Sadhvi Pragya, Ramesh Bidhuri, Parvesh Sahib, Meenakshi Lekhi among 33 candidates dropped by BJP in first list

Israel attacked Iran’s capital early Friday, June 13, in strikes that targeted the country’s nuclear program and raised the potential for an all-out war between the two bitter Middle East adversaries. It appeared to be the most significant attack Iran has faced since its 1980s war with Iraq.

Multiple sites around the country were hit, and black smoke was seen rising from the nation’s main nuclear enrichment facility.

The leader of Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard was confirmed dead, Iranian state television reported, a development that would be a body blow to Tehran’s governing theocracy and an immediate escalation of the nations’ long-simmering conflict. 

The report offered few details about what happened to Gen. Hossein Salami but said that another top Guard official, as well as two nuclear scientists, were also feared dead.

The strikes, which came amid simmering tensions over Iran’s rapidly advancing nuclear program, appeared certain to lead to a reprisal that Israel warned could target its own civilian population. In Washington, the Trump administration, which had cautioned Israel against an attack during continued negotiations over Iran’s nuclear enrichment program, said that it had not been involved and warned against any retaliation targeting US interests or personnel.

Israeli leaders cast the preemptive assault as a fight for the nation’s survival and necessary to head off what they described as an imminent threat that Iran would build nuclear bombs, though it remains unclear how close the country is to achieving that or whether it had actually had been planning a strike.

“It could be a year. It could be within a few months,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said as he vowed to pursue the attack for as long as necessary to “remove this threat.”

“This is a clear and present danger to Israel’s very survival,” he said.

For Netanyahu, the operation distracts attention from Israel’s ongoing and increasingly unpopular war in Gaza, which is now over 20 months old. There is a broad consensus in the Israeli public that Iran is a major threat, and Israel’s opposition leader, Yair Lapid, a staunch critic of Netanyahu, offered his “full support” for the mission against Iran. But if Iranian reprisals cause heavy Israeli casualties or major disruptions to daily life, Netanyahu could see public opinion quickly shift.

Multiple sites in the Iranian capital were hit in the attack, which Netanyahu said targeted both nuclear and military sites. Also targeted were officials leading Iran’s nuclear program and its ballistic missile arsenal. It wasn’t clear how bad the damage was at Iran’s main nuclear enrichment facility at Natanz.

The strike on Iran pushed the Israeli military to its limits, requiring the use of aging air-to-air refuelers to get its fighter jets close enough to attack. It wasn’t immediately clear if Israeli jets entered Iranian airspace or just fired so-called “standoff missiles” over another country. People in Iraq heard fighter jets overhead at the time of the attack. Israel previously attacked Iran from over the border in Iraq.

The potential for an attack had been apparent for weeks. President Donald Trump on Thursday said that he did not believe an attack was imminent but also acknowledged that it “could very well happen.” As tensions rose, the US pulled some diplomats from Iraq’s capital and offered voluntary evacuations for the families of US troops in the wider Middle East.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Israel took “unilateral action against Iran” and that Israel advised the US that it believed the strikes were necessary for its self-defense.

“We are not involved in strikes against Iran, and our top priority is protecting American forces in the region,” Rubio said in a statement released by the White House.

Trump is scheduled to attend a meeting of his National Security Council on Friday in the White House Situation Room, were he is expected to discuss the conflict with top advisers. It is not clear if he plans to make a public remarks on the strikes in Iran.

Israel has long been determined to thwart Iran’s nuclear potential.

Meanwhile, the Board of Governors at the International Atomic Energy Agency for the first time in 20 years on Thursday censured Iran over its refusal to work with its inspectors. Iran immediately announced it would establish a third enrichment site in the country and swap out some centrifuges for more-advanced ones.

Even so, there are multiple assessments on how many nuclear weapons it could conceivably build, should it choose to do so. Iran would need months to assemble, test and field any weapon, which it so far has said it has no desire to do. US intelligence agencies also assess Iran does not have a weapons program at this time.

In a sign of the far-reaching implications of the emerging conflict, Israel’s main airport was closed and benchmark Brent crude spiked on news of the attack, rising nearly 8 percent. Both Iran and Israel closed their airspace.

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz warned that in the aftermath of the strikes, “missile and drone attacks against Israel and its civilian population are expected immediately.”

“It is essential to listen to instructions from the home front command and authorities to stay in protected areas,” he said in a statement.

As the explosions in Tehran started, Trump was on the lawn of the White House mingling with members of Congress. It was unclear if he had been informed, but the president continued shaking hands and posing for pictures for several minutes.

Trump earlier said he urged Netanyahu to hold off on any action while the administration negotiated with Iran.

“As long as I think there is a (chance for an) agreement, I don’t want them going in because I think it would blow it,” Trump told reporters.

Mangaluru, June 10: Eighteen crew members rescued from the blaze-hit Singapore-flagged container vessel MV Wan Hai 503 were safely brought ashore at the Indian Coast Guard berth of the New Mangalore Port Authority (NMPA) late Monday night. 

However, four of the crew members continue to remain missing. The rescue, carried out by Indian Naval Ship INS Surat, came in the wake of a massive fire triggered by a container explosion onboard the ship while it was navigating the Arabian Sea, approximately 78 nautical miles off the Beypore coast in Kerala.

Key developments:

•    The MV Wan Hai 503, a 270-metre-long container vessel, departed Colombo on June 7 and was en route to Mumbai when the incident occurred. An explosion in one of the containers reportedly caused a fire, resulting in 20 containers falling into the sea. 

•    Some of these containers are believed to be carrying dangerous cargo, including flammable and toxic materials, raising environmental and safety concerns.

•    The fire-struck vessel is currently being monitored closely amid efforts to control the blaze and prevent further environmental damage. Authorities confirmed that specialised response teams are en route to manage the hazardous materials on board.

•    Of the 18 rescued, two crew members are reported to be in critical condition, four suffered minor injuries, and a dozen others are being treated for psychological trauma. The injured were taken to AJ Hospital in Kuntikana, Mangaluru. 

•    The missing crew members include nationals from Taiwan, Indonesia, and Myanmar. There were no Indian nationals among the crew. 

•    The search and rescue operations are ongoing, involving Indian Navy and Coast Guard ships, as well as aircraft from Kochi and Mangaluru.

•    According to officials, the critically wounded were stabilized onboard the naval vessel before being transferred under close medical supervision upon arrival. “The critically injured were stabilised onboard INS Surat, and shifted on arrival under close medical supervision. Immediate evacuation was our priority,” a Coast Guard official told reporters, as per a report on PTI.

Port workers at Panambur described the emotional scenes as injured sailors—many visibly shaken—disembarked, some whispering prayers and others frantically asking for news about missing shipmates.

Israel and Iran launched fresh attacks on each other overnight into Sunday, June 15, stoking fears of a wider conflict after Israel expanded its bestial aggression against its main rival with a strike on the world’s biggest gas field.

Tehran called off nuclear talks that Washington had said were the only way to halt Israel’s bombing, while Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the attacks were nothing compared with what Iran would see in the coming days.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said the discussions in Oman could not take place while Iran was being subjected to Israel’s “barbarous” attacks.

The latest wave of Iranian attacks began shortly after 11:00 p.m. on Saturday (2000 GMT), when air raid sirens blared in Jerusalem and Haifa, sending around a million people into bomb shelters.

Around 2:30 a.m. local time (2330 GMT Saturday), the Israeli military warned of another incoming missile barrage and urged residents to seek shelter.

Explosions echoed through Tel Aviv and Jerusalem as missiles streaked across the skies as interceptor rockets were launched in response. The military lifted its shelter-in-place advisory nearly an hour after issuing the warning.

The ambulance service said at least seven people were killed overnight, including a 10-year-old boy and a woman in her 20s, and more than 140 injured in multiple attacks.

Search and rescue worked combed through the rubble of residential buildings destroyed in multiple strikes, using flashlights and dogs to look for survivors.

Israeli media said at least 35 people were missing after a strike hit Bat Yam, a city south of Tel Aviv. A spokesperson for the emergency services said a missile hit an 8-story building there and while many people were rescued, there were fatalities.

It was unclear how many buildings were hit overnight.

So far, at least nine people in Israel have been killed and over 300 others injured since Iran launched its retaliatory attacks on Friday.

Iran has said 78 people were killed there on the first day of Israel’s campaign, and scores more on the second, including 60 when a missile brought down a 14-story apartment block in Tehran, where 29 of the dead were children.

The Shahran oil depot in Tehran was targeted in an Israeli attack, Iran said, but added the situation was under control. A fire had erupted after an Israeli attack on an oil refinery near the capital while Israeli strikes also targeted Iran’s defense ministry building, causing minor damage, the semi-official Tasnim news agency said on Sunday.

US President Donald Trump had warned Iran of worse to come, but said it was not too late to halt the Israeli campaign if Tehran accepted a sharp downgrading of its nuclear program.

Israeli military issues evacuation warning to Iranians

Israel on Sunday issued an evacuation warning to Iranians residing near weapons facilities in Iran, an Israeli military spokesperson said in a post on X in Arabic and Farsi.

The spokesperson said the evacuation warning includes all weapons factories and supporting facilities.

US forces supported Israel in attacks

Araghchi said Sunday Tehran had evidence to show US forces supported the intense bombardment campaign Israel launched against the Islamic republic this week.

“We have solid proof of the support of the American forces and American bases in the region for the attacks of the Zionist regime military forces,” Araghchi told foreign diplomats in a meeting broadcast on state TV.

Araghchi also slammed the United Nations Security Council, accusing it of “indifference” over Israel’s deadly attacks on the Islamic republic.

Gas field attack

In the first apparent attack to hit Iran’s energy infrastructure, Tasnim news agency said Iran partially suspended production at South Pars, the world’s biggest gas field, after an Israeli strike caused a fire there on Saturday.

The South Pars field, offshore in Iran’s southern Bushehr province, is the source of most of the gas produced in Iran.

Fears about potential disruption to the region’s oil exports had already driven up oil prices 9 percent on Friday even though Israel spared Iran’s oil and gas on the first day of its attacks.

An Iranian general, Esmail Kosari, said on Saturday that Tehran was reviewing whether to close the Strait of Hormuz controlling access to the Gulf for tankers.

With Israel saying its operation could last weeks, and Netanyahu urging Iran’s people to rise up against their Islamic clerical rulers, fears have grown of a regional conflagration dragging in outside powers.

B’Tselem, a leading Israeli human rights organization, said on Saturday that instead of exhausting all possibilities for a diplomatic resolution, Israel’s government had chosen to start a war that puts the entire region in danger.

Tehran has warned Israel’s allies that their military bases in the region would come under fire too if they helped shoot down Iranian missiles.

However, 20 months of war in Gaza and a conflict in Lebanon last year have decimated Tehran’s strongest regional proxies, Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon, reducing its options for retaliation.

Israel sees Iran’s nuclear program as a threat to its existence, and said the bombardment was designed to avert the last steps to production of a nuclear weapon.

Tehran insists the program is entirely civilian and that it does not seek an atomic bomb. The UN nuclear watchdog, however, reported Iran this week as violating obligations under the global non-proliferation treaty.

Iran says scores killed

Iran said 78 people were killed on the first day of Israel’s campaign, and scores more on the second, including 60 when a missile brought down a 14-story apartment block in Tehran, where 29 of the dead were children.

Iran had launched its own retaliatory missile volley on Friday night, killing at least three people in Israel.

With Israel saying its operation could last weeks, and Netanyahu urging Iran’s people to rise up against their Islamic clerical rulers, fears have grown of a regional conflagration dragging in outside powers.

B’Tselem, a leading Israeli human rights organization, said on Saturday that instead of exhausting all possibilities for a diplomatic resolution, Israel’s government had chosen to start a war that puts the entire region in danger.

Tehran has warned Israel’s allies that their military bases in the region would come under fire too if they helped shoot down Iranian missiles.

However, 20 months of war in Gaza and a conflict in Lebanon last year have decimated Tehran’s strongest regional proxies, Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon, reducing its options for retaliation.

Israel sees Iran’s nuclear program as a threat to its existence, and said the bombardment was designed to avert the last steps to production of a nuclear weapon.

Tehran insists the program is entirely civilian and that it does not seek an atomic bomb. However the UN nuclear watchdog reported it this week as violating obligations under the global non-proliferation treaty.

‘We will hit every site’

Israel said three people were killed and 76 wounded by Iran’s retaliatory drone and missile barrage overnight, which lit up the skies over Jerusalem and Tel Aviv.

Netanyahu vowed to keep up Israel’s campaign.

“We will hit every site, every target of the ayatollah regime,” he said in a video statement, threatening greater action “in the coming days.”

He added that the Israeli campaign had dealt a “real blow” to Iran’s nuclear program and maintained it had the “clear support” of US President Donald Trump.

Netanyahu’s defense minister, Israel Katz, warned “Tehran will burn” if it kept targeting Israeli civilians.

Israel’s fire service reported residential buildings were hit following the latest launches.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian fired back that “the continuation of the Zionist aggression will be met with a more severe and powerful response from the Iranian armed forces.”

According to a statement from his office, Pezeshkian also condemned Washington’s “dishonesty” for supporting Israel while engaged in nuclear talks with Iran — which mediator Oman said would no longer take place on Sunday.

Western governments have repeatedly accused Iran of seeking a nuclear weapon, which it denies.

Amid the continued conflict, planned negotiations between Iran and the United States over Tehran’s nuclear program were canceled, throwing into question when and how an end to the fighting could come.