The fighting between Iran and Israel escalated rapidly over the weekend. Israel launched a set of military strikes on Iran early Friday, June 13, claiming that the goal of the unprovoked attacks is to destroy Iran’s nuclear program. Iran has since retaliated to Israel’s aggression and launched missiles and drones inside Israel, mostly targeting its military installations. Meanwhile, despite claiming that it is targeting Iran’s “nuclear program,” Israel has been focused on targeting civilian sites and residential areas.
Unbalanced human toll
At least 224 people have been killed, including dozens of women and children, and over 1,250 others have been wounded in Israeli air strikes that have targeted different areas across Iran since Friday, according to reports by Iranian authorities and official media on Monday, June 16.
On the other hand, Israeli health authorities reported that the Iranian strikes resulted in the death of 24 people, with hundreds of others being injured, over the same period.
Israel accused of using civilians as human shields by placing military hubs in residential areas
Although Israel claimed that the Iranian missiles intentionally struck civilian areas, media reports revealed that Israel’s key military infrastructure is established within densely populated areas. Analysts argue that by choosing such locations, Israel is using its own civilians as human shields.
The Kirya, which is Israel’s central military headquarters, was among the military premises that Iran struck in its first wave of retaliatory attacks.
The headquarters, which contains the Ministry of Defense, the offices of the Israeli military general staff, the major base of the Israeli Occupation Forces (known as Camp Rabin), and key intelligence and command facilities, is located in the heart of Tel Aviv and surrounded by civilian areas.
Iranian authorities call targeting of news agency “wicked act of war crime”
In what was described as a replication of its attacks on news media targets in Gaza, Israel struck the office of the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB) in the capital Tehran during a live broadcast on Monday.
The assault on IRIB was instigated by Israeli Defense Minister, Israel Katz, who said earlier that day: “The Iranian propaganda and incitement mouthpiece is on its way to disappear.”
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman, Esmaeil Baghaei, condemned the attack on his country’s state-run broadcaster in a post on X.
“The world is watching: targeting Iran’s news agency IRIB’s office during a live broadcast is a wicked act of war crime,” Baghaei said. The diplomat also urged the United Nations Security Council to “act now to stop the genocidal aggressor.”
On the same day, Israel committed another war crime by targeting the Farabi Hospital in Iran’s western city of Kermanshah. Iran’s government spokesperson, Fatemeh Mohajerani, denounced the strike on the hospital, saying that it exposes “the savage nature” of “the infanticidal regime.”
Lebanese-American journalist, Rania Khalek, commented on Israel’s continued assaults on civilian targets across the region on X:
“Israel is openly carrying out acts of terrorism in Iran, targeting civilians and media and hospitals while continuing its genocide on Gaza,” Khalek said, branding those acts as “pure barbarism.”
US failure to bridle Israel will result in harsher reaction: Iranian president says
Once Israel launched its unprovoked aggression against Iran, the Trump administration denied being involved in the offensive. Yet, the Iranian president, Masoud Pezeshkian, insisted that the assault “would have been impossible without the green light and support from the US.”
Speaking to the Sultan of Oman over the phone on Monday, Pezeshkian threatened Washington that his country “will be obliged to give heavier and more painful responses beyond what has occurred so far,” if it does not “prevent the spread of insecurity to the region by bridling that savage (Israeli) regime.”
The Iranian president asserted that the US admitted having “control and influence” over Israel, claiming it “would not take any action without their permission” during the recent indirect nuclear talks, which Oman has mediated.
Pezeshkian’s statements on US complicity were proven true after Trump issued a warning to Iran via his Truth Social account, in the early hours of Tuesday, June 17.
“Iran should have signed the ‘deal’ I told them to sign. What a shame, and waste of human life. Simply stated, IRAN CAN NOT HAVE A NUCLEAR WEAPON. I said it over and over again! Everyone should immediately evacuate Tehran!”
Netanyahu reiterates intention to assassinate Khamenei despite Trump’s alleged rejection
In an interview with ABC News on Monday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed that the assassination of Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, would not trigger further escalation in the already heated war with Iran, but rather, would end it.
Netanyahu reiterated his intention to kill Khamenei, even after Trump reportedly rejected the plan, telling him that “it wasn’t a good idea.”
