Iran-Israel War: Latest Developments
In the aftermath of the "devastation" that the United States claims to have inflicted on Iranian nuclear sites, Israel struck Tehran on Monday "with unprecedented force", particularly targeting the notorious Evin prison and bombarding the Fordo nuclear site once again.
Iran has also threatened Washington with "serious consequences" following its military intervention over the weekend, while China, the United States, and the European Union fear that Iran may close the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of the world’s oil production passes.
- Unprecedented Israeli Strikes on Tehran -
On the 11th day of war between Iran and Israel and following the American intervention, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz specified that his army was "striking Tehran with unprecedented force".
Specifically, it targeted the infamous Evin prison, where political prisoners, opponents, and the French couple Cécile Kohler and Jacques Paris have been imprisoned for three years.
Noémie Kohler, sister of the French woman, condemned the Israeli strike as "completely irresponsible" that "puts our loved ones in mortal danger".
Iranian justice confirmed damages to the prison facility.
Israeli planes also targeted the headquarters of the Revolutionary Guards in Tehran, the ideological army of the Islamic Republic, according to Israeli army spokesperson Effie Defrin.
Israel also bombarded the Fordo nuclear site again, buried under a mountain south of Tehran, in order to "block access routes", the army claimed.
These strikes damaged a power supply site in the Iranian capital and caused power outages, but electricity has since been restored, according to Tasnim news agency.
- Iran Threatens "Extension of War" -
Following American bombings by stealth aircraft armed with bunker-busting bombs, Iranian forces warned Washington of the risk of "an extension of the war in the region".
On Sunday, an advisor to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the Iranian supreme leader, stated that the United States "no longer has a place" in the Middle East and should expect "irreparable consequences".
Ali Akbar Velayati even warned that American military bases in the Gulf could be "legitimate targets".
- Concerns Over the Strait of Hormuz -
The Chinese Foreign Ministry urged all parties in the conflict to "resolutely avoid the spread of war and return to the path of political resolution".
Beijing, which imports Iranian oil, warned of the war's impact on the global economy and international trade in the Gulf.
In this regard, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio "encouraged" China to help deter Iran from closing the Strait of Hormuz, a maritime route through which 20% of world oil production passes.
Such a closure "would be extremely dangerous", added European foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas.
About 84% of the oil passing through this route, off the coast of Iran, is destined for China, India, South Korea, or Japan.
- Diplomacy or "Regime Change" -
Russian President Vladimir Putin condemned the American intervention against Iran, a Moscow ally, calling it "unprovoked aggression" without "foundation" or "justification", after meeting with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi.
The Iranian Foreign Ministry accused the American enemy of having "betrayed diplomacy" by attacking Iran two days before a scheduled round of nuclear negotiations on June 14 in Oman.
U.S. President Donald Trump openly questioned on his Truth Social platform the idea of "regime change" in Iran to "restore its former greatness".
On Sunday, he boasted of the "monumental damage caused to all nuclear sites in Iran", even suggesting "total destruction".
- The IAEA Wants Access to Iranian Nuclear Sites -
The Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Grossi, demanded access to these nuclear facilities to establish what has happened to the stock of uranium enriched to a level close to the threshold for a nuclear bomb.
He revealed that Tehran had written to him on June 13, the day of the Israeli attack, to establish "special measures to protect the equipment and nuclear material".
© Agence France-Presse
