Israel says it killed Iran’s military coordinator with Hamas
How did your country report this? Share your view in the comments.
Diverging Reports Breakdown
Israel says it killed three Iranian commanders in fresh wave of strikes
Israel says it killed three Iranian commanders in fresh wave of strikes on June 21. Foreign Minister Gideon Saar claimed it had already delayed Tehran’s presumed nuclear plans by two years. Israel launched its aerial campaign on June 13, fearing Tehran was on the verge of developing a nuclear weapon – an ambition Iran has denied. US President Donald Trump warned on June 20 that Tehran has a “maximum’ of two weeks to avoid possible American air strikes. Top diplomats from Britain, France and Germany met their Iranian counterpart Abbas Araghchi in Geneva. They urged him to resume talks with the US that had been derailed by Israel’s attacks. A US-based non-governmental organisation, the Human Rights Activists News Agency, said on June20 that, based on its sources and media reports, at least 657 people have been killed in Iran, including 263 civilians. Iran has not updated its tolls since June 15, when it said that Israeli strikes had killed at least 224 people. Israel said it had attacked Iran’s Isfahan nuclear site for a second time.
A view of the damaged building of Iranian state TV, after an Israeli air strike in Tehran on June 19. PHOTO: EPA-EFE
Smoke rising during an Israeli air strike in Tehran, on June 18. PHOTO: ARASH KHAMOOSHI/NYTIMES
Iran has not updated its tolls since June 15, when it said that Israeli strikes had killed at least 224 people. PHOTO: AFP
Israel says it killed three Iranian commanders in fresh wave of strikes
– Israel said on June 21 that it had killed three Iranian commanders in its unprecedented bombing campaign across the Islamic republic, which Foreign Minister Gideon Saar claimed had already delayed Tehran’s presumed nuclear plans by two years.
Israel’s military said its fighter jets successfully targeted top Iranian official Saeed Izadi, in charge of coordination with Palestinian militant group Hamas, in Qom, south of Tehran, and announced the deaths of two other commanders from Iran’s Revolutionary Guards.
As Israel continued to strike Iran’s nuclear facilities and military targets, in an interview published on June 21, Mr Saar said, by the country’s own assessment, it had “already delayed for at least two or three years the possibility for them to have a nuclear bomb”.
“We will do everything that we can do there in order to remove this threat,” he told German newspaper Bild, asserting that Israel’s onslaught would continue.
Israel and Iran have traded wave after wave of devastating strikes, after Israel launched its aerial campaign on June 13, fearing Tehran was on the verge of developing a nuclear weapon – an ambition Iran has denied.
Israel said it had attacked Iran’s Isfahan nuclear site for a second time, after its air force said it had also launched salvos against missile storage and launch sites in central Iran. The military later said it struck military infrastructure in south-west Iran.
US President Donald Trump warned on June 20 that Tehran has a “maximum” of two weeks to avoid possible American air strikes, as Washington weighs whether to join Israel’s bombing campaign.
Aggression continues
Top diplomats from Britain, France and Germany met their Iranian counterpart Abbas Araghchi in Geneva on June 20 and urged him to resume talks with the US that had been derailed by Israel’s attacks.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said: “We invited the Iranian minister to consider negotiations with all sides, including the United States, without awaiting the cessation of strikes, which we also hope for.”
But Mr Araghchi told NBC News after the meeting that “we’re not prepared to negotiate with them (the US) any more, as long as the aggression continues”.
Mr Trump was dismissive of European diplomacy efforts, telling reporters: “Iran doesn’t want to speak to Europe. They want to speak to us. Europe is not going to be able to help in this.”
Mr Trump also said he is unlikely to ask Israel to stop its attacks to get Iran back to the table.
“If somebody’s winning, it’s a little bit harder to do,” he said.
Any US involvement would likely feature powerful bunker-busting bombs that no other country possesses to destroy an underground uranium enrichment facility in Fordo.
On the streets of Tehran, many shops were closed and normally bustling markets largely abandoned on June 20 .
A US-based non-governmental organisation, the Human Rights Activists News Agency, said on June 20 that, based on its sources and media reports, at least 657 people have been killed in Iran, including 263 civilians.
Iran’s Health Ministry said on June 21 that more than 400 people had been killed and over 3,000 wounded in the Israeli strikes, which began on June 13, including military commanders, nuclear scientists and civilians.
Ms Nasrin, 39, who gave only her first name, explained she had been thrown across a room in her Tehran home by an Israeli strike.
“I just hit the wall,” she told AFP as she received treatment at Hazrat Rasool hospital in the Iranian capital. “I don’t know how long I was unconscious. When I woke up, I was covered in blood from head to toe.”
‘Perilous moment’
Traffic police and the Fars news agency reported congestion on roads into Tehran on June 21, indicating some inhabitants were returning.
Internet access remained highly unstable and limited in Tehran, with slow connections and many sites still inaccessible, according to AFP journalists.
Iran’s retaliatory strikes have killed at least 25 people in Israel, according to official figures.
Israeli rescuers said there were no casualties after a missile struck a residential building in Beit She’an.
At the site of the strike in the north of Israel, mounds of soil had been gouged from the ground and the wall of a ground-floor room destroyed.
Israel’s National Public Diplomacy Directorate said more than 450 missiles have been fired at the country so far, along with about 400 drones.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said they had targeted military sites and air force bases.
In Tel Aviv, some expressed growing fatigue under the constant threat from Iran. “In the middle of the night, we have to wake the children and take them to the shelter,” said Mr Omer, who gave only his first name.
“They are tired all the day after that,” he added, explaining he still supported Israel’s war aim of denying Iran a nuclear weapon.
Western powers have repeatedly expressed concerns about the rapid expansion of Iran’s nuclear programme , questioning in particular the country’s accelerated uranium enrichment .
The International Atomic Energy Agency’s chief Rafael Grossi has said that Iran is the only country without nuclear weapons to enrich uranium to 60 per cent.
But he added that there was no evidence Tehran had all the components to make a functioning nuclear warhead. Mr Grossi told CNN it was “pure speculation” to say how long it would take Iran to develop weapons. AFP
Join ST’s Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Israel-Iran conflict in second week amid renewed strikes, Trump sends mixed signals
Israel estimates its strikes on Iran have delayed Tehran’s potential to develop a nuclear weapon by “at least two or three years” Foreign Minister Gideon Saar says the offensive has produced “very significant” results. Iran, which has retaliated against the unprecedented offensive, denies it is pursuing nuclear weapons.
Israel’s offensive, which has hit hundreds of nuclear and military sites, killing top commanders and nuclear scientists, has produced “very significant” results, Foreign Minister Gideon Saar told German newspaper Bild.
“According to the assessment we hear, we already delayed for at least two or three years the possibility for them to have a nuclear bomb,” said Saar.
“The fact that we took out those people who led and pushed the weaponisation of the nuclear program is extremely important,” he told Bild.
“We already achieved a lot, but we will do whatever we can do. We will not stop until we will do everything that we can do there in order to remove this threat.”
Iran, which has retaliated against the unprecedented offensive Israel launched on June 13 with drone and missile strikes, denies it is pursuing nuclear weapons.
Saar said the Israeli government had not “defined regime change” in the Islamic republic as “an objective in this war”.
“At least until now, we didn’t do that,” he said.
Targeting of Quds Force shows growing breach in Iranian intelligence security
Targeting of Quds Force shows growing breach in Iranian intelligence security security. Saeed Izadi and Behnam Shahryari represent a major blow to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. Izadi played a central role in co-ordinating Tehran’s support for Palestinian armed groups. He was reportedly instrumental in arming and financing Hamas, the Palestinian armed group which carried out the 7 October 2023 attack on southern Israel. Human rights groups fear that the authorities may be using accusations of espionage as a pretext to arrest anyone who opposes the government or criticises the IRGC and the country’s leadership.
The security apparatus of Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei – whose portrait is held by a protester in Tehran – appears to have been deeply compromised
If Israel’s recent claims are confirmed, the assassinations of Saeed Izadi and Behnam Shahryari represent a major blow to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and the elite Quds Force, its overseas operations arm which has ties with armed groups in the region.
Izadi, a senior Quds Force commander responsible for coordination with Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups, was reportedly killed in an apartment in the Shia holy city of Qom. Shahryari, the head of Unit 190 – responsible for smuggling weapons and funds to Iran’s regional proxies – was assassinated by a drone strike while traveling by car in western Iran.
Izadi played a central role in co-ordinating Tehran’s support for Palestinian armed groups and was reportedly instrumental in arming and financing Hamas, the Palestinian armed group which carried out the 7 October 2023 attack on southern Israel.
The head of Israel’s military, Eyal Zamir, said Izadi’s assassination was “a key point in the multi-front war”.
“The blood of thousands of Israelis is on his hands,” Zamir said. “This is a tremendous intelligence and operational achievement.”
Izadi previously narrowly survived an Israeli air strike in April 2024 that targeted the Iranian consulate in Damascus, Syria – an attack that killed several high-ranking Quds Force commanders.
The targeting of Izadi and Shahyari follow a wave of assassinations targeting senior Iranian military officials and highlight what many see as a growing breach within Iran’s intelligence community.
Iranian state TV last week broadcast images showing camouflaged lorries and vans that were allegedly used to transport drones, along with footage of makeshift FPV drone factories in the south of Tehran.
Scores of people have been arrested and accused of spying for Mossad, including some Afghan refugees. Human rights groups fear that the authorities may be using accusations of espionage as a pretext to arrest anyone who opposes the government or criticises the IRGC and the country’s leadership.
The officials were so concerned about the infiltration that several days ago they ordered all protection personnel not to use smartphones connected to the internet for communication. The police chief asked the public to report to the police if they have rented out any buildings to companies or individuals recently or in the past couple of years.
Israel attacked Iran on 13 June but a covert conflict has been simmering for over two decades, characterised by sabotage, cyber-attacks, and targeted killings.
Nuclear scientists and Quds Force commanders in Syria and inside Iran have frequently been targeted. Israel’s spy agency Mossad is widely believed to be behind many of these operations.
Israel-Iran conflict LIVE: Israel strikes military infrastructure in southwest Iran
Israel and Iran traded strikes a week into their war on Friday (June 20, 2025) Key European ministers met with Iran’s top diplomat in Geneva in a scramble to de-escalate the conflict. But the first face-to-face meeting between Western and Iranian officials in the weeklong war concluded after four hours with no sign of an immediate breakthrough.
But the first face-to-face meeting between Western and Iranian officials in the weeklong war concluded after four hours with no sign of an immediate breakthrough.
To give diplomacy a chance, Mr. Trump said he would put off deciding for up to two weeks whether to join Israel’s air campaign against Iran. U.S. participation would most likely involve strikes against Iran’s underground Fordo uranium enrichment facility, considered to be out of reach to all but America’s “bunker-buster” bombs.
Whether or not the U.S. joins, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel’s military operation in Iran would continue “for as long as it takes” to eliminate what he called the existential threat of Iran’s nuclear program and arsenal of ballistic missiles.
Meanwhile, Tehran is ready to “consider diplomacy” again only once Israel’s “aggression is stopped”, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said following talks in Geneva with his European counterparts on Iran’s nuclear programme.
Israel claims killed head of Iran’s Quds Force Saeed Izadi in airstrike on Qom
The war between Israel and Iran has now entered its second week. The latest round of open hostilities began after a series of Israeli air raids on Iran’s nuclear infrastructure. The initial attacks triggered Iranian retaliation, subsequently leading to a significant escalation on both sides. The United States is yet to officially join the conflict, but has openly backed Israel.
While the United States is yet to officially join the conflict, it has openly backed Israel, while continuing to renegotiate a nuclear treaty with Iran. In 2018, during President Donald Trump’s first term, the US had exited the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, also known as the Iran nuclear deal or Iran deal. The agreement, which limited the Iranian nuclear programme in return for sanctions relief and other provisions, was finalised in Vienna on 14 July 2015, between Iran and the P5+1 together with the European Union.
Trump on Friday (Jun 20) warned that Iran had a “maximum” of two weeks to avoid possible American air strikes. He said that he was not inclined to stop Israel attacking Iran because it was “winning,” and said that “I’m giving them (Tehran) a period of time, and I would say two weeks would be the maximum.”
What are Israel and Iran fighting about?
The ongoing conflict is the most direct confrontation between Israel and Iran in recent years. The two nations have a history of geopolitical tensions. The ongoing war has at its root Iran’s nuclear programme, which Israel views as an existential threat, claiming it’s a cover for building a bomb—something Tehran denies.
Follow WION’s live coverage of the Israel-Iran war here: