Iran…Israeli Update 6/20/2025….Eighth Day of the Conflict…..*Updates…..

European efforts run with Trump’s wishes for a negotiated cease-fire ….

An ISW *Update BELOW that points to what seems to point to the effectiveness of the Israeli efforts to neutralise Iran’s proxies in the Middle East against them…

This will NOT go unnoticed by other Middle eastern countries and those who brief the American President…

The Gaza humanitarian situation IS STILL there…..

Israel and Iran continued to exchange strikes Friday: Israel’s military said it struck military targets in Tehran, Tabriz and Kermanshah, while an office building in a tech park in southern Israel was damaged in a missile strike. Nineteen people — two in moderate to serious condition — arrived at Rambam Medical Center after an explosion near government buildings in northern Israel’s Haifa Bay, a spokesperson for the medical facility confirmed. Several European foreign ministers are convening Friday with their Iranian counterpart in Geneva for a meeting that is being coordinated with Washington, after President Donald Trump said there is a “substantial chance of negotiations” with Iran and that he will wait up to two weeks to decide whether to attack the country’s nuclear program. Trump’s statement marks a change in tone from his bellicose comments earlier this week….

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• The collapse of water systems in Gaza is threatening the territory with devastating drought as well as hunger, the United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef) has warned, amid fresh reports of casualties among desperate Palestinians seeking aid. On Friday, at least 25 people awaiting aid trucks were killed by Israeli fire south of Netzarim in central Gaza, according to local health authorities.

• Britain’s ambassador to the United Nations on Friday urged all parties in the Israel-Iran conflict to protect civilians and said restraint was vital to prevent further escalation. “This is a dangerous moment for the entire region, and further escalation is in no one’s interest. Civilians must never be targeted, and we deplore the loss of civilian life,” Ambassador Barbara Woodword told the UN Security Council.

• Germany’s air force has flown 64 people out of Israel, the defence ministry in Berlin said on Friday. “At this moment, two A400M military transporters of the Luftwaffe are on their way back from Israel to Germany,” the ministry said in a statement.

• UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres warned on Friday that expansion of the Israel-Iran conflict could ignite a fire no one can control and called on parties to conflict and potential parties to the conflict to “give peace a chance.” Guterres made the remarks to the United Nations Security Council as European foreign ministers met their Iranian counterpart on Friday hoping to test Tehran’s readiness to negotiate a new nuclear deal despite there being scant prospect of Israel ceasing its attacks soon.

• The head of the UN nuclear watchdog agency on Friday warned against attacks on nuclear facilities and called for maximum restraint amid Israel’s strikes on Iran. “Armed attack for nuclear facilities should never take place and could result in radioactive releases with great consequences within and beyond boundaries of the state which has been attacked,” Rafael Grossi, director of the International Agency for Atomic Energy, told the UN Security Council. “I therefore, again call for maximum restraint.”

• Russian president Vladimir Putin said on Friday that Russia was sharing unspecified ideas with Israel and Iran about how to end the bloodshed and said he believed that there was a diplomatic solution to the crisis. Putin said Russia was in contact with “our Israeli and Iranian friends” and that Moscow’s proposals were currently being discussed.

• The Israeli defence minister, Israel Katz, warned the Lebanese militia Hezbollah on Friday not to get involved in fighting between Israel and Iran, amid fears that the steadily escalating conflict could pull in other regional actors. “I suggest that the Lebanese proxy be careful and understand that Israel has lost patience with terrorists who threaten it. If there will be further terror, there will be no Hezbollah,” Katz said on Friday morning in a post on X.

• Britain said on Friday it was temporarily withdrawing UK staff from its embassy in Iran due to the ongoing security situation there. “We have taken the precautionary measure to temporarily withdraw UK staff from Iran. Our embassy continues to operate remotely,” Britain said on its travel advice website page for Iran.

• The Trump administration has issued fresh Iran-related sanctions, including on two entities based in Hong Kong, and counter-terrorism-related sanctions, according to a notice posted to the US Treasury Department’s website on Friday. The sanctions target at least 20 entities five individuals and three vessels, according to Treasury’s Office of Foreign Asset Control.

• The escalating war between Iran and Israel is quickly reaching “the point of no return”, Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has said, as Washington mulled the prospect of entering the war. “Unfortunately, the genocide in Gaza and the conflict with Iran are quickly reaching the point of no return. This madness must end as soon as possible,” he said according to AFP.

• The death toll in Gaza from Israeli attacks on Friday has now risen to at least 60, according to Gaza’s civil defence agency. Agence France-Presse reports that at officials said at least half were kille while queueing for aid.

• Qatar held crisis talks this week with energy companies after Israeli strikes on Iran’s huge gas field, which it shares with Qatar, an industry source and a diplomat in the region told Reuters. The South Pars/North Dome mega-field is the largest known gas reserve in the world. Iran, which shares the field with Qatar, has been developing its side since the late 1990s.

• Al Jazeera reports that German chancellor Friedrich Merz and Turkishpresident Recep Tayyip Erdoğan have discussed the conflict between Iranand Israel, according to a German government spokesperson. The outlet said that the pair spoke on the phone about diplomatic efforts to prevent further escalation, with both agreeing to coordinate closely in future….

More…

...*Updates….

ISW…Iran Update Special Report, June 20, 2025, Evening Edition

• Iran is using negotiations and its efforts to hide nuclear material to impose a dilemma on the United States and force Washington to decide between accepting Iranian terms in nuclear negotiations or risking a long and challenging hunt for hidden Iranian nuclear material. This dilemma is designed to protect the nuclear program by securing an agreement with allowances for enrichment or protecting enriched material by hiding it. Iranian officials have not relaxed their negotiating position, which US and Israeli officials are not willing to accept.
• The Nimitz Carrier Strike Group will arrive in the CENTCOM AOR by June 22.
• Iranian-backed Iraqi militias are attempting to deter US participation in the war by threatening to attack US forces if the US attacks Iran. These threats are probably informed by ongoing discussions in the West about a protracted war with Iran.
• The International Atomic Energy Agency director warned of a dangerous degradation of nuclear security at Iranian nuclear sites due to Israeli strikes.
• Israel continued to conduct strikes targeting the Iranian internal security and social control apparatus, which could destabilize the regime. CTP-ISW has not observed any indications that the regime is near collapse or that its control is significantly weakened at this time.

ISW….The Deafening Silence of Iran’s Proxies

The lack of a meaningful response from the so-called “Axis of Resistance” to the Israel-Iran war reveals how exhausted it is after months of fighting the United States and Israel. Iranian proxy and partner militias appear either unable or unwilling to support Iran in any serious way. Hezbollah and Hamas are probably unable. The Houthis and Iraqi militias appear largely unwilling. These groups remain capable of threatening US interests in the Middle East, of course. But the extent to which these groups have remained largely uninvolved so far reflects an unraveling of the Iranian regional militia network, which has long been considered the primary Iranian means of retaliating against adversary attacks. Whatever happens in the days and weeks ahead, Iran will emerge from this conflict badly wounded, at home and abroad.