Tehran calls on US to force Israel into ceasefire
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• Iran’s state broadcaster back on the air after being hit in Israeli strike
• Scenes of destruction on Tehran streets; Israel reels from attacks on several major cities
• Trump urges Iran to ‘make a deal’ as US aircraft carrier en route to Middle East
TEHRAN / JERUSALEM: An Israeli strike hit Iran’s state broadcaster on Monday, as the head of the UN’s nuclear watchdog indicated extensive damage to the country’s largest uranium enrichment plant, and Tehran called on the US to force Israel to enter into a ceasefire.
Tehran has asked Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Oman to press US President Donald Trump to use his influence on Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu and push for an immediate ceasefire.
In return, Iran would show flexibility in nuclear negotiations, sources told Reuters.
Meanwhile, Tel Aviv stepped up its bombardment of Iranian cities, while Iran proved it was capable of piercing Israeli air defences with one of its most successful volleys yet of retaliatory missile strikes.
Late on Monday, Israel said it hit Iran’s broadcasting authority, and footage showed a newsreader hurrying from her seat as a blast struck.
AFP journalists in Tehran heard massive blasts across the city after Israel issued an evacuation order for the northern District 3, home to state broadcaster IRIB.
IRIB later resumed its live broadcast after it was cut due to the attack. Following the attack, Iran issued evacuation warnings for Israeli N12 and N14 news channels.
Tehran says more than 224 Iranians have been killed, most of them civilians, and more than 1,200 wounded since Friday. Media published images of wounded children, women, and the elderly from cities across the country.
State TV broadcast scenes of collapsed presidential buildings, burned-out cars, and shattered streets in Tehran. Many residents were trying to flee the capital, describing queues for petrol and bank machines that were out of cash.
Nuclear facilities
The Israeli military said that after a wave of strikes on Monday, its forces had destroyed one third of Iran’s surface-to-surface missile launchers.
According to military spokesman Effie Defrin, “we have now achieved full air superiority over Tehran”.
Israel said it hit Iranian F-14 fighter planes at Tehran airport, and claimed that its airstrikes also put at least two of Iran’s three operating uranium enrichment plants out of action.
Rafael Grossi, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, told the BBC on Monday it was very likely all the roughly 15,000 centrifuges operating at Iran’s biggest uranium enrichment plant at Natanz were badly damaged or destroyed because of a power cut caused by an Israeli strike. There had been very limited or no damage at the separate Fordow plant, he said.
In addition, the country thwarted an attack on Monday on the Iranian South Pars gas field, the Fararu news website reported.
Iran shares the South Pars gas field with Qatar. The world’s biggest gas field was struck by Israel on Saturday, leading Iran to partially suspend gas production.
Damage in Israel
In Israel, 24 people have been killed and 592 wounded so far in Iran’s missile attacks, all of them civilians. Round-the-clock television images showed rescuers working in ruins of flattened homes.
Iranian attacks on Monday hit Tel Aviv, Bnei Brak, Petah Tikva and Haifa — leaving behind shattered homes, smouldering wreckage and stunned residents picking through debris.
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Monday that Iranian forces will “pummel” Israel until the attacks against the Islamic republic stop.
“Our powerful Armed Forces are making clear to the world that the war criminals hiding in shelters in Tel Aviv will not go unpunished for their crimes,” said Araghchi in a post on X. “We will continue to pummel the cowards for as long as needed to make sure that they are no longer firing at our people,” he added.
At the same time, the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz was leaving Southeast Asia after cancelling plans to dock in Vietnam, amid reports it is headed to the Middle East to boost the US presence as Israel and Iran do battle.
Ceasefire
Iran has called on US President Donald Trump to force a ceasefire in the four-day-old aerial war, while Israel’s prime minister said his country was on the “path to victory”.
“If President Trump is genuine about diplomacy and interested in stopping this war, next steps are consequential,” Mr Araqchi said on X.
“Israel must halt its aggression, and absent a total cessation of military aggression against us, our responses will continue. It takes one phone call from Washington to muzzle someone like Netanyahu. That may pave the way for a return to diplomacy.”
Trump has consistently said the Israeli assault could end quickly if Iran agrees to US demands that it accept strict curbs to its nuclear programme.
“They have to make a deal, and it’s painful for both parties, but I’d say Iran is not winning this war, and they should talk, and they should talk immediately before it’s too late,” he said at the G7 summit.
Published in Dawn, June 17th, 2025
