Israel and Iran’s air war entered a second week on Friday, and European officials sought to draw Tehran back to the negotiating table after US [resident Donald Trump said any decision on potential US involvement would be made within two weeks.
Israel began attacking Iran last Friday, stating its aim was to prevent its longtime enemy from developing nuclear weapons. Iran retaliated with missile and drone strikes on Israel, maintaining that its nuclear programme is peaceful.
Israeli air attacks have reportedly killed 639 people in Iran, according to the Human Rights Activists News Agency. This includes high-ranking military officials and nuclear scientists. Israel claims that Iranian missile attacks have killed at least two dozen Israeli civilians. Reuters has been unable to independently verify the death toll from either side.
Reports suggest that Israel has targeted nuclear sites, missile capabilities, and aims to destabilize the government of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, according to Western and regional officials.
“Are we targeting the downfall of the regime? That may be a result, but it’s up to the Iranian people to rise for their freedom,” Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday.
Iran has stated that it is targeting military and defence-related sites in Israel, but has also been accused of hitting a hospital and other civilian areas.
On Thursday, Israel accused Iran of deliberately targeting civilians through the use of cluster munitions, which disperse small bombs over a wide area. Iran’s mission to the United Nations did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
With neither country willing to back down, the foreign ministers of Britain, France and Germany, along with the European Union foreign policy chief, were scheduled to meet with Iran’s foreign minister in Geneva on Friday to attempt to de-escalate the conflict.
“Now is the time to put a stop to the grave scenes in the Middle East and prevent a regional escalation that would benefit no one,” said British foreign minister David Lammy ahead of their joint meeting with Abbas Araqchi, Iran’s foreign minister.
US secretary of state Marco Rubio also met Lammy on Thursday and held separate calls with his counterparts from Australia, France and Italy to discuss the conflict.
The US state department reported that Rubio and the foreign ministers agreed that “Iran can never develop or acquire a nuclear weapon.”
Lammy echoed this sentiment on X, adding that the situation in the Middle East “remained perilous” and that a “window now exists within the next two weeks to achieve a diplomatic solution.”
Russian president Vladimir Putin and Chinese president Xi Jinping both condemned Israel and agreed that de-escalation is necessary, according to the Kremlin.
The role of the United States remains uncertain. Trump’s special envoy to the region, Steve Witkoff, has reportedly spoken with Araqchi several times since last week.
The White House said Trump will participate in a national security meeting on Friday morning. The president has vacillated between threatening Tehran and urging it to resume nuclear talks that were suspended due to the conflict.
At dawn on Friday, the Israeli military issued a fresh warning of an incoming barrage of missiles from Iran. At least one directly impacted Beersheba, Israel’s largest southern city, which has been a target in recent days.
The missile struck near residential apartments, office buildings, and industrial facilities, leaving a large crater and tearing off the facade of at least one apartment complex, while damaging several others.
“We have a direct strike next to one of the buildings. The damage here is quite (extensive),” paramedic Shafir Botner said.
Israeli public broadcaster Kan aired footage showing cars engulfed in flames, thick plumes of smoke and shattered windows at apartment buildings.
At least six people sustained light injuries in the blast, according to Botner, who added that first responders were still searching apartments for casualties.
On Thursday, Iran reportedly hit a major hospital in Beersheba, Israel’s largest city in the south. Iran claims it was targeting Israeli military headquarters near the hospital, but Israel denies the existence of any such facilities in the area.
Israel’s military also stated that it had carried out several overnight strikes in the heart of the Iranian capital, targeting missile production sites and a facility for nuclear weapons research and development.
Trump has considered striking Iran, possibly using a “bunker buster” bomb designed to destroy nuclear sites built deep underground. The White House said Trump would decide in the next two weeks whether to get involved in the war.
However, this timeframe may not be definitive. Trump has often used “two weeks” as a timeframe for decision-making, and has allowed other economic and diplomatic deadlines to be extended.
With the Islamic Republic facing one of its greatest external threats since the 1979 revolution, any direct challenge to its 46-year rule would likely depend on some form of popular uprising.
But activists involved in previous protests say they are hesitant to incite mass unrest, even against a system they oppose, while their nation is under attack.
“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.
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