran, mirroring the language and maps of the Israeli military, put out a warning telling people in Ramat Gan it would target “military infrastructure” there.

About 250 Americans have been evacuated from Israel, official says

The U.S. has evacuated some 250 American citizens and their immediate family members from Israel by government, military and charter flights that began over the weekend, a State Department official says.

Since June 21, the official says the U.S. has organized seven flights, most of which have to gone to Athens, Greece, but also to Rome, Italy, and Larnaca, Cyprus.

Other Americans, including nonessential embassy staff and their families, have left via land to Jordan and Egypt, while others have departed Israel by ship. The official did not have statistics for those departures, which do not necessarily involve U.S. government assistance.

There are roughly 700,000 American citizens, most of them dual U.S.-Israeli citizens, believed to be in Israel.

No comment from Israel and Iran UN missions

Iran’s mission declined to comment on Trump’s ceasefire post, and the Israeli mission said it had no immediate comment.

Iranian state media has no word on Tehran response

Meanwhile, Iranian media reported ongoing Israeli airstrikes, including around Tehran.

White House reposts Trump’s social media post announcing ceasefire

The White House reposted Trump’s social media post announcing a ceasefire between Israel and Iran with a photo of the president holding a red hat that says in all caps, “Trump was right about everything.”

Vance calls Israel-Iran war ‘an important reset moment for the entire region’

Vice President JD Vance says he believes the world will look back at the war between Israel and Iran — and the U.S. bombing of Iran’s nuclear facilities — as “an important reset moment for the entire region.”

Vance appeared on Fox News Channel just minutes after Trump announced a phased-in ceasefire over the next 24 hours.

The vice president says the Trump administration hopes that the Iranians have learned an important lesson: If they want to build a nuclear weapon in the future, “they’re going to have to deal with a very, very powerful American military again.”

Vance says he thinks that will dissuade them not to do it.

Trump suggests full ceasefire will begin at midnight Wednesday

Trump’s social media post says the 24-hour phased-in ceasefire will begin at approximately midnight Tuesday EST, giving the two countries six hours to have “wound down and completed their in progress, final missions.”

At that point, he said, Iran will cease attacks, and 12 hours later, Tuesday at noon EST, Israel will also stop strikes, and after 12 more hours “the War will be considered, ENDED!”

Trump says Iran and Israel will have a phased-in ceasefire over 24 hours

U.S. President Donald Trump said on social media that Israel and Iran have agreed to a “complete and total ceasefire” to be phased in over 24 hours.

Trump said on Truth Social that the ceasefire would bring an “Official END” to war, a major change in the hostilities that follows a U.S. strike over the weekend on three Iranian nuclear sites.

“On the assumption that everything works as it should, which it will, I would like to congratulate both Countries, Israel and Iran, on having the Stamina, Courage, and Intelligence to end, what should be called, “THE 12 DAY WAR,” Trump posted.

US lifts ‘shelter in place’ warning for Americans in Qatar

The State Department has lifted the “shelter in place” warning to Americans in Qatar that it issued earlier Monday ahead of Iranian missile launches at a US military base there in retaliation for weekend U.S. airstrikes on Iranian nuclear facilities.

The embassy in Doha, which had also instructed official personnel to stay inside, revoked the guidance in a statement issued late Monday afternoon Washington time after nearly all of the missiles were intercepted and Iran signaled there would be no more.

It noted that Qatari airspace, which had been closed earlier, remained closed and that the security situation in the country could change rapidly.

Russia, China and Pakistan seek UN resolution condemning US strikes on Iran and calling for ceasefire

The draft Security Council resolution, circulated to its 15 members for comments and obtained by The Associated Press, is almost certain to be vetoed by the U.S. in its present form. It could be changed in negotiations.

It “condemns in the strongest terms the attacks against peaceful nuclear sites and facilities” in Iran under safeguard by the U.N. nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency.

The draft also calls for “an immediate and unconditional ceasefire” in the Israel-Iran conflict, urgent protection of civilians and civilian infrastructure, and a diplomatic solution to Iran’s nuclear issue that guarantees its “exclusively peaceful nature” in exchange for the lifting of unilateral and multilateral sanctions against Iran.

Qatar says one of 19 missiles fired by Iran impacted the base but caused no casualties

Iran fired 19 missiles at the base in Qatar, and one impacted the facility but caused no casualties, a Qatari military officer said late Monday.

Maj. Gen. Shayeq Al Hajri told reporters that seven missiles were fired from Iran and all were intercepted over the water between the two countries by Qatari air defenses. Iran then fired 12 more missiles and 11 were intercepted over Qatari territory, but one hit the U.S. base, Al Hajri said.

It was not immediately clear how much damage was caused by the missile.

The number of missiles differed from a figure given by Trump, who said 14 missiles were fired, 13 were knocked down and one was “set free” because it posed no threat.

Trump says Iran gave US advanced warning of attacks on base in Qatar

President Trump said Iran warned the U.S. before its missile strike Monday on an American air base in Qatar.

“I want to thank Iran for giving us early notice, which made it possible for no lives to be lost, and nobody to be injured,” Trump wrote on social media.

The president expressed hope that the missile would be the end of Iranian retaliation for U.S. strikes on Iranian nuclear sites.

“Most importantly, they’ve gotten it all out of their ‘system,’ and there will, hopefully, be no further HATE,” he said.

No attack on US base in Iraq, senior US military official says

A senior U.S. military official said that earlier reports of a missile launched at a base housing American forces in Iraq on Monday were a false alarm.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to comment publicly, said that “debris from a malfunctioning Iranian missile targeting Israel targeted an alert” of an impending attack on the Ain al-Assad base housing U.S. troops in western Iraq.

“There was no attack on the base,” he said.

An Iraqi security official said earlier that the Iraqis had been informed by U.S. officials that missiles had been launched toward the base, but that no missiles ever arrived.

Former Israeli security adviser says Iran likely safeguarded enriched uranium

Yaakov Amidror, a former Israeli national security adviser, said the Iranians may have moved it from the heavily-fortified Fordo facility in anticipation of the U.S. attacking it.

Enriched uranium held at the facility was also likely held in “big strong cannisters” and could potentially be retrieved by Iranians if it survived the bombardment. Uranium in the process of being enriched would have been destroyed by in the bombing, Amridror added.

“I believe that the Iranians were smart enough not to be in the middle of any process, but all the uranium which had been in Fordo was kept in canisters, so it will not (be destroyed),” Amidror told reporters Monday. “The main concerns of Israel now is the enriched uranium still in the hands of the Iranians.”

The Strait of Hormuz is a vital route for oil. Closing it could backfire on Iran

The war between Israel and Iran has raised concerns that Iran could retaliate by trying to close the Strait of Hormuz, the world’s most important oil chokepoint, due to the large volumes of crude that pass through it every day.

The U.S. military’s strike on Iran has raised questions about how its military might respond.

The Strait of Hormuz is between Oman and Iran, which boasts a fleet of fast-attack boats and thousands of naval mines as well as missiles that it could use to make the strait impassable, at least for a time.

About 20 million barrels of oil per day, or around 20% of the world’s oil consumption, passed through the strait in 2024. Most of that oil goes to Asia.

If Iran blocked the strait, oil prices could shoot as high as $120-$130 per barrel, at least temporarily, said Homayoun Falakshahi, head of crude oil analyst at Kpler, in an online webinar Sunday.

That would deal an inflationary shock to the global economy — if it lasted. Analysts think it wouldn’t.

▶ Read more about the waterway and its impact on the global economy

UN chief presses for return to diplomacy in Israel-Iran conflict

Secretary-General Antonio is publicly and privately “being supportive of any diplomatic efforts that can be restored,” the U.N. spokesman says.

Asked about France and Russia, who have offered to mediate in the U.S.-Israel-Iran conflict, spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said there are also other countries: “We’ve seen Oman being very productive in that sense, and I think anyone that can help, should help.”

The secretary-general “has condemned every escalation in this conflict,” Dujarric told U.N. reporters Monday.

“What we need to see is not more missiles going both ways or different ways,” he said. “What we need to see is, as we said, a return to diplomacy.”

He stressed: “The more we see unilateral use of force, the more we see violations of international law, the riskier the region gets.”

US installations in the Middle East

The U.S. military as of early this month about 40,000 servicemembers in the Middle East, many of them on ships at sea as part of a bolstering of forces as tensions rose again in the region, according to the Washington-based Council on Foreign Relations research and policy center.

The U.S. has military sites spread across the region, including in Qatar, Bahrain, Iraq, Israel, Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Syria and the United Arab Emirates.

Iraq’s foreign ministry says military options must be avoided

Iraq’s foreign ministry said in a statement Monday that “regional crises can only be resolved through dialogue, resorting to diplomatic channels, and avoiding military options, which only bring further escalation and suffering.”

The statement stopped short of condemning the attack by Iran on a U.S. base in Qatar, but said Iraq is “following with deep concern the dangerous and accelerating escalation in the region.”

Baghdad has close ties to both Washington and Tehran and has attempted to strike a delicate balance between them.

Iraq also announced a complete closure of its airspace. Most of the country’s airspace was already closed due to the ongoing Israel-Iran war, but the airport in the southern city of Basra had been open until Monday.

Trump wants oil producers to pump more crude amid jitters that Iran may close critical shipping lane

Trump on Monday called for the U.S. and other oil-producing economies to pump more oil as crude prices remain volatile following U.S. strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities.

Trump urged stepped-up production as the White House sharpened its warnings to Iran against closing the Strait of Hormuz, a vital oil and gas shipping lane, in retaliation for the U.S. strikes on Iran’s nuclear program.

“To the Department of Energy: DRILL, BABY, DRILL!!! And I mean NOW!!!” Trump posted on social media. He added, “EVERYONE, KEEP OIL PRICES DOWN. I’M WATCHING! YOU’RE PLAYING RIGHT INTO THE HANDS OF THE ENEMY. DON’T DO IT!”

▶ Read more about Trump’s call for more oil

Arab league calls Iran’s missile attack ‘unacceptable’

The Arab League chief has expressed his “complete solidarity” with Qatar following Iran’s missile attack, calling it “unacceptable.”

Ahmed Abou-Gheit reiterated his warning about the risks the military escalation poses to the region.

“We remain hopeful that the current confrontation will be contained as soon as possible,” he wrote on X.

Ambiguity around reports of an attack in Iraq

An Iraqi security official told The Associated Press the Iraqis had been informed by U.S. officials that missiles had been launched on Monday toward the the Ain al-Assad base housing U.S. troops in western Iraq. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to comment publicly.

However, he said, the missiles never arrived. No group claimed responsibility for an attack on the base.

A US military official who also spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to comment said there was no confirmed attack on the base in Iraq.

“The only confirmed attack on a US base was in Qatar,” he said.

-By Abby Sewell and Qassim Abdul- Zahra

Turkey’s Defense Ministry says its military units are safe in Qatar

Turkey’s Defense Ministry said Turkish military units in Qatar and Iraq were safe and unaffected by the reported missile attacks on U.S. bases there.

The ministry said all security measures were in place and developments were being closely monitored.

Meanwhile, Turkish Airlines cancelled tonight’s flights to Bahrain, Dammam, Doha, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Kuwait and Muscat, the state-run Anadolu Agency reported.

US confirms missile attack from Iran on US military base in Qatar

A Defense Department official is confirming a missile attack from Iran on a U.S. military base in Qatar but says no casualties have been reported.

The official said Monday that Al Udeid Air Base was attacked by short-range and medium-range ballistic missiles. The U.S. is continuing to monitor the situation, said the official.

The confirmation came soon after Iran acknowledged the missile attacks, saying the attack in Qatar matched the number of bombs dropped by the United States on its nuclear sites over the weekend, signaling its likely desire to de-escalate.

Airports across the Gulf warn of delays and cancellations

Airports across the Gulf are warning of cancelled, delayed and redirected flights, as planes are turning around from the Gulf, according to flight data.

Planes are redirecting from the United Arab Emirates based on flight paths and air traffic control audio, according to a post on X from Flightradar24, which tracks real-time air traffic.

Iran’s Supreme National Security Council says targets in Qatar were far from residential areas

Iran’s Supreme National Security Council in a statement said: “The base targeted by Iran’s powerful forces was also a significant distance from urban facilities and residential areas in Qatar.”

It added: “This action posed no danger to our friendly and brotherly nation of Qatar and its honorable people. The Islamic Republic of Iran remains committed to preserving and continuing its warm and historic relations with Qatar.”

Iran says its missile attack on Qatar matched number of bombs dropped by the US

Iran said its Monday night missile attack on Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar matched the number of bombs dropped by the United States on its nuclear sites this weekend, signaling its likely desire to deescalate.

Iran made the announcement via a statement from its Supreme National Security Council after the attack, which Qatar said caused no injuries.

Iran also said it targeted the base because it was outside of populated areas.

Qatar condemns attack by Iran

Qatar Foreign Ministry condemned the attack on Al Udeid base by Iran’s Revolutionary Guards calling it “a flagrant violation of Qatar’s sovereignty, its airspace, and international law.”

The ministry added that the continuation of such military activities endangers security and stability of the region.

“We call for an immediate end to all military activities,” Qatar’s foreign ministry said.

Qatar’s Defense Ministry says Iranian strikes on the gas-rich nation did not inflict any casualties.

The ministry added that Qatari forces took part in intercepting Iranian missiles that were directed toward the Al Udeid base that houses U.S. troops.

It added that Qatar’s airspace is now safe.

Qatar said there’s no casualties after Iran’s attack on the Al Udeid Air Base

The quick statement from Qatar Foreign Minister spokesman Majed al-Ansari said that the energy-rich nation “condemns the attack that targeted Al Udeid Air Base by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard.”

“We reassure that Qatar’s air defenses successfully thwarted the attack and intercepted the Iranian missiles,” it added.

Qatar said it would push for diplomatic efforts for “a serious return to the negotiating table and dialogue.”

Al Udeid is also home to the Combined Air Operations Center, which provides command and control of airpower across the region as well as the 379th Air Expeditionary Wing, the largest expeditionary wing in the world.

Iran launched a missile attack on US forces at Qatar’s Al Udeid Air Base, retaliating for the American bombing of its nuclear sites

Iran said Monday night it attacked American forces stationed at Qatar’s Al Udeid Air Base.

It made the announcement on state television as martial music played. A caption on screen called it “a mighty and successful response by the armed forces of Iran to America’s aggression.”

The attack came shortly after Qatar closed its airspace as a precaution amid threats from Iran.

White House monitoring reported Iranian strikes on US base in Qatar

The White House and Pentagon aware of, and closely monitoring, the potential threats to Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar, according to a senior administration official. The official was not authorized to comment publicly.

Iran did not immediately acknowledge the attack

However, its President Masoud Pezeshkian wrote on the social platform X just before the attack: “We neither initiated the war nor seeking it. But we will not leave invasion to the great Iran without answer. With all our being, we will stand by security of the beloved nation and will answer any wound on body of Iran resorting to faith, wisdom and determination. People! God takes care of us.”

Explosions seen and heard in skies over Qatar

Explosions boomed in Qatar on Monday night as witnesses said they saw what appeared to be missiles in the skies over the country.

There was no immediate acknowledgment from Qatari authorities of the possible attack.

It came as Qatar closed its airspace amid Iranian threats to retaliate against the United States over its bombing of three Iranian nuclear sites early Sunday.

Qatar Foreign Ministry says the airspace closure is a precautionary measure

“This is part of a series of precautionary measures taken in response to recent developments in the region,” Qatar’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement on its state-run Qatar News Agency.

“Authorities are closely and continuously monitoring the situation, assessing developments in coordination with regional and international partners, and will provide the public with updated information in a timely manner through official channels,” it added.

Qatar, home to the Al Jazeera satellite news network, also hosted the 2022 FIFA World Cup and has begun in recent years to mend its relations with other Gulf countries after a diplomatic crisis saw it cut off for years in President Donald Trump’s first term.

Qatar’s airspace closure comes after US Embassy alert

The U.S. Embassy in Qatar issued an unexplained alert on its website in the afternoon telling Americans in the energy-rich nation to “shelter in place until further notice.”

The embassy did not elaborate and did not respond to multiple requests for comment from The Associated Press on the message. The British Embassy issued a similar warning hours later, without elaborating.

Initially, Qatar downplayed the warning. But Monday night, it issued the extraordinary order to shut its busy airspace.

Qatar, across the Persian Gulf from Iran, is home to Al Udeid Air Base, which hosts the forward headquarters of the U.S. military’s Central Command. Iran has threatened American forces at Al Udeid in the past, but not after Sunday’s strike — though state television has mentioned American bases in its broadcasts.

Qatar maintains diplomatic relations with Iran and shares a massive offshore natural gas field with Tehran.

Trump questions ex-Russian president, suggesting some countries could give nuclear warheads to Iran

Trump is casting doubt on former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev’s suggestions that “a number” of countries were considering supplying Iran with nuclear warheads.

“Did he really say that or, is it just a figment of my imagination? If he did say that, and, if confirmed, please let me know, IMMEDIATELY,” Trump posted on his social media site.

The president also questioned Medvedev’s authority compared to Russian President Vladimir Putin, writing that the threat of nuclear attack “should not be treated so casually. I guess that’s why Putin’s ‘THE BOSS.’”

Trump ended his message with an implicit threat. He said U.S. bombing might displayed in Iran over the weekend could pale in comparison to the lethal force of “our nuclear submarines.”

Qatar closes its airspace

Qatar has closed its airspace amid Iran’s retaliation threats against the United States.

Qatar made the announcement through its foreign ministry. It called the decision temporary. It comes after the U.S. and United Kingdom urged their citizens to shelter in place there. Qatar is home to a major base for U.S. forces.

Qatar is home to Qatar Airways, a major regional carrier for East-West travel.

EU foreign policy chief urges Iran not to close Strait of Hormuz

The European Union’s top diplomat has called on Iran to not close the Strait of Hormuz, a vital corridor for energy supplies.

Kaja Kallas spoke to journalists after a meeting of the EU’s 27 foreign ministers. She said closing the strait would have “a huge impact also for the broader trade in the world.”

She also said that in talks with the United States and regional actors, “everybody is concerned of the same thing, which is the spillover effect” of violent instability in the Middle East.

New Israeli strikes in southern Lebanon

State media in Lebanon says Israel has carried out airstrikes in parts of the country’s south, including the Hezbollah stronghold of Apple province. There is no immediate word on casualties.

Monday’s airstrikes were more intense than the usual, near-daily ones that Israel has carried out since a ceasefire ended its 14-month war with Hezbollah in November. Israeli’s military says it struck rocket launchers and an arms depot for Hezbollah.

One Iranian describes rationing and some fear

An Iranian who fled Tehran says bakeries and gas stations have been rationing supplies and struggling to keep up with people’s fears.

“Some people spent a night sleeping in the pump station lines until it was their turn,” the 38-year-old told The Associated Press, speaking on condition of anonymity out of safety concerns.

He said they heard explosions Monday targeting the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard headquarters, which he said was in the area in Karaj.

Thousands of Afghans leaving Iran every day

The United Nations estimates that 10,000 Afghans have been returning home from neighboring Iran every day for the past few days.

The U.N. special envoy for Afghanistan tells the U.N. Security Council that communities and the country’s Taliban rulers “have made huge efforts to absorb returnees.” But Roza Otunbayeva says that “without international assistance, there are limits to safe, orderly and peaceful returns.”

Toppled Iranian shah’s son offers to take power

The son of Iran’s last shah has offered to take over the Iranian leadership and lead the country’s transition to democracy.

Reza Pahlavi told a news conference in Paris that the ″regime is defeated, teetering, on the edge of collapse.’′ He claimed he doesn’t seek political power but wants to “help our great nation navigate through this critical hour towards stability, freedom and justice.’’

Pahlavi left Iran at age 17 soon before the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Many Iranians have bitter memories of repression under his father’s reign as shah. Others might reject Pahlavi over his outreach to Israel.

Several large Iranian opposition groups are based abroad but they are not united, and it’s unclear how much support any of them has inside the country.

Israel warns Iranians of attacks over ‘the coming days’

Israel’s military is warning Iranians it will continue to attack military sites around Tehran over “the coming days.” The military issued the warning on social media, though Iranians are struggling to access the outside world because of an internet shutdown in the country.

The warning says “we ask you to stay away from weapons production centers, military bases and security institutions affiliated with the regime.”

Iran has criticized the warnings as a way to scare its public. However, the Israelis have carried out strikes after their warnings multiple times in the war.

Hezbollah indicates it won’t join the war between Israel and Iran

The leader of Lebanon’s Hezbollah indicates that the group will not join the war between Iran and Israel for now. Naim Kassem spoke in his first public comments since the U.S. inserted itself into the war on Sunday. He says his group is ready to back any decision taken by the Lebanese state to force Israel to stop the war.

He also tells the Iran-backed group’s Al-Ahad newspaper in a report published Monday that the attacks on Iran will “have a high cost” as the whole region is in danger, and says U.S. President Donald Trump’s threats to kill Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei are a “vile act and a sign of weakness.”

Trump just ‘raising a question’ about regime change

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt says U.S. operations in the Middle East haven’t changed despite Trump raising the possibility of what he called “regime change” in Iran on Sunday.

“The president was just simply raising a question that I think many people around the world are asking,” Leavitt told reporters on Monday.

She added, “if they refuse to engage in diplomacy moving forward, why shouldn’t the Iranian people rise up against this brutal terrorist regime?”

Iran was an ‘imminent threat,’ White House press secretary tells ABC

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told ABC News on Monday morning that Iran was an “imminent threat” and Donald Trump is the “first president with the guts to actually do something about it.”

She was definitive about the outcome of U.S. strikes, saying they “took away Iran’s ability to create a nuclear bomb.”

Leavitt also said the administration has a “high degree of confidence” that enriched uranium was stored at the sites that were attacked by the U.S.

“The president would not have launched the strikes if we weren’t confident in that,” she said.

US Embassy in Qatar urges American citizens to shelter in place

The U.S. Embassy in Qatar issued an alert on its website Monday urging American citizens in the energy-rich nation to “shelter in place until further notice,” although Qatar later said the situation was “stable.”

The embassy did not elaborate, nor did it respond to multiple requests for comment from The Associated Press on the message, which comes as tensions are high in the Middle East after the U.S. bombed Iranian nuclear sites on Sunday.

Qatar’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Majed al-Ansari later put out a statement saying that advisories from foreign embassies “do not necessarily reflect the existence of specific or credible threats.”

“We would like to reassure the public that the security situation in the State remains stable,” he added.

Putin meets Iranian foreign minister in show of support for Tehran

Russian President Vladimir Putin met with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi in the Kremlin on Monday, calling the U.S. strikes an “absolutely unprovoked aggression” and reaffirming Russian support for Tehran.

“This is an absolutely unprovoked aggression against Iran; (it) has no basis or justification,” Putin said at Monday’s meeting.

“We, for our part, are making efforts to provide assistance to the Iranian people,” Putin said, noting Russia’s “long-standing, good, reliable relations with Iran.”

Araghchi said Russia has always been Iran’s partner in the peaceful nuclear energy sector and played a positive role in negotiations on Tehran’s nuclear program.

“In the sphere of Iran’s nuclear program, Russia has always been a partner for us. It built the Bushehr nuclear power plant,” he said.

Iran says attacks on nuclear facilities damage non-proliferation efforts

Iran’s ambassador to the International Atomic Energy Agency, Reza Najafi, condemned the “unprecedented act of aggression” against Iranian nuclear facilities by Israel and the U.S. and said that this act “delivered a fundamental and irreparable blow” to the international non-proliferation regime, including the framework of the Non-Proliferation Treaty. Najafi was speaking to reporters at an emergency meeting of the U.N. nuclear watchdog board that addressed the situation in Iran.

Najafi said that Iran reserves its right to self-defense. “As long as the source of the threat persists, the Islamic Republic of Iran will continue to undertake the necessary, resolute and proportionate measures to neutralize it at the time, place and manner of its own choosing.”

Israel strikes Evin Prison and other Iranian targets

Israel’s Defense Ministry said Israel is currently attacking Iranian governmental targets deep inside the Iranian capital of Tehran, including the notorious Evin prison.

Other targets include the security headquarters of the paramilitary Revolutionary Guards, Palestine Square, and the paramilitary Basij volunteer corps, which is a part of the Revolutionary Guard.

Iranian state TV reported on the strike earlier, sharing what appeared to be black-and-white-surveillance footage. Iranian media speculated the strike may be from a drone.

Evin prison is known for holding dual nationals and Westerners often used by Iran as bargaining chips in negotiations with the West.

Political prisoners and those with Western ties are held in specialized units, run by the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, which answers only to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The facility is the target of both U.S. and European Union sanctions.

Russia says it stands ready to assist Iran

Russia is ready to help Iran in various ways, depending on what Tehran requests, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Monday.

“Everything depends on what Iran needs,” Peskov said in response to a question at a briefing. “We have offered our mediation efforts. This is concrete.”

Peskov added that Russia has openly declared its stance on the Iran-Israel war, calling it an important form of support for Tehran.

“We have stated our position. This is also a very important manifestation, a form of support for the Iranian side,” he said.

He also noted that Iran has been a recurring subject in recent talks between Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump.

“The topic of Iran itself was repeatedly discussed by the presidents during their recent conversations,” Peskov told reporters.

Iran’s Fordo site was again attacked, Iran state TV says

Iran’s underground enrichment site at Fordo was again attacked Monday, Iranian state television reported.

The report, also carried by other Iranian media, offered no word on damage, nor who launched the assault.

However, Israel has been conducting airstrikes throughout the day in Iran.

The United States launched a major attack Sunday on three Iranian nuclear sites, including Fordo, which required the use of sophisticated bunker-buster bombs.

Tehran experienced some electricity cuts after the Israeli airstrikes in the capital.

Officials in Qom province issued a statement confirming the attack on Fordo, saying there was no immediate danger to the public.

UN nuclear agency says significant damage expected at Iranian underground site

The head of the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog said Monday that “very significant damage” is expected at Iran’s underground facility at Fordo after a U.S. airstrike there this weekend with sophisticated bunker-buster bombs.

Rafael Mariano Grossi, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, made the statement in Vienna.

“Given the explosive payload utilized and the extreme vibration sensitive nature of centrifuges, very significant damage is expected to have occurred,” Grossi said.

EU focuses on diplomacy

The European Union is “very much focused on the diplomatic solution” for Iran, the bloc’s top diplomat Kaja Kallas said Monday following U.S. strikes on Iran over the weekend.

“The concerns of retaliation and this war escalating are huge,” Kallas said at the start of a foreign ministers’ meeting in Brussels where Iran has jumped to the top of the agenda.

“Especially closing of the Strait of Hormuz by Iran is something that would be extremely dangerous and not good for anybody,” Kallas said, referring to a maritime route crucial for oil transport.

The EU has been a key player in diplomatic negotiations over Iran’s nuclear program.

Iran has a ‘free hand’ to act against US interests, top general says

Iranian Gen. Abdolrahim Mousavi, the chief of joint staff of armed forces, warned the U.S. on Monday that its strikes gave a “free hand” to Iranian armed forces to “act against U.S. interests and its army.”

Mousavi stressed Iran would not hesitate to do so after the U.S. airstrikes on Iranian nuclear sites on Sunday.

He described the American attack as violating Iran’s sovereignty, entering the Israeli war on the country and being tantamount to invading the country.

The state-run IRNA news agency reported Mousavi’s remarks.

Trump claims ‘monumental damage’ inflicted on Iranian nuclear sites

Trump asserted on his Truth Social platform that Iran’s nuclear sites sustained “monumental damage” in the American attack, though a U.S. assessment on the strikes is still underway.

“The biggest damage took place far below ground level. Bullseye!!!” he wrote.

U.S. defense officials have said they are working to determine about just how much damage the strikes did.

Iran as well has not said how much damage was done in the attack, though Tehran has not offered any details so far on the strikes it has faced from Israel in its war with that country.

Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.

Left: Israeli agents’ covert operations in Iran, including a hidden drone production facility, as shown by Iranian state television. Right: A modified truck, allegedly used to transport Israeli FPVs in Iran, according to Iranian authorities.

The Israeli drones successfully neutralised several of the Islamic Republic’s anti-air defences deep inside its territory. What is particularly surprising is that some of these drones were manufactured in covert production facilities deep within Iran. Iranian state TV has broadcast images showing camouflaged lorries and vans that were used to transport the drones, as well as images of the makeshift FPV factories.

The Israeli attack on Iran began on June 13. Its first targets were commanders of the Revolutionary Guard Corps, nuclear scientists, and military and nuclear facilities. According to Israeli information, 16 IRGC commanders and 14 nuclear scientists were eliminated by the Israeli army in the first round of attacks on Iran.

Eyewitnesses report that from the very first moments, small drones and FPVs were seen or heard in the skies of several Iranian cities, particularly Tehran. Videos released by the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) show these small drones attacking Iran’s missile systems. Additional footage reveals the drones being launched from inside Iran, demonstrating their use against targets within the country.

The IDF on June 13, 2025 released videos in which Israeli FPV and small drones attacked Iran’s defensive missile systems. To display this content from Telegram, you must enable advertisement tracking and audience measurement. Accept Manage my choices

In response to the widespread use of this tactic by infiltrated Israeli agents on the ground in Iran, the Iranian regime’s security forces on June 14 were compelled to publicly urge the people of Iran to stay vigilant and report any suspicious lorries, vans, or activities to the authorities.

Images of these lorries and vans, converted to transport FPV drones and discovered by citizens or security forces, were widely shared on social media.

A video published by regime-affiliated media on June 18, 2025 shows a truck loaded with what appears to be a stack of construction materials. But the stack was in fact empty, and according to the report, the truck was used to transport Israeli drones. To display this content from Telegram, you must enable advertisement tracking and audience measurement. Accept Manage my choices

State-run television and pro-regime outlets also aired videos showcasing hidden, makeshift drone production facilities discovered near Tehran and Isfahan.

In one of the videos, the state TV presenter shows kits for small drones that are ready for production. According to the report, this makeshift facility was located covertly in a three-storey building near Tehran.

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But were Israeli agents able to establish drone-production sites right under the nose of Iran’s intelligence services?

‘Most of this system is designed for internal repression’

Farzin Nadimi, a research fellow at the Washington Institute and an expert on Iranian weaponry, explains:

We have known for many years about the deep infiltration of Israeli assets, almost at every level of the IRGC, the IRGC intelligence service, other intelligence services of Iran, the military and among politicians. In my opinion, the main cause could be corruption. But it’s not only that. There is a lot at stake when working with Israel in Iran. With all the risks involved, money can’t be the only motivation. When they see how corrupt the system is, they lose respect and loyalty for it, and the higher their rank, the better they understand how corrupt the whole system is.

Multiple Iranian officials had issued warnings about the infiltration of Israeli agents within Iran, including at high-ranking levels of the IRGC and the broader power structure.

This video was broadcast by Iranian state television on June 19, 2025. An Iranian police spokesman claims to have arrested two Israeli agents carrying FPVs on a small truck. To display this content from Telegram, you must enable advertisement tracking and audience measurement. Accept Manage my choices

In an unprecedented speech in 2021, Ali Younesi, former intelligence minister of Iran, stated: “Over the past ten years, the Mossad [Israel’s main intelligence agency] has infiltrated several of the regime’s structures, to the point that every single Iranian official must now worry for their own life. Any attack is now possible.”

On another occasion, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, former president of Iran, claimed in a 2024 interview with CNN Türk: “The head of Iran’s counterintelligence, tasked with finding Mossad operatives, was himself an Israeli agent.”

Nadimi continues:

On the other hand the Iranian secret services have trained their apparatus for internal security risks. Most of this system is designed for internal repression and internal protests, and they have seen these protests as the more urgent threat than a foreign attack.

Nadimi emphasises that he’s not surprised that Iranian intelligence services are caught off guard by these drones:

In fact, it is not so complicated to smuggle them into Iran. These drones consist of small parts that are easy to smuggle into Iran. Many parts are easy to manufacture in Iran, such as fibreglass parts. The controls and other electronic parts would be easy to smuggle into Iran via the Persian Gulf region, e.g., Dubai and other borders. For a complex mission like this, however, you can’t rely entirely on locals and local assets, you need to have agents on the ground. They had planned this for a long time. They claim to have been working on this plan for many years.

The Iranian authorities have cut the internet connection since June 18, and claim this has significantly curbed FPV and small drone attacks since then.

Nadimi explains:

Drone technology has made enormous progress in recent years, particularly in the Russia-Ukraine war. In this war, we have seen drones or FPVs use different types of technologies. We have seen that the Ukrainians use mobile phone networks to guide their drones deep into Russian territory. Thanks to the mobile network, they send information and users can also send them commands. This is quite useful and practical. So these drones could have relied on the 5G, mobile and LTE networks, so a disruption of the network at this level could theoretically have a partial impact on them.

This is not the first time Israeli agents have infiltrated Iran in recent years. In July 2024, Israel successfully targeted and killed Ismail Haniyeh, the political leader of Hamas, during a visit to Tehran. He was killed by a precise strike on his room in a protected compound in northern Iran.

On November 27, 2020, Israel also succeeded in eliminating Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, the scientist whom Western intelligence agencies and Israel believed to be the mastermind behind “Project Amad”, Iran’s covert effort to build a nuclear bomb in the early 2000s. He was killed on his way home when he came under fire from a machine gun mounted on a parked truck, which was remotely controlled via satellite.