Araghchi begins speech in GenevaIran’s foreign minister has told the UN Human Rights Council that Israel’s attacks on nuclear facilities in Iran are “grave war crimes”.
Iran defending itself against ‘barbaric’ aggression: Foreign ministerIran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has just spoken at the United Nations in Geneva. Here is a summary of what he said:
Israel has launched an unprovoked aggression on Iran, in a stark violation of Article 2, paragraph four of the UN Charter.
This is an unjust war imposed on my people since early hours of Friday, June 13, when Israel perpetrated a mix of unlawful and criminal operations against off-duty military personnel, university professors and ordinary people.
My fellow Iranians have been killed and injured following Israel’s surprise armed attacks …operations on residential areas, public infrastructures, hospitals, health centres … the foreign ministry … nuclear facilities have also been targeted.
Israel’s attacks on nuclear facilities are grave war crimes, given also the danger of an environmental and health catastrophe as a result of radiological leakage.
More from AraghchiHere are some more lines from the speech of the Iranian foreign minister in Geneva:
We were attacked in the midst of an ongoing diplomatic process.
We were supposed to meet with Americans on June 15 to craft a very promising agreement for a peaceful resolution of the issues fabricated over our peaceful nuclear program.
It was a betrayal of diplomacy and an unprecedented blow to the foundation of international law and the UN system.
We need action now. Otherwise, the whole UN-based international law system would corrode badly.
This is a call from someone who has allocated his whole life to dialogue and diplomacy, but who is also a veteran of an imposed war by the [former president of Iraq] Saddam [Hussein’s] regime and knows how to defend his beloved motherland.
Israeli military ‘named and shamed’ for second year on UN report into child violationsGabriel ElizondoReporting from UN Headquarters, New York City, USThis is the 24th year that the United Nations has released this report on grave violations against children.
The report, released annually, looks at the number of children globally who have been killed, maimed or recruited into armed conflict, among other things. The report only documents cases that the UN has been able to independently verify.
Now, despite ample evidence that Israel should have been included on this list for many years, it wasn’t – as the UN bowed to Israeli pressure not to be named in the report.
But that all changed last year when Israel was included for the first time. And now this year, marking two years in a row that Israel is named and shamed.
In the annexe of the report looking at 2024, it says Israeli forces remained on the list because they fulfilled the criteria of a “party that kills and maims children” and “a party that engages in attacks on schools and/or hospitals”.
Globally, the UN was able to verify 41,370 grave violations against children in 2024.
Roughly 20 percent of the total – more than 8,000 – were committed by Israel in the occupied Palestinian territory.
Israeli forces turn Palestinian buildings in West Bank into military barracksThe Israeli military has stormed the occupied West Bank towns of Arura and Abwein, as well as the Nubani farms in Ramallah, the Palestinian Information Center reports.
Israeli forces have carried out an arrest campaign in the towns, while they’ve also raided Palestinian buildings, evicted the owners, and turned them into military barracks, according to the news outlet.
More than 8,000 Israelis left homeless due to conflict with Iran: ReportIran’s retaliatory attacks have resulted in the displacement of more than 8,000 Israelis, Yedioth Ahronoth reported, citing the Israeli Property Tax Compensation Fund.
Some 30,000 requests have been made for compensation for damage to buildings or vehicles, the daily reported.
Israeli attack hits car in south LebanonAn Israeli drone targeted a car in the town of al-Abbassieh in the Tyre district in southern Lebanon, the country’s state-run National News Agency reports.
One person was killed in the attack, NNA said.
Israel continues its frequent attacks on what it says are Hezbollah targets in the country, including in the capital, Beirut, despite a ceasefire being in effect since November of last year.
The below video, verified by Al Jazeera’s fact-checking unit, shows a targeted car on fire:
https://twitter.com/YasserAli/status/1935965962865422486Thousands march in Tehran against Israeli attacks, US threatsHundreds of thousands of people protested against Israel in Iran’s capital of Tehran after weekly prayers, chanting slogans in support of their leaders, according to images on state television.
Some also chanted against the threats of US intervention in their country.
“This is the Friday of the Iranian nation’s solidarity and resistance across the country,” the news anchor said.
Footage showed protesters in Tehran holding up photographs of commanders killed since Israel’s attack on June 13, while others waved the flags of Iran, Palestine and Hezbollah.
“I will sacrifice my life for my leader,” read a protester’s banner, a reference to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
According to state television, protests also took place in Tabriz in northwestern Iran and Shiraz in the south.
UK working with Israel to arrange charter flights out of Tel AvivThe UK government is working with Israeli authorities to arrange charter flights for British nationals from Tel Aviv when the airport reopens, Foreign Secretary David Lammy says.
Air defences active in southern Iran: ReportAir defence systems have been activated in Bushehr in southern Iran, according to the Young Journalists Club, run by state broadcaster Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting.
Meanwhile, the Israeli military says it has struck military infrastructure in southwestern Iran.
US issues new Iran-related sanctionsThe US Treasury has published a list of sanctions to be placed on specifically designated individuals.
Several individuals listed are affiliated directly with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, according to the Treasury’s website.
Israel has shown ‘blatant disregard’ for efforts to seek a diplomatic solution: Russia’s UN ambassadorHere is a translation of some of the Russian UN Ambassador Vasily Nebenzya’s statements at the Security Council.
Iranian peaceful civilian nuclear facilities continue to be targeted, and this is liable to plunge us into a hitherto unseen nuclear catastrophe.The UN Security Council…must provide an objective assessment of the situation and devise an appropriate solution.It is Israel which attacked Iran on the eve of the latest planned round of indirect talks between Washington and Tehran.West Jerusalem not only demonstrated blatant disregard for the efforts that have been undertaken to seek a diplomatic solution to issues around the Iranian nuclear program but also demonstrated contempt for its key ally, the United States, which, up until recently, had been declaring an intent to reach a compromise solution.The nuclear facilities and installations in this country are under the safeguards of the IAEA and are subject to continuous and rigorous verification.Israel has disregarded the assessments of the specialist international agency, having, on its authority, single-handedly, decided to carry out strikes against a sovereign country with no regard for the UN Charter.‘Our offensive missile power is growing’: IRGCThe Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) says it has fired its 17th wave of missiles at Israeli military facilities, including the Nevatim and Hatzerim bases.
It said in at a statement that the “precise hits on Tel Aviv, Haifa, and Beersheba demonstrate that our offensive missile power is growing”.
Iran ready for diplomacy ‘once aggression is stopped’: AraghchiIranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has been speaking to reporters in Geneva. Here’s what he had to say:
“Iran’s nuclear programme is peaceful and has always been under the IAEA safeguards and monitoring. Hence, armed attacks against safeguarded nuclear facilities by a regime which is not a party to any WMD treaties is a serious crime and violation of international law.”
He said he expressed “grave concern” of the failure of the E3 countries – Germany, UK and France – and the European Union to condemn those attacks.
“Iran is ready to consider diplomacy once again – once the aggression is stopped and the aggressor is held accountable for the crimes committed,” Araghchi said.
“In this regard, I made it crystal clear that Iran’s defence capabilities are not negotiable.”
He added, “We support the continuation of discussion with the E3 and EU, and expressed our readiness to meet again in the near future.”
At least 82 Palestinians killed in Israeli attacks across Gaza todayIsraeli strikes have been ongoing across the Gaza Strip. Here is a quick breakdown of some of those killed:
37 Palestinians killed in central Gaza, of whom 23 were aid seekers.
23 Palestinians killed in Gaza City,
22 Palestinians killed in the south of the Gaza Strip, 11 of them were aid seekers.
Israeli army says it completed wave of attacks on western IranThe military says 15 fighter jets and more than 30 weapons were used in the wave of strikes.
It said the attacks targeted “missile launch sites”, without providing additional details.
As we’ve been reporting, Israel’s attacks on Iran have killed hundreds of civilians over the past week across the country.
IAEA reports contamination at Iran’s Natanz nuclear facilityThe International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has reported an acute danger from radiation and chemical substances at the Natanz nuclear facility in Iran, which has come under Israeli attacks.
While radiation levels outside the building complex are normal, “within the Natanz facility, that is both radiological and chemical contamination” and it is possible that uranium isotopes are scattered throughout the facility, IAEA chief Rafael Grossi told the UN Security Council in New York.
“The radiation primarily consists of alpha particles, [which pose] a significant danger if inhaled or digested. This risk can be effectively managed with appropriate protective measures,” Grossi explained.
The main concern inside the facility is chemical toxicity, he added.
UN says 13-year-old boy hurt in attack on Gaza aid point has diedAbed al-Rahman had appeared in an earlier UNICEF video from his hospital bed after he was seriously injured when Israeli forces opened fire on Palestinian aid seekers in the Gaza Strip.
“Earlier this week, we were devastated to learn” that the 13-year-old had died of his injuries, the UN agency said in a post on X.
“Dehydration. Hunger. Indiscriminate attacks. Gaza’s children face the unthinkable every single day.”
Khamenei says Iran protests show ‘nation’s courage’Iran’s supreme leader has been in hiding since Israel launched a surprise attack on Iran last week, but his social media account has remained active.
In a post on X, he has hailed today’s protests in Iran, saying they “demonstrated the strength of their rationality and spirituality, along with our dear nation’s courage”.
Israeli officials have repeatedly signalled they are seeking to overthrow Iran’s leadership in their military campaign, with defence minister Israel Katz saying yesterday that Khamenei “cannot continue to exist”.
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2025/6/20/live-iran-israel-continue-missile-fire-irans-fm-to-meet-eu-counterparts