The US president said there is still a “substantial chance” of conducting negotiations with Iran, according to the White House press secretary
US President Donald Trump will decide whether to join Israel’s campaign against Iran “within the next two weeks,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said.
“Based on the fact that there is a substantial chance of negotiations that may or may not take place with Iran in the near future, I will make my decision on whether or not to go within the next two weeks,” she quoted the president as saying during a press briefing on Thursday.
In the midst of Tehran and Israel’s week-long conflict, an Iranian missile reportedly hit a medical center in the southern Israeli city of Be’er Sheva earlier in the day.
Following the attack, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said that Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei “can no longer be allowed to exist.”
Meanwhile, Israel has launched a new wave of strikes targeting Iran’s nuclear infrastructure and military installations, including the Arak heavy water nuclear reactor.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said Operation Rising Lion – a series of missile attacks on Iran – has significantly damaged the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program. West Jerusalem claims it has struck key nuclear sites at Natanz, Isfahan, and Fordow. The IAEA has confirmed damage to facilities in Natanz and Isfahan.
According to the Washington-based Human Rights Activists group, Israeli strikes have killed at least 639 Iranians, most of whom are civilians, since the hostilities began last Friday. Israeli officials have reported 24 deaths.
Russia has condemned Israel’s initial airstrikes and called for deescalation. President Vladimir Putin spoke with Trump by phone over the weekend. According to Kremlin aide Yury Ushakov, the two discussed the possibility of reviving negotiations on Iran’s nuclear program.
20 June 2025
12:31 GMT
The Israeli Air Force says it is now attacking military infrastructure in western and central Iran, without providing details on the targets or assets involved in the operation.
12:13 GMT
France, Germany, and the UK will present Iran with a “diplomatic solution” during today’s talks in Geneva, French President Emmanuel Macron has said.
“It is essential to prioritize a return to substantive negotiations which include nuclear – to move to zero enrichment – ballistics, to limit Iranian capacities, and the financing of all the terrorist groups that destabilize the region,” he stated.
Iran has repeatedly refused to abandon all of its nuclear enrichment capabilities, calling it a red line. On top of that, the now-defunct 2015 Iran deal addressed only Tehran’s nuclear capabilities, and imposed no limits on military research or the scope of Iran’s ties with regional paramilitary groups.
11:45 GMT
Thousands of Iranians have taken to the streets across the country to protest the Israeli strikes and attend a mass prayer, according to videos shared by local media.
🇮🇷 Hundreds of thousands of Iranians across the country attend Friday Prayers, voicing anger against Israeli aggression against the countryFollow https://t.co/B3zXG73Jympic.twitter.com/MliLeNbNem
— Press TV 🔻 (@PressTV) June 20, 2025
11:21 GMT
An Israeli drone strike on an apartment block in Tehran has killed another Iranian nuclear scientist, several Israeli media outlets have reported. The Jewish state has been targeting Iranian experts in the nuclear field for years. Around a dozen scientists have reportedly been killed since the current stand-off began last week.
11:07 GMT
Qatar’s prime minister and foreign minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani, has condemned the Israeli attacks, which he says “undermine peace efforts and threaten to drag the region” into a full-scale war.
He also pointed to “the seriousness of Israel targeting economic facilities in Iran” and warned that the strikes could lead to “disastrous regional and international repercussions, particularly for the stability of energy supplies.”
10:27 GMT
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz says he has ordered the military to “intensify strikes on regime targets in Tehran” to “destabilize” the country’s government.
“We must strike all symbols of the regime and its mechanisms of oppression, such as the Basij, as well as the base of the regime’s power, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps,” he said, referring to the paramilitary volunteer militia and the elite branch of Iran’s military.
09:53 GMT
The world has found itself mere centimeters from a nuclear disaster due to the Israeli strikes on Iran, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has said.
“The strikes are carried out… literally in the immediate vicinity of… facilities where radioactive materials, nuclear materials are stored,” she said, urging the belligerents to return to talks.
According to Zakharova, the entire Caspian region could be in jeopardy. “The Caspian region is not only Iran. It is several states, including our country. This has direct significance for us,” she added.
09:40 GMT
An Israeli drone has hit an apartment block in Tehran’s central Gisha district, local media reports, suggesting that the goal of the strike was to assassinate an unnamed Iranian nuclear scientist. It is unclear whether the attack resulted in any casualties.
Reports claim another assassination attempt just now in Tehran’s Gisha neighborhood — an apartment in a residential building was attacked. Outcome still unclear. pic.twitter.com/B7PLrsj6lc
— The Global Monitor (@theglobal4u) June 20, 2025
09:28 GMT
Germany, as well as its partners in the UK, France and EU, are open to further talks with Iran if it shows “serious willingness to renounce any enrichment of nuclear material, which could lead to nuclear weaponization,” Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul has told reporters ahead of talks in Geneva.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, however, has said that he had arrived for talks “to listen” rather than negotiate, adding that any productive dialogue is impossible as long as Israel continues its strikes.
09:12 GMT
The Israeli military claims to have destroyed as many as 35 Iranian missile launchers and storage sites in the Tabriz and Kermanshah areas during strikes on Friday morning.
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