Opening summary
Hello and welcome to our live coverage of the Middle East.
Foreign ministers from the UK, France and Germany are to meet their Iranian counterpart Abbas Araqchi in Geneva on Friday aiming to create a pathway back to diplomacy over its nuclear programme.
The meeting comes a day after US President Donald Trump set a two-week deadline to decide whether the US will join Israel’s war on Iran to allow for negotiations to continue.
The White House said that the US president would “make a decision on whether to attack Iran within two weeks”. It added that correspondence with Tehran had continued and there was still hope of negotiations.
UK foreign secretary David Lammy, speaking after a meeting with his US counterpart Marco Rubio on Thursday, said it was “time to put a stop to the grave scenes in the Middle East and prevent a regional escalation that would benefit no one”.
The talks will be held in Geneva, where an initial accord between Iran and world powers to curb its nuclear programme in return for sanctions lifting was struck in 2013 before a comprehensive deal in 2015. The latest nuclear negotiations between Iran and the US collapsed when Israel launched its surprise attack on Iran on 12 June.
An Iranian official said Tehran has always welcomed diplomacy, but urged the so-called E3 to use all available means to pressure Israel to halt its attacks on Iran. “Iran remains committed to diplomacy as the only path to resolving disputes – but diplomacy is under attack,” the official said.
Israel meanwhile openly declared its support for regime change in Iran, with defence minister Israel Katz saying Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei “can no longer be allowed to exist”.
In other key developments:
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At least 22 Palestinians have been killed after Israeli forces opened fire on aid seekers near the Netzarim axis in central Gaza, Al Jazeera reported early on Friday, citing a source at al-Awda hospital in Deir al-Balah. On Thursday Israeli attacks on Gaza killed at least 72 people, including 21 who had gathered near food distribution sites set up by the “Gaza Humanitarian Foundation” (GHF). The dead included women and children, according to Al Jazeera reporter Anas al-Sharif, who posted footage of the bodies of children scattered in the street after an Israeli attack on tents housing displaced Palestinians near Gaza City.
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Israel carried out strikes on Iran’s Arak heavy-water reactor, its latest attack on Iran’s sprawling nuclear program. Iranian state television said there was “no radiation danger whatsoever” and that the facility had been evacuated before the attack. Israel also targeted the Natanz site, which has been hit several times.
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A week of Israeli strikes on Iran have killed at least 657 people and wounded 2,037 others, a human rights group said. The Washington-based group Human Rights Activists said of those dead, it identified 263 civilians and 164 security force personnel being killed. Iran has not given regular death tolls during the conflict and has minimized casualties in the past. Its last update on Monday, it put the death toll at 224 people and 1,277 wounded.
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At least 240 people were wounded by Iranian missile strikes on Israel on Thursday morning, the AP reported. The outlet said that four individuals has been seriously wounded, citing Israel’s health ministry.
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Iran on Thursday accused the UN’s nuclear watchdog of acting as a “partner” in what it described as Israel’s war of aggression. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) accused Iran in a report prior to the start of the Iran-Israel war of non-compliance with its obligations in its nuclear programme.
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Iraq’s top Shia cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani warned against targeting Iran’s leadership and said that the Iran-Israel war could plunge the whole region into chaos. Sistani said in a statement on Thursday that any targeting of Iran’s “supreme religious and political leadership” would have “dire consequences on the region”.
Key events
Regine change in Iran would be “unacceptable” and the assassination of the country’s supreme leader would “open the Pandora’s box, the Kremlin spokesperson has said, a day after the Israeli defence minister said Ayatollah Ali Khamenei “can no longer be allowed to exist”.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Sky News that Russia would react “very negatively” if Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed. “The situation is extremely tense and is dangerous not only for the region but globally,” Mr Peskov said in an interview at the Constantine Palace in Saint Petersburg.
A further expansion of the actors involved would “lead only to another circle of confrontation and escalation of tension in the region,” he added. On Thursday Donald Trump said he would make a decision on whether to attack Iran within two weeks.
Peskov did not say what Russia’s response would be if Khamenei were assassinated but said it would trigger a response “from inside Iran”.
It would lead to the birth of extremist moods inside Iran and those who are speaking about [killing Khamenei], they should keep it in mind. They will open the Pandora’s box.
The Israeli military said on Friday it carried out strikes on dozens of military areas in Iran overnight, including an attack on the Organization of Defensive Innovation and Research (SPND), which it claimed was involved in Iran’s nuclear weapons development.
It was not possible to verify the report independently.
Blasts were heard overnight in the Safidrood industrial town near the Iranian town of Kolesh Taleshan, in the north-west of the country, shortly after Israel told people in the area to evacuate.
The Israeli military also said it had intercepted four Iranian drones overnight.
At least 23 Palestinians killed after Israeli forces open fire on aid seekers in Gaza
At least 23 Palestinians have been killed after Israeli forces opened fire on aid seekers near the Netzarim axis in central Gaza, Al Jazeera reported early on Friday, citing a source at al-Awda hospital in Deir al-Balah.
A total of 34 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli attacks since midnight, according to the Qatar-based broadcaster. It is impossible to independently verify the report as Israel does not allow foreign journalists into the devastated territory.
Israel has blocked the UN and other aid organisations from working in Gaza, instead allowing the GHF to operate. Since it began operations a few weeks ago, Israeli forces have killed at least 300 desperately hungry civilians attempting to get food at its sites.
On Thursday Israeli attacks on Gaza killed at least 72 people, including 21 who had gathered near food distribution sites set up by the “Gaza Humanitarian Foundation” (GHF).
The dead included women and children, according to Al Jazeera reporter Anas al-Sharif, who posted footage of the bodies of children scattered in the street after an Israeli attack on tents housing displaced Palestinians near Gaza City.
Fire erupts near Microsoft office in southern Israel after Iranian missile strike – reports
An Iranian missile hit Beersheba early on Friday, emergency services have said, a day after a missile hit a hospital in the same southern city. Iran said it had targeted Microsoft’s office and the fire that erupted in the city was reportedly in the next street.
The Magen David Adom rescue service posted a picture of what appeared to be several vehicles on fire on X. It said no injuries had been reported but Israeli media later cited it as saying five people had sustained minor injuries.
MDA Spokesperson: Following the Red Alert sirens that were heard in the past few minutes in southern Israel, no reports of casualties have been received at this stage. MDA teams are being dispatched to scan the areas where reports were received. Updates as required pic.twitter.com/AioO24KS2a
— Magen David Adom (@Mdais) June 20, 2025
An Israeli military official said that Iran had fired a single missile and that an interceptor had been fired in response but had failed to intercept it, the Times of Israel reporter Emanuel Fabian reported.
CNN reported that the fire was near a tech park that houses a Microsoft office. The building with Microsoft’s name on it was visible in other footage posted online.
An Iranian ballistic missile impacted in Beersheba, causing damage.
Medics say there are no reports of injuries. pic.twitter.com/eOgoD7RmH7
— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) June 20, 2025
Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said Microsoft was the intended target.
In a statement quoted by Drop Site news, it said it had targeted the company “because of its close cooperation with the Israeli army and its being part of the system supporting aggression, and not just a civilian entity. The cyber area that was attacked also includes the residences of people from the espionage and artificial intelligence fields, who operate in direct cooperation with the enemy army and its security apparatus.”
Opening summary
Hello and welcome to our live coverage of the Middle East.
Foreign ministers from the UK, France and Germany are to meet their Iranian counterpart Abbas Araqchi in Geneva on Friday aiming to create a pathway back to diplomacy over its nuclear programme.
The meeting comes a day after US President Donald Trump set a two-week deadline to decide whether the US will join Israel’s war on Iran to allow for negotiations to continue.
The White House said that the US president would “make a decision on whether to attack Iran within two weeks”. It added that correspondence with Tehran had continued and there was still hope of negotiations.
UK foreign secretary David Lammy, speaking after a meeting with his US counterpart Marco Rubio on Thursday, said it was “time to put a stop to the grave scenes in the Middle East and prevent a regional escalation that would benefit no one”.
The talks will be held in Geneva, where an initial accord between Iran and world powers to curb its nuclear programme in return for sanctions lifting was struck in 2013 before a comprehensive deal in 2015. The latest nuclear negotiations between Iran and the US collapsed when Israel launched its surprise attack on Iran on 12 June.
An Iranian official said Tehran has always welcomed diplomacy, but urged the so-called E3 to use all available means to pressure Israel to halt its attacks on Iran. “Iran remains committed to diplomacy as the only path to resolving disputes – but diplomacy is under attack,” the official said.
Israel meanwhile openly declared its support for regime change in Iran, with defence minister Israel Katz saying Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei “can no longer be allowed to exist”.
In other key developments:
-
At least 22 Palestinians have been killed after Israeli forces opened fire on aid seekers near the Netzarim axis in central Gaza, Al Jazeera reported early on Friday, citing a source at al-Awda hospital in Deir al-Balah. On Thursday Israeli attacks on Gaza killed at least 72 people, including 21 who had gathered near food distribution sites set up by the “Gaza Humanitarian Foundation” (GHF). The dead included women and children, according to Al Jazeera reporter Anas al-Sharif, who posted footage of the bodies of children scattered in the street after an Israeli attack on tents housing displaced Palestinians near Gaza City.
-
Israel carried out strikes on Iran’s Arak heavy-water reactor, its latest attack on Iran’s sprawling nuclear program. Iranian state television said there was “no radiation danger whatsoever” and that the facility had been evacuated before the attack. Israel also targeted the Natanz site, which has been hit several times.
-
A week of Israeli strikes on Iran have killed at least 657 people and wounded 2,037 others, a human rights group said. The Washington-based group Human Rights Activists said of those dead, it identified 263 civilians and 164 security force personnel being killed. Iran has not given regular death tolls during the conflict and has minimized casualties in the past. Its last update on Monday, it put the death toll at 224 people and 1,277 wounded.
-
At least 240 people were wounded by Iranian missile strikes on Israel on Thursday morning, the AP reported. The outlet said that four individuals has been seriously wounded, citing Israel’s health ministry.
-
Iran on Thursday accused the UN’s nuclear watchdog of acting as a “partner” in what it described as Israel’s war of aggression. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) accused Iran in a report prior to the start of the Iran-Israel war of non-compliance with its obligations in its nuclear programme.
-
Iraq’s top Shia cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani warned against targeting Iran’s leadership and said that the Iran-Israel war could plunge the whole region into chaos. Sistani said in a statement on Thursday that any targeting of Iran’s “supreme religious and political leadership” would have “dire consequences on the region”.
