Iran-Israel tension LIVE: Iran state TV building hit in Israeli attack
Israeli military had earlier issued an evacuation warning affecting up to 330,000 people
An Iranian state television reporter had to stop a live broadcast late Monday night (June 16) when an explosion occurred an hour after Israel issued a warning to evacuate the area of Tehran where the TV studios are located.
The reporter for the Islamic Republic of Iran News Network said the studio was filling with dust after “the sound of aggression against the homeland, the sound of aggression against truth and righteousness.” Anchor Sahar Emami rushed off-camera as the screen behind her cut out.
The broadcast quickly switched to pre-recorded programmes. Soon, Emami came back live from another studio and was seen speaking with another anchor. She said that “bodies of reporters” were at the site of the initial broadcast, and images showed smoke and flames in the sky.
Israel's defence minister took credit for the attack.
“The Iranian regime's propaganda and incitement broadcasting authority was attacked by the IDF after a widespread evacuation of the area's residents,” Israel Katz said in a statement. “We will strike the Iranian dictator everywhere.”
Evacuation warning given
An hour earlier, the Israeli military had issued an evacuation warning affecting up to 330,000 people in a part of central Tehran that includes the country's state TV and police headquarters, as well as three large hospitals. The IDF has issued similar evacuation warnings for civilians in parts of Gaza and Lebanon ahead of strikes.
The warning came on the fourth day of the conflict, when the Israeli military claimed it had achieved air superiority above the Iranian capital and could fly over the city without facing major threats.
Read live updates here.
Live Updates
- 16 Jun 2025 2:51 PM IST
Israel-Iran crises: Mixed impact on Asian shares on Monday
Asian shares were mixed on Monday and oil prices extended gains on worries that escalating Iran-Israel tensions could disrupt the flow of crude around the world.
US benchmark crude oil added 20 cents to USD 73.18 per barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, gained 95 cents to USD 75.18 per barrel.
In share trading, Tokyo's Nikkei 225 added 1.3 per cent to 38,307.74, while the Kospi in Seoul gained 0.9 per cent to 2,920.57.
Chinese markets were little changed after data for May showed stronger consumer spending but weaker factory activity and investment. A 6.1 per cent year-on-year jump in retail sales was offset but lower than expected growth in industrial output, which rose 5.8 per cent from a year earlier.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng fell 0.1 per cent to 23,864.20 and the Shanghai Composite Index added less than 0.1 per cent to 3,378.78.
Australia's S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.2 per cent to 8,547.40.
On Friday, oil prices jumped and stocks slumped after Israel's attack on Iranian nuclear and military targets.
The S&P 500 sank 1.1 per cent to 5,976.97. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 1.8 per cent to 42,197.79, and the Nasdaq composite lost 1.3 per cent to 19,406.83.
The strongest action was in the oil market, where the price of a barrel of benchmark US crude and Brent crude, the international standard surged more than 7 per cent.
Iran is one of the world's major producers of oil, though sanctions by Western countries have limited its sales. If a wider war erupts, it could slow the flow of Iran's oil to its customers and keep the price of crude and gasoline higher for everyone worldwide.
Beyond the oil coming from Iran, analysts also pointed to the potential for disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz, a relatively narrow waterway off Iran's coast. Much of the world's oil that's been pulled from the ground moves through it on ships. AP
- 16 Jun 2025 2:16 PM IST
Over 400 people killed, among them 197 civilians, claims advocacy group
During an earlier barrage of Iranian missiles on central Israel on Sunday, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said that Iran will stop its strikes if Israel does the same.
After a day of intensive Israeli aerial attacks that extended targets beyond military installations to hit oil refineries and government buildings, the Revolutionary Guard struck a hard line on Monday, vowing that further rounds of strikes would be “more forceful, severe, precise and destructive than previous ones." Health authorities also reported that 1,277 were wounded in Iran, without distinguishing between military officials and civilians.
Rights groups, like the Washington-based Iranian advocacy group called Human Rights Activists, have suggested that the Iranian government's death toll is a significant undercount. Human Rights Activists says it has documented more than 400 people killed, among them 197 civilians.
Israel argues that its assault on Iran's top military leaders, uranium enrichment sites and nuclear scientists was necessary to stop Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.
Iran has always insisted its nuclear programme is peaceful, and the US and others have assessed that Tehran has not pursued a nuclear weapon since 2003.
But Iran has enriched ever-larger stockpiles of uranium to near weapons-grade levels in recent years and was believed to have the capacity to develop multiple weapons within months if it chose to do so.
- 16 Jun 2025 2:14 PM IST
Iranian missiles hit residential building in Petah Tikva
Authorities in the central Israeli city of Petah Tikva said Iranian missiles had hit a residential building there, charring concrete walls, shattering windows and ripping the walls off multiple apartments.
The Israeli Magen David Adom emergency service reported that two women and two men — all in their 70s — and one other person were killed in the wave of missile attacks that struck four sites in central Israel.
“We clearly see that our civilians are being targeted,” said Israeli police spokesman Dean Elsdunne outside the bombed-out building in Petah Tikva. “And this is just one scene. We have other sites like this near the coast, in the south.” Petah Tikva resident Yoram Suki rushed with his family to a shelter after hearing an air raid alert, and emerged after it was over to find his apartment destroyed.
“Thank God we were OK,” the 60-year-old said.
Despite losing his home, he urged Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to keep up the attacks on Iran.
“It's totally worth it,” he said. “This is for the sake of our children and grandchildren.” In addition to those killed, the MDA said paramedics had evacuated another 87 wounded people to hospitals, including a 30-year-old woman in serious condition, while rescuers were still searching for residents trapped beneath the rubble of their homes.
“When we arrived at the scene of the rocket strike, we saw massive destruction,” said Dr Gal Rosen, a paramedic with MDA who said he had rescued a 4-day-old baby as fires blazed from the building.
