Israel-Iran conflict LIVE: India to evacuate its nationals from Israel
Moscow has also urged Israel to cease its airstrikes targeting the Bushehr nuclear plant, where Russians are also working
Russia has issued a stern warning to the United States on Thursday, cautioning against any "military intervention" in the ongoing conflict between Iran and Israel. According to an AFP report, Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said that such a move would be "an extremely dangerous step with truly unpredictable negative consequences".
Moscow has also urged Israel to cease its airstrikes targeting the Bushehr nuclear plant. This plea comes as Russian experts are currently working at the facility, which is Iran's sole operational nuclear power plant. Bushehr utilizes Russian fuel, which is then returned to Russia after use to mitigate nuclear proliferation risks.
Israel warns Khamenei
Israel's Defense Minister, Israel Katz, has declared that Iran's Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, "can no longer be allowed to exist." This strong statement comes after an Iranian missile attack reportedly struck the Sokora hospital, according to media reports.
Katz said, "Khamenei openly declares that he wants Israel destroyed, he personally gives the order to fire on hospitals. He considers the destruction of the state of Israel to be a goal...Such a man can no longer be allowed to exist."
Earlier, an Iranian missile slammed into the main hospital in southern Israel early Thursday causing “extensive damage" but no serious injuries, according to the medical facility. Israeli media aired footage of blown-out windows and heavy black smoke.
Other missiles hit a high-rise building and several other residential buildings in at least two sites near Tel Aviv. At least 40 people were wounded in the attacks, according to Israel's Magen David Adom rescue service.
Two doctors said the missile struck almost immediately after air raid sirens went off, causing a loud explosion that could be heard from a safe room. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief media.
The hospital said the main impact was on an old surgery building that had been evacuated in recent days. After the strike, the medical facility was closed to all patients except for life-threatening cases, it said. Soroka has over 1,000 beds and provides services to around 1 million residents of Israel's south.
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Live Updates
- 19 Jun 2025 8:39 PM IST
Israel says 271 injured from Iran strikes, 71 at Soroka
As many as 271people including 71 during the strike on Soroka hospital following Iranian strikes on Thursday morning, the Israeli Health Ministry has said.
"Most of the slightly injured were injured on the way to the protected area or suffered panic attacks," the ministry says in its update on X.
According to a BBC report, the Israeli prime minister's office Iranian missile strikes have resulted in at least 24 deaths since the conflict started.
However, Iran is yet to provide any update on casualties today. The Iranian Health Ministry on Sunday had said that at least 224 people were killed and over 1200 were injured in Israeli air strikes since the conflict started on Friday.
- 19 Jun 2025 8:02 PM IST
Iran refutes Israel's Soroka Hospital missile strike claim
Refuting Israel’s claim that an Iranian missile has struck the Soroka Hospital in Beersheba, Israel, the Iranian mission to the UN said that it “categorically rejects” the “false claim”.
“Our self-defense measures are precise and fully consistent with international law, targeting only facilities directly involved in and supporting the regime’s unlawful aggression,” it stated in a post on X.
It also said that, unlike Israel, “Iran is committed to International Humanitarian Law (IHL) and does not target civilians and civilians’ infrastructure.”
- 19 Jun 2025 7:55 PM IST
WSJ has 'No Idea' on my thoughts on Iran: Trump
Refuting reports by the Wall Street Journal that he has given his nod to plans to attack Iran, but was holding back the final order, US President Donald Trump has said that the publication has no idea about his thoughts on Iran.
"The Wall Street Journal has No Idea what my thoughts are concerning Iran! “posted Trump on Truth Social.
- 19 Jun 2025 7:45 PM IST
UK PM Starmer urges Trump against military action on Iran
Amid speculation on whether the US will militarily intervene in support of Israel in its strike against Iran, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer has urged President Donald Trump not to go ahead with military strikes against Iran.
According to a BBC report, Starmer warned of a "real risk of escalation" and urged all stakeholders to seek a diplomatic solution.
The UK PM also said that earlier he had held several rounds of talks with the UK, adding that, according to him, that is the “only way” to resolve the issue.
- 19 Jun 2025 6:47 PM IST
Israeli PM Netanyahu vows to destroy Iran's nuclear threat
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday (June 19) said that his country is determined to “destroy” the “nuclear threat” from Iran and vowed to remove the nuclear and ballistic missile threats.
“We are committed to destroying the nuclear threat, the threat of a nuclear annihilation against Israel,” Netanyahu told reporters in Beersheba, Israel, where an Iranian missile earlier struck a hospital, reported AFP.
“Our goal is twofold -- nuclear, ballistic missile. We’re going to remove them. We are in the process of completing the (removal of) this threat,” he added.
- 19 Jun 2025 6:41 PM IST
Despite threats, Iran never shut Strait of Hormuz, say analysts
Strait of Hormuz - the narrow but strategically vital waterway through a fifth of world's oil and gas transits and is supply lane for more than a third of India's energy need - has never been shut and Iran has used shutdown threats as a diplomatic lever, analysts said.
Oil markets, they said, are well supplied, posing no threat to the world energy order.
The Strait of Hormuz, which lies between Iran to the north and Oman and the United Arab Emirates to the south, serves as the main route for oil exports from Saudi Arabia, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, and the UAE. Many liquefied natural gas (LNG) shipments, especially from Qatar, also pass through the strait.
"Despite repeated threats, Iran has never closed the Strait of Hormuz due to the strategic and economic costs. The strait is essential for global energy flows, handling 20 per cent of oil trade and major LNG exports, and vital to Iran's own economy and its regional allies," said Hitesh Jain, Strategist, Institutional Equities Research at Yes Securities.
Instead, Tehran uses the threat as a diplomatic lever. Icra said any escalation in the conflict in the area could significantly impact global supplies and prices.
Jain said oil markets appear well-supplied, with OPEC's 4 million barrels per day spare capacity and a pre-conflict global surplus of 0.9 million bpd providing a buffer. The rise of US shale adds further resilience. PTI
- 19 Jun 2025 6:11 PM IST
Not America's war: Iran warns Trump against entering Israel-Iran conflict
Iran’s deputy foreign minister Saeed Khatibzadeh has told the BBC on Thursday that if Trump decides to bring the US into the Israel-Iran conflict, he will always be remembered as a President who “entered a war” where he did not belong.
He also said that Iran seeks diplomacy, but there can be no negotiation when his country is getting bombarded. "The moment that this aggression stops, of course, diplomacy is the first option," he said as quoted by BBC, adding that “this is not America's war"
Asked whether Iran can match, US’ military might, he said that there is “national unity” against any foreign aggressor and hence resistance was more important than strength.
- 19 Jun 2025 5:49 PM IST
Iran-Israel conflict: Russia warns of ‘Chernobyl-style catastrophe’ if Israel strikes Bushehr nuclear plant
If Israel strikes Iran’s Bushehr nuclear power plant, then it could lead to a “Chernobyl-style catastrophe”, said the chief of Russia’s nuclear energy corporation on Thursday (June 19), reported Reuters.
The report further stated that although earlier an Israeli military spokesperson said Israel had struck the site, later an Israeli military official refuted the claim, terming it a “mistake”. He said that he could neither confirm nor deny that the Bushehr site has been struck by the Israeli military.
Earlier, speaking to reporters, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Israel had promised that Russian workers at the Bushehr site would be safe, even as Israel tries to forcefully degrade Iran’s nuclear infrastructure.
