Israel meets Iranian nuclear research institute, which may be a long-term campaign – state
Israel's military said Saturday it attacked an Iranian nuclear research facility overnight and killed three senior Iranian commanders in a targeted attack, while stressing the possibility that the conflict could turn into a long campaign.
Smoke could be seen rising from an area near Mount Isfahan early Saturday, and local officials said Israel attacked nuclear research institutions in two waves.
According to Israeli military officials, the target was two centrifuge production sites, and the attack was on strikes at other centrifuge production sites elsewhere in recent days. This was the second attack on Isfahan, part of Israel's target of destroying Iran's nuclear program, and was attacked within the first 24 hours of the war.
Israeli air defense system opened fire to intercept missiles during an Israeli attack on Tel Aviv on Saturday, June 21, 2025.
Leo/AP
Isfahan Deputy Governor Akbar Salehi confirmed that the Israeli strike caused damage to the facility, but said no casualties were found.
Iran launched a new wave of drone and missiles in Israel, but no reports of immediate damage caused by significant damage, which Israeli officials called “small barrage” and was largely intercepted by Israeli defense.
The official said the relatively small overnight attacks in Iran were partly due to the military's continued targeting its launchers, and it is estimated that it has now taken out more than 50 percent of people.
“We have been able to come up with a lot of launchers, creating bottlenecks – we made it harder for them to fire at Israel,” he said. “With all this, I want to say that the Iranian regime is obviously still capable.”
Israel's Magen Adom Rescue Agency said Saturday that an Iranian drone attacked a two-story building in northern Israel, but no casualties were found.
Later, Brig, chief spokesman for the Israeli military. General Effie Defrin said Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Eyal Zamir told the army to prepare for the “extended movement” that destroys its targets, including nuclear sites, enrichment facilities and missile infrastructure.
“We are deepening the strike late at night and we have achieved amazing results,” he said. “We will continue until the threat is eliminated.”
Talks in Switzerland failed to make breakthroughs
The talks held in Geneva on Friday failed to make a breakthrough. European officials expressed hope for future discussions, with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi saying he was willing to further dialogue while stressing that Tehran had no interest in negotiating with the United States and that Israel continued to attack.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi attended the speech at the Council of Foreign Ministers of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation in Istanbul, Turkey on Saturday, June 21, 2025.
Khalil Hamra / Associated Press
He told reporters: “Iran is ready to consider diplomacy again, and once the aggression is stopped, the invaders will be held responsible for the crimes committed.”
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There is no date set in the next round of talks.
Iran warns U.S. military participation
U.S. President Donald Trump is weighing U.S. military involvement in the conflict, which Araghchi said on Saturday was very unfortunate. ”
US President Donald Trump looks at the Rose Garden in the White House in Washington, DC, USA on June 20, 2025. Trump said Friday that it would be difficult to ask Israel to stop air strikes in Iran even if he seeks a diplomatic solution to end the conflict.
hu Yousong/Xinhua by Zuma Press
“I think it's very, very dangerous for everyone,” he said in Istanbul.
The war between Israel and Iran broke out on June 13, with Israel's air strikes targeting nuclear and military sites, top generals and nuclear scientists. At least 722 people were killed in Iran and more than 2,500 people were killed in Iran, according to the Washington-based Iranian human rights group.
According to the Israeli Army, Iran retaliates by firing more than 450 missiles and 1,000 drones to Israel. Most were shot down by Israel's multi-term defense defense bureau, but at least 24 people were killed and hundreds were injured in Israel.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel's military operations in Iran will “as long as it is needed” to eliminate his so-called existential threat to Iran's nuclear program and the existence of Arsenal's ballistic missiles.
But Netanyahu's goal might be out of reach without our help. Unless a raid or even a nuclear strike, Iran's underground uranium enrichment facility is considered out of reach with everyone except the U.S. “Boat-Bomb” bomb. Trump said he would postpone his decision to join Israel's air movement against Iran for two weeks.
Israel continues targeted attacks on Iranian military commanders
In the opening attack of Israel, it killed three senior military leaders in Iran: a General Mohamed Bagri who oversees the entire armed forces; a person who led General Hossein Salami, the paramilitary revolutionary guard; and General Amir Ali Hajizadeh, the head of the guard ballistic missile program.
Targeted senior commanders continue, Israel’s defense minister said on Saturday that the military killed a commander in the Iranian paramilitary Revolutionary Guard who raised funding and armed Hamas for the October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, triggering a 20-month-long war in Gaza.
Israel said Saeed Izadi was the commander of the Palestinian army of the Iranian Quds unit, an elite unit of the Guard, who was killed in an apartment in QOM city, where he was killed in an apartment in QOM city.
Iranian officials did not immediately confirm the death, but the QOM governor's office did say an attack on the four-story apartment building, with local media reporting the two being killed.
Israel also said it killed the commander of the weapons transfer department of the Quds unit, which said it was responsible for providing weapons to Hezbollah and Hamas. Behnam Shahriyari was killed in his car while traveling in western Iran.
Israeli officials briefly told reporters that the commander of Iranian drone force was also killed.
Iran threatens heads of UN nuclear oversight agencies
On Friday, heads of the UN nuclear regulator warned at an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council to oppose attacks on Iran's nuclear reactors, especially its only commercial nuclear power plant in the southern city of Bushell.
“I want to say absolutely clearly: If an attack on a jungle nuclear power plant, a direct strike will lead to a high radioactive issuance to the environment,” said Rafael Grossi, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency. “This is a nuclear site in Iran, and the consequences may be the worst.”
Israel has not targeted Iran's nuclear reactors, but has focused its strikes on Natanz's main uranium enrichment facility, a centrifuge workshop near Tehran, a laboratory in Isfahan and the country's Arak Arak heavy water reactor southwest.
Archives – Director-General of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Rafael Mariano Grossi, at a Japanese government meeting in Tokyo on Thursday, March 14, 2024.
Eugene Hoshiko /AP
Iran has previously agreed to limit its uranium enrichment and allows international inspectors to enter its nuclear sites under 2015 with the United States, France, China, Russia, Britain and Germany in exchange for sanctions relief. But after Trump unilaterally pulled the U.S. out of the deal in the first semester, Iran began enriching uranium as high as 60% – away from the 90% weapon-level level for short-lived, technical, and limited access to its nuclear facilities.
Iran has long insisted that its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes, but it is the only non-nuclear-weapon country rich in up to 60% of uranium. Israel is widely regarded as the only Middle East country with a nuclear weapon program, but it has never been recognized.
Iran's leaders accuse Grossi of his statements about the status of Iran's nuclear program that prompted Israeli attacks.
On Saturday, Ali Larijani, a senior adviser to Iran's supreme leader, said in a brief social media post that Iran will allow Iran to “pay” Grossi once the war with Israel is over.
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Rising reports from Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Associated Press writer Mehmet Guzel is based in Istanbul, Josef Federman of Jerusalem and Farnoush Amiri of Dubai, UAE, contributed to the report.
