The White House said that Donald Trump will “make a decision on whether to attack Iran within two weeks”.
Speaking to reporters on Thursday, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt cited a message from Trump in which he said:
“Based on the fact that there’s a substantial chance of negotiations that may or may not take place with Iran in the near future, I will make my decision whether or not to go within the next two weeks.”
Leavitt added that “correspondence has continued with Iran”.
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Israeli military strikes hit Iran’s Khondab Heavy Water Research Reactor, a project under construction that had not begun operating, and damaged the nearby plant that makes heavy water, the UN nuclear watchdog said on Thursday, Reuters reports.
“IAEA has information the Khondab (former Arak) heavy water research reactor, under construction, was hit. It was not operational and contained no nuclear material, so no radiological effects,” the IAEA said in a post on X.
“While damage to the nearby Heavy Water Production Plant was initially not visible, it is now assessed that key buildings at the facility were damaged, including the distillation unit,” the IAEA statement said.
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What is Donald Trump’s plan for Iran? Is he about to break his campaign pledge for ‘no more wars’? And if he does, could this be the moment he loses some of his most loyal Maga supporters?…
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Israel’s attack has exposed Iran’s lack of firepower but the conflict could yet turn in Tehran’s favour.
The Guardian’s Dan Sabbagh reports:
It is a week since Israel began its largest attack ever on Iran, and in conventional military terms it is clear that Tehran is under extreme pressure. Israel has been able to achieve superiority over Iran’s skies at extraordinary speed, within hours of launching its surprise assault. Its military claimed on Monday to have knocked out 120 Iranian air defence systems through a mixture of air and drone strikes, about a third of Tehran’s pre-war total.
In response, Iran’s most effective weapon has been its stock of high-speed ballistic missiles, estimated at about 2,000 by Israel’s Defence Force (IDF) at the outset of hostilities last week. But the heavy targeting by Israel of launch sites in western Iran, in underground bases such as at Kermanshah – coupled with Israel’s grimly effective targeted killing of Iran’s top military commanders – have left Iran struggling to respond militarily and presenting a significant threat.
Iran has so far launched more than 400 missiles at Israel, but half, about 200, were launched in the initial retaliatory barrages last Friday. Since Monday the size of its missile barrages has reduced to a maximum of 15 to 20 (including 15 on Thursday afternoon), compared with up to 40 during the weekend, according to a count compiled by a US thinktank, the Institute for the Study of War. Iran’s ability to manufacture new weapons is also likely to be limited, estimated by the US to be 50 a month before the hostilities broke out.
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A hospital in the Israeli town of Beersheba has been hit as Iran fired a barrage of missiles at the country, with the conflict between the two nations continuing into a seventh day.
Iran said it had targeted a military site close to the Soroka hospital, not the facility itself. Israel said 271 people were injured in strikes reported across the country.
Meanwhile, Israel’s military said it had targeted Iran’s nuclear sites including the “inactive” Arak heavy water reactor and Natanz facility.
Israel said at least 24 people had been killed in the country since the start of the conflict. Iranian state media last updated its death toll on 15 June, when it said 224 people had been killed….
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ISW….Iran Update Special Report, June 19, 2025, Morning Edition
- The IDF struck several nuclear facilities, including the Arak Heavy Water Reactor in Markazi Province. Iran could use this reactor to support the production of plutonium-based nuclear weapons. The IDF also struck a storage facility linked to the Iranian nuclear program in Natanz, Esfahan Province.
- The IDF has struck at least six Iranian Ghadir radars since June 12, according to commercially available satellite imagery. Ghadir radars reportedly have the ability to detect aircraft from 1,100 kilometers away.
- An Iranian ballistic missile struck the Soroka Medical Center in Beersheba. Iranian ballistic missile attacks on Israel since CTP-ISW’s last data cutoff have injured over 200 individuals. The Israeli defense minister warned that Israel will intensify its attacks on Iran following the strike on the Soroka Medical Center.
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Israel is not directly targeting Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in its attacks on Iran but his removal would ultimately benefit the Iranian people, Israeli President Isaac Herzog said.
“We don’t have a goal on Khamenei, nor do we have a goal on regime change,” Herzog said in a Thursday interview with the Axel Springer Global Reporters network, of which POLITICO is a member. “But it could be historically a clear side effect of major historical consequences that will do good to the Iranian people,” he added.
Earlier on Thursday, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz issued a strong threat against the Iranian leader, saying that he “cannot continue to exist.”….
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Israel’s defense minister overtly threatened Iran’s supreme leader on Thursday after the latest missile barrage from Iran damaged the main hospital in southern Israel and hit several other residential buildings near Tel Aviv. Israel meanwhile struck a heavy water reactor that is part of Iran’s nuclear program.
At least 240 people were wounded by the Iranian missiles, four of them seriously, according to Israel’s Health Ministry. The vast majority were lightly wounded, including more than 70 people from the Soroka Medical Center in the southern city of Beersheba, where smoke rose as emergency teams evacuated patients….
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