Daijiworld Media Network – Tehran
Tehran, Jun 21: Tensions between Iran and Israel deepened early Saturday with both nations launching fresh strikes, as diplomatic efforts to revive stalled nuclear talks faltered and the civilian toll continued to rise on both sides.
Iran’s Fars News Agency reported Israeli strikes on key locations including the Isfahan nuclear facility—one of the country’s largest. Though officials confirmed there was no radioactive leakage, a separate strike on a building in Qom reportedly killed a 16-year-old and injured two others.
In retaliation, Iran fired five ballistic missiles targeting central and southern Israel. Air raid sirens blared across Tel Aviv and parts of the West Bank around 2:30 am local time, with the sky lit up by interceptions and explosions. Emergency services shared images of a fire caused by falling debris on a residential building in Tel Aviv. No casualties were immediately reported.
The Israeli military claimed it had struck multiple Iranian missile storage and production facilities, as well as a nuclear-linked research centre in Tehran. Israeli strikes, since June 13, have reportedly killed 639 people, including senior military officers and nuclear scientists, according to the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency. Iran insists its nuclear programme remains peaceful.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi reiterated that Tehran will not negotiate its nuclear programme under threat. “There is no room for diplomacy until Israeli aggression stops,” he said, even as he joined European foreign ministers in Geneva for talks that yielded little progress.
The ongoing war has also led to a civilian toll in Israel, with 24 civilians killed in Iranian missile attacks, authorities said. Reuters, however, could not independently verify casualty figures.
US President Donald Trump has expressed skepticism over any immediate ceasefire. While supporting negotiations, Trump said it was “very hard to ask Israel to stop” given its current advantage in the conflict. “We’re ready, willing and able, and we’ve been speaking to Iran, and we’ll see what happens,” he added.
Trump also contradicted his own intelligence chief, Tulsi Gabbard, by insisting Iran could be weeks away from developing nuclear weapons. He said he would take up to two weeks to decide on potential US involvement in the conflict.
Meanwhile, hundreds of American nationals have reportedly fled Iran since the aerial bombardments began, according to a leaked US State Department cable.
Israel’s UN envoy Danny Danon told the Security Council the airstrikes would continue “until Iran’s nuclear threat is dismantled.” In response, Iran’s envoy Amir Saeid Iravani called for international intervention and expressed alarm over the US possibly joining the conflict.
Calls for immediate de-escalation have come from Russia and China, while Iran hinted it may be open to limiting uranium enrichment—though it firmly rejected halting the activity altogether, particularly under current hostilities.