Iran’s Araghchi says it will be ‘very dangerous’ if US gets involved in war
Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi said it would be “very, very dangerous for everyone” if the United States becomes actively involved in the war with Israel, reports the Associated Press (AP).
He spoke to reporters in Istanbul on his way home from talks in Geneva.
Araghchi said American military involvement “would be very unfortunate”.
Key events
A senior Iranian official said on Saturday that proposals put forward by European powers at talks in Geneva about his country’s nuclear programme were “unrealistic”, suggesting that if they stuck to them it would be difficult to reach an accord, Reuters reports.
“The discussions and proposals made by the Europeans in Geneva were unrealistic. Insisting on these positions will not bring Iran and Europe closer to an agreement,” the senior official told Reuters, while speaking on condition of anonymity.
“In any case, Iran will review the European proposals in Tehran and present its responses in the next meeting,” the official said.
Summary of the day so far
It is approaching 6pm in Gaza City and Tel Aviv, and 6.30pm in Tehran. Here is a summary of the key developments so far on today’s blog:
-
Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi said it would be “very, very dangerous for everyone” if the United States becomes actively involved in the war with Israel. He spoke to reporters in Istanbul on his way home from talks in Geneva. Araghchi said American military involvement “would be very unfortunate”.
-
Israel’s military said on Saturday it had killed two top Iranian military officials in overnight strikes. An Israeli military official said on Saturday that Saeed Izadi, the head of the Palestine Corps of al-Quds, the foreign branch of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, had been killed in a strike on a flat in the city of Qom, central Iran. The official said Behnam Shahriyari, another senior official in al-Quds responsible for helping finance the Lebanese militia Hezbollah, had also been killed in a strike.
-
Iran launched a salvo of missiles at Israel in the early hours of Saturday morning. A building in central Israel caught fire after being hit by the shrapnel of an intercepted Iranian missile. Later on Saturday, a drone strike hit a residential building in north Israel, damaging the building. No casualties were reported from the missile barrage or the drone strike.
-
Several “powerful explosions” were heard on Saturday afternoon in south-western Iran’s Ahvaz, the daily Shargh reported. The Israeli military had previously announced it was striking “military infrastructure” in the south-west.
-
Four members of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps were killed in an Israeli attack on a training centre in north-west Iran, the ISNA news agency reported. Earlier on Saturday, Iranian media reported that five Iranian Revolutionary Guards were killed in Israeli strikes in the city of Khorramabad.
-
Turkey’s president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan told Iran’s foreign minister Abbas Araghchi that a resumption of negotiations is the only solution to the nuclear dispute. According to the Turkish presidency, Erdoğan also told Araghchi that Turkey is ready to be a facilitator and that direct talks are needed between US and Iranian officials as soon as possible to pave the way for diplomacy.
-
Erdoğan also said on Saturday that Israel’s attacks on Iran right before a new round of nuclear talks with the US aimed to sabotage the negotiations, and it showed Israel did not want to resolve issues through diplomacy. Speaking at a foreign ministers’ meeting of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation in Istanbul, Erdoğan urged countries with influence over Israel not to listen to its “poison” and to seek a solution to the fighting via dialogue without allowing a wider conflict.
-
French president Emmanuel Macron said on Saturday that he had received a call from his Iranian counterpart Masoud Pezeshkian and that they had agreed to accelerate negotiations between European powers and Iran over its contested nuclear programme. The French president said he expressed his “deep concern” to Pezeshkian about the country’s nuclear programme.
-
However, the discussions and proposals made by the European powers to Iran over its nuclear programme in Geneva were unrealistic and insisting on them will not bring both sides closer to an agreement, a senior Iranian official told Reuters.“In any case, Iran will review the European proposals in Tehran and present its responses in the next meeting,” the official said. He added that zero enrichment was a dead end and that Iran would not negotiate over its defensive capabilities, including its missile programme.
-
Turkish foreign minister Hakan Fidan told his counterparts from Muslim countries that Israel was dragging the region into “total disaster” with its attacks on Iran. Speaking at a foreign ministers’ meeting of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation in Istanbul, Fidan called on Muslim countries to stand with Iran against Israel, and said the region had an “Israel problem” after its assault on Gaza and attacks on Lebanon, Syria, Yemen and Iran.
-
In Iran, at least 430 people have been killed and 3,500 injured by Israeli strikes since fighting began, state media said. At least 25 people have been killed and hundreds injured by Iranian strikes in Israel.
-
Israel deployed 50 aircraft over Iran overnight, hitting the Isfahan nuclear site for the second time. Israel’s foreign minister, Gideon Saar, said in an interview on Saturday that its attacks had delayed Iran from obtaining a nuclear bomb for at least “two or three years”, and that the Israeli military campaign would continue.
-
The UN nuclear agency confirmed on Saturday that a centrifuge manufacturing workshop at Iran’s Isfahan nuclear site had been hit. “There was no nuclear material at this site and therefore the attack on it will have no radiological consequences,” the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said in a statement quoting its chief Rafael Grossi.
-
The UNHCR said on Saturday that the intensity of the attacks is already triggering population movements in Israel and Iran. “This region has already endured more than its share of war, loss, and displacement – we cannot allow another refugee crisis to take root,” the UN high commissioner for refugees, Filippo Grandi, said.
-
Vladimir Putin has said he is willing to mediate between Israel and Iran, the latter of which is a close ally of the Kremlin. In an interview with Sky News Arabia on Saturday, the Russian president said Moscow was opposed to the proliferation of nuclear weapons but there was no evidence that Iran aimed to build any.
-
Gulf Cooperation Council ambassadors have expressed concerns to UN nuclear watchdog chief Rafael Grossi about the safety of nuclear facilities close to their countries amid the Israeli-Iranian crisis, Qatar state news agency reported on Saturday. Reuters reported that the ambassadors warned Grossi during a meeting in Vienna about the “dangerous repercussions” of targeting nuclear facilities.
-
Police in Iran’s Qom province said on Saturday that 22 people “linked to Israeli spy services” had been arrested since 13 June, Fars news agency reported. “Twenty two people were identified and arrested on charges of being linked to the Zionist regime’s spy services, disturbing public opinion and supporting the criminal regime,” the agency said, citing the head of police intelligence in Iran’s Qom province.
-
Israel’s military said its navy hit a Hezbollah “infrastructure site” near the southern Lebanese city of Naqoura, a day after Israel’s foreign minister warned the Lebanese armed group against entering the Iran-Israel war. The military claimed the site was used by Hezbollah’s Radwan Force “to advance terror attacks against Israeli civilians”.
-
Germany has temporarily relocated the staff of its embassy in Tehran abroad due to the current threat situation, a foreign ministry official said on Saturday. The embassy remains operational and can be contacted via phone by Germans who are still in Iran, the official said.
-
A senior United Arab Emirates (UAE) official has urged a quick end to the Iran-Israel conflict, warning of a “difficult aftermath” if the conflict is prolonged. Anwar Gargash, diplomatic adviser to the UAE’s president Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, said the war was “setting back” the wealthy Gulf region.
-
Internet-access advocacy group NetBlocks.org reported on Saturday that the limited internet access that had come back in Iran has once again “collapsed”. The group said on X that the disconnect came after “a brief period when residents could exchange messages with the outside world”.
-
Thousands of protesters marched towards Whitehall from Russell Square in central London on Saturday. Protesters waved Palestinian flags and chanted “free, free Palestine”, “occupation no more, Israel is a terrorist state” and “stop bombing Iran”. Many chanted “shame on you” as they walked past dozens of counter-protesters, organised by pro-Israeli group Stop The Hate, near Waterloo Bridge.
-
The United Nations high commissioner for refugees, Filippo Grandi, has urged more international support for Syria to speed up reconstruction and enable further refugee returns after 14 years of civil war.
-
Syria’s security forces have detained Wassim al-Assad, a cousin of toppled leader Bashar al-Assad, state news agency Sana said on Saturday. Wassim al-Assad was sanctioned by the US in 2023 for leading a paramilitary force backing Assad’s army and for trafficking drugs including the amphetamine-like drug captagon.
-
The International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (Ican) has described the escalating conflict between Israel and Iran as a “terrifying reminder of how close the world remains to nuclear disaster”, arguing Australia should condemn illegal military attacks and ratify the global treaty banning nuclear weapons. Israeli strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities violate international law, Ican has alleged, and could cause radioactive contamination with long-term consequences for human health and the environment.
The UN nuclear agency confirmed on Saturday that a centrifuge manufacturing workshop at Iran’s Isfahan nuclear site had been hit, in the latest strike amid Israel’s bombing campaign, reports Agence France-Presse (AFP).
“A centrifuge manufacturing workshop has been hit in Esfahan, the third such facility that has been targeted in Israel’s attacks on Iran’s nuclear-related sites over the past week,” the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said in a statement quoting its chief Rafael Grossi.
“We know this facility well. There was no nuclear material at this site and therefore the attack on it will have no radiological consequences,” Grossi was quoted as saying.
Turkey’s president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan told Iran’s foreign minister Abbas Araghchi that a resumption of negotiations is the only solution to the nuclear dispute, reports Reuters, citing the Turkish presidency.
Erdoğan also told Araghchi that Turkey is ready to be a facilitator and that direct talks are needed between US and Iranian officials as soon as possible to pave the way for diplomacy.
The discussions and proposals made by the European powers to Iran over its nuclear programme in Geneva were unrealistic and insisting on them will not bring both sides closer to an agreement, a senior Iranian official told Reuters.
“In any case, Iran will review the European proposals in Tehran and present its responses in the next meeting,” the official said.
He added that zero enrichment was a dead end and that Iran would not negotiate over its defensive capabilities, including its missile programme.
Germany has temporarily relocated the staff of its embassy in Tehran abroad due to the current threat situation, a foreign ministry official said on Saturday, according to Reuters.
The embassy remains operational and can be contacted via phone by Germans who are still in Iran, the official said, adding it would continue to advise on possible options for leaving the country by land.
Thousands of protesters are marching towards Whitehall from Russell Square in central London.
Protesters waved Palestinian flags and chanted “free, free Palestine”, “occupation no more, Israel is a terrorist state” and “stop bombing Iran”, reports the PA news agency.
Many chanted “shame on you” as they walked past dozens of counter-protesters, organised by pro-Israeli group Stop The Hate, near Waterloo Bridge.
Internet-access advocacy group NetBlocks.org reported on Saturday that the limited internet access that had come back in Iran (see 12.03pm BST) has once again “collapsed”, reports the Associated Press (AP).
The group said on X that the disconnect came after “a brief period when residents could exchange messages with the outside world”.
A nationwide internet shutdown has been in place for several days, isolating Iranians, reports the AP.
Iran cited concerns about Israeli cyber-attacks for the shutdown of mobile and web services. But many Iranians and activists see it as another example of state information control and targeted internet shutdowns the Islamic Republic has deployed during periods of protests and unrest.
Several “powerful explosions” were heard Saturday afternoon in south-western Iran’s Ahvaz, the daily Shargh reported.
Ahvaz is the capital of Khuzestan province, which is situated on the Iraqi border and is Iran’s main oil-producing region. The Israeli military had previously announced it was striking “military infrastructure” in the south-west (see 1.39pm BST).
Israel’s military said on Saturday it was conducting strikes on “military infrastructure” in Iran’s south-west, on the ninth day of the war sparked by Israel’s attack on the Islamic republic.
“Fighter jets are currently striking military infrastructure in south-western Iran,” the military said in a statement, according to Agence France-Presse (AFP).
Citing local media, AFP also reported on Saturday that several “powerful” blasts had been heard in south-west Iran.