Israel, Iran trade strikes for third day as nuclear talks called off

PTI,  DUBAI, JUNE 15, 2025 :  Israel unleashed airstrikes across Iran for a third day Sunday and threatened even greater force as some Iranian missiles evaded Israeli air defences to strike buildings in the heart of the country.

Planned talks on Iran's nuclear programme, which could provide an off-ramp, were cancelled. The region braced for a protracted conflict after Israel's surprise bombardment Friday of Iranian nuclear and military sites killed several top generals and nuclear scientists. Neither side showed any sign of backing down.

Iran said Israel struck two oil refineries, raising the prospect of a broader assault on Iran's heavily sanctioned energy industry that could affect global markets.

The Israeli military, in a social media post, warned Iranians to evacuate arms factories, signalling a further widening of the campaign. Israel, the sole though undeclared nuclear-armed state in the Middle East, said it launched the attack to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapon. The two countries have been adversaries for decades.

Explosions shook Iran's capital, Tehran, around noon and again around 3:30 PM. Semi-official news agencies close to Iran's Revolutionary Guard reported one strike in the area of Vali-e Asr Square downtown and another in a neighbourhood named for the air force, which is headquartered there. Sirens went off across much of Israel again around 4 PM, warning of what would be Iran's first daytime assault since the fighting began.

Death toll mounts in Israel

In Israel, at least six people, including a 10-year-old and a 9-year-old, were killed when a missile hit an apartment building in Bat Yam, near Tel Aviv. Daniel Hadad, a local police commander, said 180 people were wounded and seven were missing. An Associated Press reporter saw streets lined with damaged or destroyed buildings, bombed-out cars, and shards of glass. Some people could be seen leaving with suitcases.

Another four people, including a 13-year-old, were killed and 24 wounded when a missile struck a building in the Arab town of Tamra in northern Israel. A strike on the central city of Rehovot wounded 42.

The Weizmann Institute of Science, an important centre for research in Rehovot, reported "a number of hits to buildings on the campus." It said no one was harmed. An oil refinery was damaged in the northern Israeli city of Haifa, according to the firm operating it, which said no one was wounded.

Urgent calls to deescalate

World leaders made urgent calls to deescalate. The attack on nuclear sites set a “dangerous precedent,” China’s foreign minister said on Saturday. The region is already on edge as Israel seeks to annihilate Hamas, an Iranian ally, in the Gaza Strip, where war still rages after Hamas’ October 7, 2023, attack.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has brushed off such calls, saying Israel’s strikes so far are “nothing compared to what they will feel under the sway of our forces in the coming days.”