LIVE: Kremlin tells US nuclear strike on Iran would be ‘catastrophic’

Israeli media is reporting an Iranian nuclear scientist was today assassinated following a strike on Tehran.

Reports from Israeli Army Radio, which is operated by the IDF, said the scientist was killed along with two assistants during the night.

Israel military said it struck dozens of targets in Tehran overnight, including what it called a centre for the ‘research and development of Iran’s nuclear weapons project’.

Britain’s Foreign Secretary David Lammy said ‘a window now exists within the next two weeks to achieve a diplomatic solution’ over the Iran crisis as European foreign ministers met for nuclear talks with their Iranian counterpart in Geneva.

European officials are set to hold nuclear talks with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi today, as President Donald Trump mulls the prospect of US involvement in the Iran-Israel war.

Speaking on the sidelines of the summit, Lammy agreed with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s comments that Iran ‘can never develop or acquire a nuclear weapon’.

German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said the United States was both aware and supportive of the meeting taking place in Geneva.

France’s foreign ministry spokesperson Christophe Lemoine said the diplomatic route would be the only way to ensure Iran respects its obligations under the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

Iran’s Araghchi, however, rejected any prospect of talks with the United States so long as Israel continues its attacks.

Tripods are set up outside the Permanent Mission of the Federal Republic of Germany to the United Nations in Geneva ahead of a meeting for the Iran-EU nuclear meeting

Donald Trump has received extensive briefings on Iran’s underground uranium enrichment plant at Fordow – including the risks and benefits of launching a U.S. attack.

According to insiders, Trump has told his defence officials it would only make sense to join Israel in striking Iran if American ‘bunker buster’ bombs are guaranteed to be able to destroy Fordow.

In order to do that, officials have been told the U.S. would have to soften the ground with conventional bombs before dropping a tactical nuclear weapon from a B2 Bomber to destroy the site 90-metres underground.

It has since been reported Trump has ruled out the use of a nuclear weapon in Iran.

Here is the facility at the centre of the conflict:

Some 8,190 people have been evacuated from their homes in Israel as the conflict with Iran enters its eighth day, Israeli media is reporting.

The Property Tax Compensation Fund said that since the crisis erupted, thousands have been displaced and some 30,000 claims for compensation filed for damage to buildings, vehicles or contents and equipment, Ynet News reports.

Iran’s foreign minister will address the UN Human Rights Council on Friday on the sidelines of talks with European counterparts aiming for a diplomatic solution to the Iran-Israel war.

Abbas Araghchi ‘will intervene in person… at the beginning of the council’s afternoon meeting’ at 1300 GMT, after which the council will resume its normal programme, Pascal Sim, spokesman for the UN’s top rights body, told a press briefing.

UN spokeswoman Alessandra Vellucci added that Daniel Meron, Israel’s ambassador to the UN in Geneva, would be outside the council chamber at 1230 GMT to deliver a ‘press statement on Iran’.

Araghchi is meeting his French, German, British and EU counterparts in Geneva on Friday to discuss Iran’s nuclear programme.

Israel no longer participates in the Human Rights Council, boycotting its meetings over ‘anti-Semitism’.

Diplomats are meeting in Geneva today to begin talks around the Iran crisis and Tehran’s nuclear programme.

Initial talks are not expected to yield major progress towards peace. But they could carve out a space for dialogue between Iran and the U.S., mediated by Britain and Europe.

Russia, too, has been eyeing a mediating role in the growing crisis.

France’s foreign minister, Jean-Noel Barrot, is said to have already spoken to U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio on the sidelines.

A French diplomatic source told The Guardian that Rubio emphasised that the U.S. is ‘ready for direct contact with the Iranians at any moment’.

Johann Wadephul, the German foreign minister, said ahead of meeting with Abbas Araghchi, Iran’s foreign minister, that if today goes well, it could pave the way for more talks.

‘This requires Iran’s serious willingness to renounce any enrichment of nuclear material, which could lead to nuclear weaponisation,’ he said, according to Reuters news agency.

Donald Trump told defence officials it would only make sense for the U.S. to join Israel in striking Iran if its ‘bunker buster’ bombs are guaranteed to be able to destroy the key enrichment site at Fordow, according to people familiar with the discussions.

Officials were said to have been told that the U.S. would have to soften the ground with conventional bombs before dropping a tactical nuclear weapon from a B2 Bomber to completely destroy the site, believed to be some 90 metres underground.

But Trump is said to have ruled out nuking Iran, insiders told the Guardian. The possibility was said not to have been raised by defence secretary Pete Hegseth or chairman of the joint chiefs of staff General Dan Caine during recent meetings in the Situation Room.

Trump said late on Thursday that he will now decide in the next two weeks whether to join in military action against Iran, before British and European diplomats were to meet with Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi in Geneva on Friday.

Russia warned today that any use of tactical nuclear weapons in Iran would be ‘catastrophic’ amid fears it could spark wider conflict across the Middle East.

These pictures show Israeli bomb experts at the scene of the latest Iranian ballistic missile attack in southern Israel today.

For the second day in a row Beersheba has come under attack as the missile struck a road near several apartment blocks.

The strike has created a large crater and caused several cars to catch alight. The Times of Israel is reporting seven people suffered minor injuries with some substantial damage to homes.

Donald Trump is said to be increasingly relying on a small group of advisors for input on Iran as he debates whether or not to join Israel’s military action.

Two defence officials and a senior administration official told NBC News that the U.S. President has closed his inner circle in a report published on Friday.

Another senior administrational official said that while Trump routinely crowdsources for ideas, he is listening to only a handful of officials for decision-making.

These include his Vice President, chief of staff, deputy chief of staff and Secretary of State, the official said.

Trump was also said to have sidelined National Intelligence Director Tulsi Gabbard, who opposes strikes in Iran.

And he has not been leaning on Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, officials said.

The possibility of kinetic action against Iran remains deeply divisive within the administration and without.

United States President Donald J Trump on June 18

Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi has claimed Tehran has refused talks with Washington because it is a ‘partner’ in Israeli ‘crimes’.

Speaking on state television, Araghchi said Iran is not planning any contact with the US for the time being.

His remarks come just hours after the White House indicated Donald Trump will decide whether or not the US gets directly involved in the conflict within the next two weeks.

Araghchi said that while negotiations with the US are not on the horizon, Iran had no issue engaging with other countries as officials meet European leaders in Geneva later today.

The minister said those talks were limited to nuclear and regional issues and that Iran will not negotiate regarding its missile capabilities.

The Iranian Khondab heavy water research reactor was damaged in Israeli strikes on Thursday, but no ‘radiological consequence’ is expected, the International Atomic Energy Agency said.

The UN’s nuclear watchdog assessed that because the facility was still under construction and not operational, it contained no nuclear material.

Rafael Grossi assured that, as a result, no radiological consequence was expected.

Reactors like the facility near the city of Arak can be used for scientific purposes, but will create plutonium as a byproduct. This could be used for nuclear weapons.

Iran’s fragmented opposition groups think their moment may be close at hand, but activists involved in previous bouts of protest say they are unwilling to unleash mass unrest, even against a system they hate, with their nation under attack.

Exiled opponents of the Islamic Republic, themselves deeply divided, are urging street protests. In the borderlands, Kurdish and Baluchi separatist groups look poised to rise up, with Israeli strikes pummelling Iran’s security apparatus.

While the Islamic Republic looks weaker than at nearly any point since soon after the 1979 revolution, any direct challenge to its 46-year rule would likely require some form of popular uprising.

Triggering regime change is certainly one war goal for Israel, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressing Iranians to say ‘we are also clearing the path for you to achieve your freedom’.

But while Israeli strikes have targeted a security hierarchy that crushed previous bouts of protest, they have also caused great fear and disruption for ordinary people – and anger at both Iranian authorities and Israel, the activists said.

Smoke rises following an Israeli attack on the IRIB building, the country’s state broadcaster, in Tehran, Iran, June 16, 2025.

The Iranian Red Crescent ambulance targeted in the Israeli attack on June 16 in Iran’s West Azerbaijan province, in which two healthcare workers lost their lives, is being displayed in Haft-e Tir Square in Tehran, Iran on June 19, 2025

‘How are people supposed to pour into the streets? In such horrifying circumstances, people are solely focused on saving themselves, their families, their compatriots, and even their pets,’ said Atena Daemi, a prominent activist who spent six years in prison before leaving Iran.

One activist, who was jailed for five months after the 2022 protests over the death in custody of Mahsa Amini, said she believed in regime change in Iran but that it was not time to take to the streets.

She and her friends were not planning to stage or join rallies, she said, and dismissed calls from abroad for protests. ‘Israel and those so-called opposition leaders abroad only think about their own benefit,’ she said.

British Foreign Secretary David Lammy is to join with top European diplomats and Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi in Geneva on Friday to discuss Iran’s nuclear programme.

Foreign ministers from France, Germany, Britain and the EU are urging de-escalation, with David Lammy saying the next two weeks are ‘a window… to achieve a diplomatic solution’.

Lammy yesterday met with American Secretary of State Marco Rubio and U.S. Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff at the White House.

Al Jazeera, reporting from Washington, reports: ‘We’re told that Lammy came away with a genuine feeling that Trump does want to see a deal [with Iran]’.

After days of escalatory comments suggesting the U.S. could join Israel in its hitherto unilateral strikes against Iran, Donald Trump decided overnight to open a two-week negotiating window before deciding on striking Iran.

‘Based on the fact that there’s a substantial chance of negotiations that may or may not take place with Iran in the near future, I will make my decision whether or not to go within the next two weeks,’ a readout from Trump said, shared late Thursday.

Leaders will today convene in Geneva to see if there is a way back to the negotiating table, after talks in Oman were called off.

‘I’ve received several phone calls reassuring me that the Zionist regime [Israel] would not target’ Araghchi en route to Geneva, his adviser Mohammad Reza Ranjbaran said on X.

Separately, the UN Security Council is also due to convene on Friday for a second session on the conflict, at Iran’s request with support from Russia, China and Pakistan, a diplomat told AFP on Wednesday.

Foreign Secretary David Lammy leaves Downing Street, London on Wednesday, June 18

‘I am 200 per cent sure Lebanon will not enter the war,’ senior politician and parliament speaker Nabih Berri told local MTV News last night.

‘It has no interest in doing so and would pay a heavy price. Iran does not need us. It is Israel that needs support.’

Israel has been cautioning Iranian proxy group Hezbollah not to involve itself as Israel and Iran continue to exchange blows.

Late last year, Israel and Hezbollah agreed to terms that would see Hezbollah retract and more Lebanese army troops brought in to patrol the border with the U.N.

Israel has nonetheless continued strikes into Lebanon, hitting southern Beirut on the eve of Eid Al Adha earlier this month.

The military claimed it had identified a Hezbollah unit producing ‘thousands’ of drones underground, funded by ‘Iranian terrorists’.

Ali Shamkhani, a senior advisor to Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, is alive and in a stable condition, according to Iranian media, after being reported dead earlier this week.

Shamkhani was said to have been seriously wounded in an Israeli attack a week ago. Iranian state TV network IRINN reported that he succumbed to injuries and died.

But now the semi-official Tasnim news agency, based in Iran, has quoted him as having said ‘I am alive and ready to sacrifice myself’ in a message to the Ayatollah and the Iranian nation.

Shamkhani, a close aide to the Ayatollah Khamenei, was reported to have died earlier this week. Now, Iranian media says he is alive and ‘ready to sacrifice myself’.

Iranian missiles struck near a military branch in Israel’s Beersheba (Be’er Sheva) on Friday, Al Jazeera is reporting.

Strikes were said to have damaged a Microsoft office in the Gav-Tam Negev advanced technologies park.

The park borders Ben Gurion University and the C4i branch campus of the Israeli army, its telecoms branch, the Qatari outlet says, noting the strikes would have come down before typical business hours.

Seven people are reported to have been injured in the attack.

Emergency personnel work next to burnt cars and damaged residential buildings at an impact site following Iran’s missile strike on Israel, in Be’er Sheva, Israel, June 20

Israeli soldiers work next to a damaged residential building at an impact site following Iran’s missile strike on Israel, in Be’er Sheva, Israel, June 20

Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz warned Lebanon’s Hezbollah to exercise caution on Friday, saying Israel’s patience with ‘terrorists’ who threaten it had worn thin.

The head of Iran-backed Hezbollah, Naim Qassem, said on Thursday that the Lebanese group would act as it saw fit in the face of what he called ‘brutal Israeli-American aggression’ against Iran.

Hezbollah’s military leadership was vanquished late last year after Israel launched a ground invasion of Lebanon to oust the Iranian-proxy group, citing failure to uphold the terms of a long-established ceasefire agreement.

An even heavier blow to Hezbollah was the fall in December of Syria’s Bashar Assad when Sunni rebels marched on the capital and removed him from power. Now, a government hostile to Iran and Hezbollah rules from Damascus.

Supporters of Iraq’s Hezbollah Brigades attend a gathering to condemn Israel’s attack on Iran in the city of Nasiriyah, in Iraq’s southern Dhi Qar province on June 19, 2025

Israel’s military said on Friday that it had struck dozens of targets in Tehran overnight, including what it called a centre for the ‘research and development of Iran’s nuclear weapons project’.

In a statement, the army said it had ‘completed a series of strikes in the heart of Tehran’ as the crisis entered its eighth day.

‘Dozens of targets were struck, including military missile production sites and the SPND (Organisation of Defensive Innovation and Research) headquarters for research and development of Iran’s nuclear weapons project,’ it claimed.

According to the Israeli military the SPND headquarters ‘is used for research and development of advanced technologies and weapons supporting the Iranian regime’s military capabilities.’

The army said that during the night on Thursday more than 60 fighter jets struck dozens of military targets.

‘Among the targets were sites producing missile components and facilities manufacturing raw materials used in casting missile engines,’ it added.

The military also said it intercepted overnight four UAVs launched from Iran.

American use of tactical nuclear weapons in the Middle East would lead to catastrophic consequences, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told the Russian TASS news agency.

‘There have been a lot of speculations,’ Peskov caveated, responding to media reports that Washington had not yet ruled out the use nuclear weapons to attack the entrenched underground Fordow enrichment site in Iran.

‘This would be a catastrophic development,’ he said. ‘But there are so many speculations that in fact, it’s impossible to comment on them.’

Fordow remains the most heavily defended known enrichment site in Iran, buried some 80 to 90 metres underground.

Israel is believed to lack the capability to destroy the site with its current arsenal, though insiders have suggested multiple raids could weaken the site.

The American B-2 Spirit bombers, capable of carrying GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrators (MOPs), could deal heavy damage – though would require U.S. intervention.

Russia has presented itself as a possible mediating force between U.S.-backed Israel and Iran in recent days, though U.S. President Donald Trump has publicly been reluctant to accept the offer.

Good morning and welcome to MailOnline’s live coverage of the Iran-Israel conflict as it enters its eighth day.

Russia has today warned America any use of tactical nuclear weapons in Iran would be ‘catastrophic’ as it wades into the situation in the Middle East.

Russian news service Tass is reporting the Kremlin has issued a fresh plea for Trump to avoid using bunker busting bombs on Iranian nuclear facilities

It comes as Donald Trump will decide within the next two weeks on whether the U.S. will conduct a strike on Iran.

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