Israel Targets Tehran, Elsewhere As Trump Leaves Open Possibility Of US Entry Into Conflict

By RFE/RL June 19, 2025

Israel again targeted Tehran and the surrounding region with air strikes early on June 19, hours after US President Donald Trump said he was "not looking" to join the fight but would move if it were necessary to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons.

Iranian state media reported that the country's air defense interceptor drones were activated over the outskirts of Tehran shortly after midnight.

The Israeli military confirmed it was carrying out a "series of strikes" around the Iranian capital and other areas of the country on June 19 and also said it had intercepted a "suspicious aerial target" launched from Iran.

The Israeli military issued evacuation warnings on social media in Arabic and Farsi for residents and others near the Arak heavy-water reactor 250 kilometers southeast of Tehran and in the nearby Khondab area.

"The IDF issues an urgent warning to residents, workers, and those present in the area of the two Iranian villages of Arak and Khondab, in the areas marked on the map, to evacuate immediately before the IDF targets military infrastructure belonging to the Iranian regime."

Heavy water is utilized to cool nuclear reactors and can also be used to produce products important for the development of nuclear weapons.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in an earlier video statement, said Israel was "progressing step by step" toward eliminating threats posed by Iran's nuclear and ballistic missile sites.

"We are attacking nuclear installations, missiles, command centers, and the symbols of the regime," Netanyahu said.

Netanyahu also thanked Trump, calling him "a great friend of the state of Israel...standing alongside us" in the conflict, adding that the two leaders "speak frequently."

Separately, Iran said 18 "enemy agents" were arrested in the northeastern city of Mashhad building drones to aid Israeli attacks. Details were not immediately available.

The Wall Street Journal, citing three people familiar with the matter, reported that Trump had told aides he had approved plans for US forces to join Israel in the attacks on Iran but that he was waiting to see if Tehran would give up its nuclear program.

Bloomberg also reported, citing people familiar with the matter, that US officials are preparing for a potential strike on Iran in the next few days, possibly during the weekend.

In comments to reporters in the Oval Office, Trump did not confirm those reports, saying he was "not looking to fight" Iran but that he might be forced to conduct such operations to prevent Tehran from developing nuclear weapons.

"I'm not looking to fight," he said. "But if it's a choice between fighting and [Iran] having a nuclear weapon, you have to do what you have to do."

"You may have to fight," he later stated.

"I may do it. I may not do it. I mean, nobody knows what I'm going to do," Trump told reporters later outside the White House.

Meanwhile, The New York Times, citing a senior Iranian official, said Tehran is open to a meeting with US negotiators to discuss a cease-fire and that Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchiwould attend such talks.

As tensions rose, Washington's Western allies heightened efforts to bring about a diplomatic solution.

The foreign ministers of Germany, France, and Britain plan to hold nuclear talks withAraqchi on June 20 in Geneva, while the United Nations has scheduled a meeting on the crisis for the same day.

A German diplomatic source told news agencies that the Geneva talks are aimed at persuading Iran to guarantee it will use its nuclear program solely for civilian purposes. Israel on June 13 launched its series of attacks on Iran, saying they were necessary to halt Tehran's nuclear program.

On June 18, Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, rejected Trump's call for Tehran's "unconditional surrender." Khamenei said peace or war could not be imposed on the Islamic republic and warned the United States to stay on the sidelines of the conflict.

The 86-year-old Khamenei -- who under Iran's constitution has the final say on all strategic matters -- was responding to comments by Trump late on June 17 that Iran's leader is safe "for now" while he urged Tehran to offer its "unconditional surrender."

"The Iranian nation is not one to surrender," Khamenei said in a prerecorded nationally televised address on June 18. "Americans should know that any military involvement by the US will undoubtedly result in irreparable damage to themselves."

Trump on June 17 wrote on social media that Khamenei "is an easy target, but is safe there -- We are not going to take him out (kill!), at least not for now,"

"Our patience is wearing thin," he added just hours after he called for a "real end" to deadly air strikes by both Iran and Israel.

Israel and many of its Western allies, including the United States, accuse Iran of seeking to build nuclear weapons. Tehran has vehemently rejected the accusations, saying its atomic program is purely for civilian purposes.

The attacks have left millions of ordinary Iranians shaken, with thousands jamming highways leading out of Tehran to other cities as well as foreign destinations such as Turkey and Armenia, where they are seeking refuge from the fighting.

'Significant Blows' To Iranian Regime

Israeli military forces struck several targets inside Iran on June 18, with explosions reported in the early afternoon in east Tehran.

"We have delivered significant blows to the Iranian regime, and as such, they have been pushed back into central Iran. They are now focusing their efforts on conducting missile fire from the area of Isfahan," Defrin added.

Iranian media late on June 18 reported that air defenses were in action in the city of Rasht on the Caspian Sea. Details were not immediately available.

Israeli military spokesman Effie Defrin said in a video posted on X that since the offensive began on June 13, more than 1,100 targets inside Iran have been struck.

Much of the country's military and scientific leadership has been killed in air strikes, that rights groups say have also caused scores of civilian deaths as well.

The Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), a nongovernmental organization of Iranian activists based in the United States, reported on June 19 that 263 civilians, 154 security personnel, and 224 unspecified people had died in Israeli air attacks.

It added that more than 1,300 more have been injured. The figures are based, it says, on official data and local reports.

Israeli officials say 24 people in Israel have been killed in retaliatory air strikes launched by Iran.

With reporting by AP and Reuters

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/iran-tehran- israel-trump-khamenei-airstrikes/33448568.html

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Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD)

Israel Targets Tehran, Elsewhere As Trump Leaves Open Possibility Of US Entry Into Conflict

'Significant Blows' To Iranian Regime