Israel urges US to join bombing as Iran sends HUGE missile shower: Tower block turns to rubble with at least 10 dead and hundreds more injured amid retaliation strikes that leave Tehran ‘burning’
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Children are among the at least 10 people who have died in Israel following Iran’s barrage of missiles it sent in the latest round of escalating strikes between the two nations.
Iran said Israel struck two oil refineries near Tehran overnight, as well as the headquarters of Iran’s Ministry of Defence, while Israel said that the death toll had risen to 10, as emergency workers frantically sift through rubble to try and find injured people.
An estimated 200 people in Israel were injured by the strikes. Israeli Raja Khateeb, his wife, and their three daughters were all reportedly among those killed in the Iranian strike on the town of town of Tamra, near Haifa.
Iran’s ambassador to the UN said that by Friday evening, Israeli strikes had killed 78 and left over 320 wounded. Yesterday, Iran said that 60 people, including 29 children were killed after an Israeli missile brought down a 14-storey block of flats.
Separately, the governor of Iran’s East Azerbaijan province said 30 troops and one rescuer were killed, while a further 55 were left wounded.
The region braced for a protracted conflict after Israel‘s surprise bombardment of Iran’s nuclear and military sites on Friday killed several top generals and nuclear scientists, and neither side showed any sign of backing down.
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said that the attacks on Israel will end when its ‘aggression stops.’
People stand near a residential building that was hit following missile attack from Iran on Israel, at central Israel June 15, 2025
An estimated 200 people in Israel were injured by the strikes
Raja Khateeb, his wife, and their three daughters (pictured) were all reportedly killed in the Iranian strike on the town of town of Tama, near Haifa
He also accused the UN Security Council of ‘indifference’ over Israel’s attacks on Tehran.
He claimed in a meeting with foreign diplomats that Western governments have ‘condemned Iran instead of Israel despite it being the side that was violated.’
He also claimed to have ‘solid proof’ that American troops have supported Israel’s strikes against Iran on Thursday night, the event that directly led to this weekend’s escalating violence.
He said: ‘We have solid proof of the support of the American forces and American bases in the region for the attacks of the Zionist regime military forces.’
Meanwhile, Israel has warned Iranians living near weapons production sites in Iran to evacuate, signalling an imminent escalation in military action.
The IDF’s Arabic language spokesperson Avichay Adrae wrote in a post to X on Sunday: ‘For your safety, we ask you to please immediately evacuate the areas of these facilities and to not return until further notice.
‘Being in the vicinity of these areas endangers your life’, he said, adding that the warning also extended to areas near ‘facilities that support weapons production in Iran.’
Last night, Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a video address that Israel would ‘strike every site and every target of the Ayatollah’s regime.’
Today, Netanyahu’s defence minister Israel Katz said: ‘The IDF will attack the sites and continue to peel the Iranian snake’s skin in Tehran and everywhere else from nuclear capabilities and weapons systems.
‘The Iranian dictator is turning Tehran into Beirut and the residents of Tehran into hostages for the survival of his regime.’
Israel’s Iron Dome air defense system intercepts ballistic missiles fired from Iran over the city of Tel Aviv, Israel, 15 June 2025
A destroyed vehicle lies under debris after missiles fired from Iran impacted a residential building, in Tamra, northern Israel June 15, 2025
Flames and smoke rise, following what the Iranian Red Crescent Society says was an Israeli strike, in a location given as Tehran, Iran, in this screengrab taken from a handout video released on June 15, 2025
Members of Israel’s Home Front Command search for missing people under the rubble of a partially collapsed residential building after Iranian ballistic missiles hit Bat Yam, central Israel, 15 June 2025
Last night, the IDF said they have ‘established aerial superiority from western Iran to Tehran’.
‘We have created aerial freedom of action from west Iran all the way to Tehran,’ said Israel Defence Forces (IDF) spokesperson Brigadier General Effie Defrin.
Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis said on Sunday they targeted central Israel’s Jaffa with several ballistic missiles in the last 24 hours, the first time an ally of Iran has joined the fray.
Tehran has warned Israel’s allies that their military bases in the region would come under fire too if they helped shoot down Iranian missiles.
However, 20 months of war in Gaza and a conflict in Lebanon last year have decimated Tehran’s strongest regional proxies, Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon, reducing its options for retaliation.
Yesterday, Israel targeted Iran’s critical energy infrastructure at gas and fuel sites on Saturday, according to a statement from Iran’s oil ministry.
Images show a fuel depot in the Shahran district of Tehran on fire. Strikes on the South Pars field, the world’s largest gas field, and The Fajr Jam Gas Refining Company in the Bushehr province were also reported.
With Israel saying its operation could last weeks, and Netanyahu urging Iran’s people to rise up against their Islamic clerical rulers, fears have grown of a regional conflagration dragging in outside powers.
Israel sees Iran’s nuclear programme as a threat to its existence, and said the bombardment was designed to avert the last steps to production of a nuclear weapon.
Tehran insists the programme is entirely civilian and that it does not seek an atomic bomb. The UN nuclear watchdog, however, reported Iran this week as violating obligations under the global non-proliferation treaty.
Emergency and rescue soldiers extract a dead body out from rubble around heavily damaged buildings after an overnight missile strike from Iran on June 15, 2025 in Bat Yam Israel
A plume of heavy smoke rises over an oil refinery in southern of Tehran, after it was hit in an overnight Israeli strike, on June 15, 2025
US President Donald Trump said the conflict could be easily ended while warning Tehran not to strike any American targets.
‘If we are attacked in any way, shape or form by Iran, the full strength and might of the US Armed Forces will come down on you at levels never seen before,’ Trump said in a message on Truth Social.
‘However, we can easily get a deal done between Iran and Israel, and end this bloody conflict’, he added.
Trump gave no details of any possible deal.
On Saturday, Britain deployed more jets to the region after Iran threatened the United States and UK that it could retaliate if they come to Israel’s defence.
This morning, Rachel Reeves on Sky News said the UK was deploying assets to protect ourselves and ‘potentially to support our allies’.
She noted that in the past the UK has ‘helped protect Israel’ from ‘incoming strikes’.
‘I’m not going to comment on what might happen in the future, but so far, we haven’t been involved, and we’re sending in assets to both protect ourselves and also potentially to support our allies.’
On the economic front she said there were two ‘immediate concerns’ – energy prices and trade routes.
She said oil and gas prices gone up by just over 10 per cent, although were ‘still down compared to a few months ago’.
‘Of course we are keeping an eye on that,’ she said.
Ms Reeves said trade routes were very important.
Fire and smoke rise into the sky after an Israeli attack on the Shahran oil depot on June 15, 2025 in Tehran, Iran
Fire of Israeli attack on Sharan Oil depot is seen following the Israeli strikes on Iran, in Tehran, Iran, June 15, 2025
‘We’ve seen disruption there in the past, partly because of the Houthi attacks for example. So that is a cause for concern.’
Pressed how bad the situation could be, she said: ‘It is very early days and things are moving quickly. But when we urge for de-escalation in the region that is in part because of the lives at risk… but also because what happens in the Middle East affects us here at home.
‘It’s why in the Spending Review this week we invested heavily in our defence to keep our country safe.’
More to follow.
