1) Trump says he’ll decide whether U.S. will directly attack Iran within two weeks

Courtesy Barrie360.com and The Associated Press

By Sam Mednick, Natalie Melzer And Jon Gambrell

As Israel and Iran exchanged more attacks on Thursday, U.S. President Donald Trump sought to keep open the door to diplomacy on Tehran’s nuclear program, saying he would make up his mind within two weeks on whether the U.S. military will get directly involved in the conflict.

“Based on the fact that there’s a substantial chance of negotiations that may or may not take place with Iran in the near future, I will make my decision whether or not to go within the next two weeks,” Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, told reporters, reading out Trump’s statement.

Trump has been weighing whether to attack Iran by striking its well-defended Fordo uranium enrichment facility, which is buried under a mountain and widely considered to be out of reach of all but America’s “bunker-buster” bombs.

Earlier in the day, Israel’s defense minister threatened Iran’s supreme leader after Iranian missiles crashed into a major hospital in southern Israel and hit residential buildings near Tel Aviv, wounding at least 240 people. As rescuers wheeled patients out of the smoldering hospital, Israeli warplanes launched their latest attack on Iran’s nuclear program.

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz blamed Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei for Thursday’s barrage and said the military “has been instructed and knows that in order to achieve all of its goals, this man absolutely should not continue to exist.”

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he trusted that Trump would “do what’s best for America.”

“I can tell you that they’re already helping a lot,” Netanyahu said from the rubble and shattered glass around the Soroka Medical Center in Israel’s southern city of Beersheba.

The open conflict between Israel and Iran erupted last Friday with a surprise wave of Israeli airstrikes targeting nuclear and military sites, top generals and nuclear scientists. At least 639 people, including 263 civilians, have been killed in Iran and more than 1,300 wounded, according to a Washington-based Iranian human rights group.

Iran has retaliated by firing hundreds of missiles and drones, killing at least 24 people in Israel and wounding hundreds.

More than 200 wounded, including dozens in the hospital strike

At least 240 people were wounded by the latest Iranian attack on Israel, including 80 patients and medical workers wounded in the strike on the Soroka Medical Center. The vast majority were lightly wounded, as much of the hospital building had been evacuated in recent days.

Israel’s Home Front Command said that one of the Iranian ballistic missiles fired Thursday morning had been rigged with fragmenting cluster munitions. Rather than a conventional warhead, a cluster munition warhead carries dozens of submunitions that can explode on impact, showering small bomblets around a large area and posing major safety risks on the ground. The Israeli military did not say where that missile had been fired.

Iranian officials insisted that they had not sought to strike the hospital and claimed the attack hit a facility belonging to the Israeli military’s elite technological unit, called C4i. The website for the Gav-Yam Negev advanced technologies park, some three kilometers (2 miles) from the hospital, said C4i had a branch campus in the area.

The Israeli army did not respond to a request for comment. An Israeli military official, speaking on condition of anonymity in line with regulations, acknowledged that there was no specific intelligence that Iran had planned to target the hospital.

Many hospitals in Israel, including Soroka, had activated emergency plans in the past week. They converted parking garages to wards and transferred vulnerable patients underground.

Israel also has a fortified, subterranean blood bank that kicked into action after Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack ignited the ongoing war in the Gaza Strip.

Doctors at Soroka said that the Iranian missile struck almost immediately after air raid sirens went off, causing a loud explosion that could be heard from a safe room. The strike inflicted the greatest damage on an old surgery building and affected key infrastructure, including gas, water and air-conditioning systems, the medical center said.

The hospital, which provides services to around 1 million residents of Israel’s south, had been caring for 700 patients at the time of the attack. After the strike, the hospital closed to all patients except for life-threatening cases.

Iran has fired 450 missiles and 1,000 drones at Israel since the conflict began, according to Israeli army estimates, though most have been shot down by Israel’s multitiered air defenses.

Iran rejects calls to surrender or end its nuclear program

Iran has long maintained its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes. But it is the only non-nuclear-weapon state to enrich uranium up to 60%, a short, technical step away from weapons-grade levels of 90%.

Israel is widely believed to be the only country with a nuclear weapons program in the Middle East, but has never acknowledged the existence of its arsenal.

In the last few days the Israeli air campaign has targeted Iran’s enrichment site at Natanz, centrifuge workshops around Tehran, a nuclear site in Isfahan and what the army assesses to be most of Iran’s ballistic missile launchers. The destruction of those launchers has contributed to the steady decline in Iranian attacks since the start of the conflict.

On Thursday, anti-aircraft artillery was clearly audible across Tehran and witnesses in the central city of Isfahan reported seeing anti-aircraft fire after nightfall.

In announcing that he would take up to two more weeks to decide whether to strike Iran, President Trump opened up diplomatic options with the apparent hope Iran would make concessions after suffering major military losses.

Already, a new diplomatic initiative seemed to be underway as Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi prepared to travel Friday to Geneva for meetings with the European Union’s top diplomat, and with his counterparts from the United Kingdom, France and Germany.

But at least publicly, Iran has struck a hard line.

Iran’s supreme leader on Wednesday rejected U.S. calls for surrender and warned that any American military involvement by the Americans would cause “irreparable damage to them.”

Parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf on Thursday criticized Trump for using military pressure to gain an advantage in nuclear negotiations.

“The delusional American president knows that he cannot impose peace on us by imposing war and threatening us,” he said.

Iran agreed to redesign Arak to address nuclear concerns

Israel’s military said Thursday its fighter jets targeted the Arak heavy water reactor, some 250 kilometers (155 miles) southwest of Tehran, in order to prevent it from being used to produce plutonium.

Iranian state TV said there was “no radiation danger whatsoever” around the Arak site, which it said had been evacuated ahead of the strike.

Heavy water helps cool nuclear reactors, but it produces plutonium as a byproduct that can potentially be used in nuclear weapons. That would provide Iran another path to the bomb beyond enriched uranium, should it choose to pursue the weapon.

Iran had agreed under its 2015 nuclear deal with world powers to redesign the facility to alleviate proliferation concerns. That work was never completed.

The reactor became a point of contention after Trump withdrew from the nuclear deal in 2018. Ali Akbar Salehi, a high-ranking nuclear official in Iran, said in 2019 that Tehran bought extra parts to replace a portion of the reactor that it had poured concrete into under the deal.

Israel said strikes were carried out “in order to prevent the reactor from being restored and used for nuclear weapons development.”

The International Atomic Energy Agency has said that due to restrictions imposed by Iran on inspectors, the U.N. nuclear watchdog has lost “continuity of knowledge” about Iran’s heavy water production — meaning it could not absolutely verify Tehran’s production and stockpile.

___ Melzer reported from Tel Aviv, Israel, and Gambrell from Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Associated Press writer Melanie Lidman in Tel Aviv and Ellen Knickmeyer in Washington, contributed.

2) Canada facilitating commercial flights home for citizens fleeing Israel, Iran: Anand

Courtesy Barrie360.com and Canadian Press

By Dylan Robertson, June 19, 2025.

The federal government will help Canadians in Israel and Iran to fly home once they reach neighbouring countries, Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand said Thursday.

“We are planning commercial options for Canadians in Israel and Iran to leave the region through certain neighbouring jurisdictions,” Anand told The Canadian Press in an interview.

With airports closed across the region, Ottawa has stationed consular officials on the other side of certain crossings on the Israeli and Iranian borders to help those fleeing either country to get home.

“We have deployed additional consular services to aid Canadians who want to leave the region,” she said. “We’re looking at additional options, which include working with our allies.”

Canada has joined on allies in recent years to co-operate on everything from staging a military evacuation in Sudan to facilitating commercial evacuation flights out of Lebanon last year.

Anand is urging Canadians in the region to register with Global Affairs’ Registration of Canadians Abroad database, so that they can get the latest updates on ways to get home.

“I am extremely concerned for all Canadians and we’ll keep working on this file 24/7 to ensure their safety,” Anand said.

When asked whether she’s calling on Canadians to leave the region immediately, Anand suggested otherwise.

“We are assisting departures for Canadians who wish to leave, and we are here for you,” she said.

Canada this week urged its citizens to “avoid all travel” to Israel as the country exchanges missile attacks and airstrikes with Iran. Canada has advised against visiting Iran for years.

Ottawa and most of its allies have repeatedly called for de-escalation while saying Israel has a right to defend itself.

On June 13, Israel launched a surprise attack on Iran, which retaliated with missiles. The two countries have a history of trading small-scale attacks and acts of espionage and sabotage.

Israel said it hit Iran last Friday because the country was on the verge of producing a nuclear bomb. The International Atomic Energy Agency says it has no new evidence to prove this.

U.S. Sen. Mark Warner said American officials also said Iran was not pursuing nuclear weapons in a Monday briefing to the intelligence committee he vice-chairs.

For years, Israel has urged countries to call out Iran for supporting militant groups that attack Israelis, such as Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in the Palestinian territories.

Prime Minister Mark Carney said during the spring election that Ottawa must be “clear-eyed” about “Iranian sponsors in the region.

3) Canadians urged to ‘avoid all travel’ to Israel amid air, missile strikes with Iran

Courtesy Barrie360.com Canadian Press

By Canadian Press Staff, June 14, 2025

Israeli security forces inspect the site of homes destroyed by a missile fired from Iran, in Rishon Lezion, Israel, on Saturday, June 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)

The federal government is urging Canadians to “avoid all travel” to Israel as the country exchanges missile and air strikes with Iran.

Global Affairs Canada issued the warning Friday “due to the ongoing hostilities and unpredictable security situations,” according to new guidance listed on the department’s website. 

“The security situation can deteriorate rapidly,” the government’s website for travel advice said. “Make sure your travel documents and those of your spouse and children are up to date and secure at all times.”

All flights to and from Israel’s Ben Gurion International Airport have been cancelled, the notice said. The airport itself is closed until further notice.

Meanwhile, Canada’s foreign affairs minister has asked Canadians in the Middle East in need of emergency assistance to contact the Department of Global Affairs. Anita Anand’s social media post Saturday morning came after she condemned Iran’s attack on Israel and called for restraint from both countries.

Israel’s defense minister warned Saturday that “Tehran will burn” if Iran continues firing missiles. 

The two countries traded blows after Israel launched a blistering surprise attack Friday on Iranian nuclear and military sites, killing several top generals.

Iran’s United Nations ambassador said 78 people were killed and more than 320 wounded.

Iran retaliated by launching waves of drones and ballistic missiles at Israel, where explosions lit the night skies over Jerusalem and Tel Aviv and shook buildings. The Israeli military urged civilians, already rattled by the war in Gaza sparked by Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack, to head to shelter for hours. Health officials said three people were killed and dozens wounded.

Prime Minister Mark Carney said Friday that Iran’s nuclear weapons program has long been a cause of concern.

“Its missile attacks across Israel threaten regional peace,” he added in a social media post. “Canada reaffirms Israel’s right to defend itself and to ensure its security. We call on all parties to exercise maximum restraint and move towards a diplomatic resolution.”

Israel and Iran signaled more attacks are coming, even as other world leaders join Carney in urgently calling for de-escalation to avoid all-out war.

The Middle East is already on edge as Israel makes a new push to eliminate the Iranian-backed militant group Hamas in Gaza after 20 months of fighting.

Israel — which is widely believed to have a nuclear weapons program — said its hundreds of strikes on Iran over the past two days also killed nine senior scientists and experts involved in Iran’s nuclear program. 

The ongoing Israeli strikes appear to have halted — for now — any diplomacy between the U.S. and Iran over Tehran’s rapidly advancing nuclear program. 

A sixth round of talks mediated by Oman was set to get underway in the capital city of Muscat this weekend, but Oman’s foreign minister announced Saturday the negotiations “will not now take place.” Iran’s top diplomat said Saturday the talks were “unjustifiable” after the Israeli strikes.

– with files from The Associated Press

4) Iran’s leader rejects call to surrender, saying U.S. intervention would cause ‘irreparable damage’

Courtesy Barrie360.com and The Associated Press

By Joseph Krauss, Jon Gambrell And Julia Frankel, June 18, 2025

This photo released on Wednesday, June 18, 2025, by the official website of the office of the Iranian supreme leader, shows Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in a televised speech, under a portrait of the late revolutionary founder Ayatollah Khomeini. (Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader via AP) Office Of The Iranian Supreme Leader

Iran’s supreme leader on Wednesday rejected U.S. calls for surrender in the face of blistering Israeli strikes and warned that any military involvement by the Americans would cause “irreparable damage” to them.

The second public appearance by Ayatollah Ali Khamenei since the Israeli strikes began six days ago came as Israel lifted some restrictions on daily life, suggesting that the missile threat from Iran was easing.

Khamenei’s speech came a day after U.S. President Donald Trump demanded “UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER” in a social media post and warned Khamenei that the U.S. knows where he is but has no plans to kill him, “at least not for now.”

Trump initially distanced himself from Israel’s surprise attack on Friday that triggered the conflict, but in recent days has hinted at greater American involvement, saying he wants something “much bigger” than a ceasefire. The U.S. has also sent more military aircraft and warships to the region.

‘The Iranian nation is not one to surrender’

Khamenei dismissed the “threatening and absurd statements” by Trump.

“Wise individuals who know Iran, its people, and its history never speak to this nation with the language of threats, because the Iranian nation is not one to surrender,” he said in the low-resolution video, his voice echoing. “Americans should know that any military involvement by the U.S. will undoubtedly result in irreparable damage to them.”

Iran followed a similar sequence in releasing Khamenei’s statement before the video was aired, perhaps as a security measure. His location is not known and was impossible to discern from the tight shot that showed only beige curtains, an Iranian flag and a portrait of Grand Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, Khamenei’s immediate predecessor who died in 1989.

An Iranian diplomat had earlier Wednesday warned that U.S. intervention would risk “all-out war.”

Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei did not elaborate, but thousands of American troops are based in nearby countries within range of Iran’s weapons. The U.S. has threatened a massive response to any attack.

Another Iranian official said the country would keep enriching uranium for peaceful purposes, apparently ruling out Trump’s demands that Iran give up its disputed nuclear program.

Strikes in and around Tehran

The latest Israeli strikes hit one facility used to make uranium centrifuges and another that made missile components, the Israeli military said. It said it had intercepted 10 missiles overnight as Iran’s retaliatory barrages diminish. The U.N. nuclear watchdog said Israel struck two centrifuge production facilities in and near Tehran.

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz also said the military struck the headquarters of Iran’s internal security forces on Wednesday, without specifying the agency or location. The strike marks a shift toward targeting Iran’s domestic security apparatus, which has long cracked down on dissent and suppressed protests.

Israel’s air campaign has struck several nuclear and military sites, killing top generals and nuclear scientists. A Washington-based Iranian human rights group said at least 585 people, including 239 civilians, have been killed and more than 1,300 wounded.

Iran has fired some 400 missiles and hundreds of drones in retaliatory strikes, killing at least 24 people in Israel and wounding hundreds. Some have hit apartment buildings in central Israel, causing heavy damage, and air raid sirens have repeatedly forced Israelis to run for shelter.

Iran has fired fewer missiles as the conflict has worn on. It has not explained the decline, but Israel has targeted launchers and other infrastructure related to the missiles.

Israel on Wednesday eased some of the restrictions that it had imposed on daily life when Iran launched its retaliatory attack, allowing gatherings of up to 30 people and letting workplaces reopen as long as there is a shelter nearby.

Schools are closed and many business remain shuttered, but Israel’s decision to reverse its ban on gatherings and office work for all but essential employees signals the Israeli military’s confidence that its attacks have limited Iran’s missile capabilities.

Casualties mount in Iran

The Washington-based group Human Rights Activists said it had identified 239 of those killed in Israeli strikes as civilians and 126 as security personnel.

The group, which also provided detailed casualty figures during 2022 protests over the death of Mahsa Amini, crosschecks local reports against a network of sources it has developed in Iran.

Iran has not been publishing regular death tolls during the conflict and has minimized casualties in the past. Its last update, issued Monday, put the toll at 224 people killed and 1,277 others wounded.

Shops have been closed across Tehran, including in its famed Grand Bazaar, as people wait in gas lines and pack roads leading out of the city to escape the onslaught.

A major explosion could be heard around 5 a.m. in Tehran Wednesday morning, following other explosions earlier in the predawn darkness. Authorities in Iran offered no acknowledgement of the attacks, which has become increasingly common as the Israeli airstrikes have intensified.

At least one strike appeared to target Tehran’s eastern neighborhood of Hakimiyeh, where the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard has an academy.

Iran says it will keep enriching uranium

Israel says it launched the strikes to prevent Iran from building a nuclear weapon, after talks between the United States and Iran over a diplomatic resolution had made little visible progress over two months but were still ongoing. Trump has said Israel’s campaign came after a 60-day window he set for the talks.

Iran long has insisted its nuclear program was peaceful, though it is the only non-nuclear-armed state to enrich uranium up to 60%, a short, technical step away from weapons-grade levels of 90%. U.S. intelligence agencies have said they did not believe Iran was actively pursuing the bomb.

Israel is the only country in the Middle East with nuclear weapons but has never publicly acknowledged them.

Iran’s ambassador to Geneva, Ali Bahreini, told reporters that Iran “will continue to produce the enriched uranium as far as we need for peaceful purposes.”

He rejected any talk of a setback to Iran’s nuclear research and development from the Israeli strikes, saying, “Our scientists will continue their work.”

Israel welcomes first repatriation flights

Israelis began returning on flights for the first time since the country’s international airport shut down at the start of the conflict.

Two flights from Larnaca, Cyprus, landed at Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion International Airport on Wednesday morning, said Lisa Dvir, an airport spokesperson.

Israel closed its airspace to commercial flights because of the ballistic missile attacks, leaving tens of thousands of Israelis stranded abroad. The conflict has disrupted flight patterns across the region.

___ Frankel reported from Jerusalem. Associated Press writers Amir Vahdat and Nasser Karimi in Iran, and Jamey Keaten in Geneva, contributed.

5) Israeli strikes damage Iran’s underground nuclear site, agency says as Trump warns Tehran

Courtesy Barrie360.com and The Associated Press

By Joseph Krauss, Jon Gambrell And Natalie Melzer, June 18, 2025

Israel pounded Iran for a fifth day in an air campaign against its longstanding foe’s military and nuclear program, as U.S. President Donald Trump warned residents of Tehran to evacuate and suggested the United States was working on something “better than a ceasefire.”

Trump left the Group of Seven summit in Canada a day early to deal with the conflict between Israel and Iran, telling reporters on Air Force One during the flight back to Washington: “I’m not looking at a ceasefire. We’re looking at better than a ceasefire.”

When asked to explain, he said the U.S. wanted to see “a real end” to the conflict that could involve Iran “giving up entirely.” He added: “I’m not too much in the mood to negotiate.”

Trump’s cryptic messages added to the uncertainty roiling the region as residents of Tehran fled their homes in droves and the U.N. nuclear watchdog for the first time said Israeli strikes on Iran’s main enrichment facility at Natanz had also damaged its underground section, and not just the suface area.

Israel says its sweeping assault on Iran’s top military leaders, nuclear scientists, uranium enrichment sites and ballistic missile program is necessary to prevent its adversary from getting any closer to building an atomic weapon. The strikes have killed at least 224 people in Iran.

Iran has retaliated by launching more than 370 missiles and hundreds of drones at Israel. So far, 24 people have been killed in Israel. The Israeli military said a new barrage of missiles was launched on Tuesday.

Damage at Natanz

The International Atomic Energy Agency said on Tuesday it believes that Israel’s first aerial attacks on Iran’s Natanz enrichment site had “direct impacts” on the facility’s underground centrifuge halls.

“Based on continued analysis of high-resolution satellite imagery collected after Friday’s attacks, the IAEA has identified additional elements that indicate direct impacts on the underground enrichment halls at Natanz,” the watchdog said.

Located 220 kilometers (135 miles) southeast of Tehran, the Natanz facility was protected by anti-aircraft batteries, fencing and Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard.

The underground part of the facility is buried to protect it from airstrikes and contains the bulk of the enrichment facilities at Natanz, with 10,000 centrifuges that enrich uranium up to 5%, experts assess.

The IAEA had earlier reported that Israeli strikes had destroyed an above-ground enrichment hall at Natanz and knocked out electrical equipment that powered the facility.

However, most of Iran’s enrichment takes place underground.

Although Israel has struck Natanz repeatedly and claims to have inflicted significant damage on its underground facilities, Tuesday’s IAEA statement marked the first time the agency has acknowledged impacts there.

Iran maintains its nuclear program is peaceful, and the United States and others have assessed Tehran has not had an organized effort to pursue a nuclear weapon since 2003. But the head of the IAEA has repeatedly warned that the country has enough enriched uranium to make several nuclear bombs should it choose to do so.

While Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed on Tuesday that Israeli strikes on Iran’s nuclear sites have set the country’s nuclear program back a “very, very long time,” Israel has not been able to reach Iran’s Fordo uranium enrichment facility, which is buried deep underground.

Shops closed, lines for gas in Iran’s capital

Echoing an earlier Israeli military call for some 330,000 residents of a neighborhood in downtown Tehran to evacuate, Trump on Tuesday warned on social media that “everyone should immediately evacuate Tehran!”

Tehran is one of the largest cities in the Middle East, with around 10 million people, roughly equivalent to the entire population of Israel. People have been fleeing since hostilities began.

Asked why he had urged for the evacuation of Tehran, Trump said: “I just want people to be safe.”

Downtown Tehran appeared to be emptying out early Tuesday, with many shops closed. The ancient Grand Bazaar was also closed, something that only happened in the past during anti-government demonstrations or at the height of the coronavirus pandemic.

On the roads out of Tehran to the west, traffic stood bumper to bumper. Many appeared to be heading to the Caspian Sea, a popular vacation spot where a large number of middle- and upper-class Iranians have second homes.

Long lines also could be seen at gas stations in Tehran. Printed placards and billboards calling for a “severe” response to Israel were visible across the city. Authorities cancelled leave for doctors and nurses, while insisting everything was under control.

The Israeli military meanwhile claimed to have killed someone it described as Iran’s top general in a strike on Tehran. Iran did not immediately comment on the reported killing of Gen. Ali Shadmani, who had just been named as the head of the Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters, part of the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard.

Iran has named other generals to replace the top leaders of the Guard and the regular armed forces after they were killed in earlier strikes.

Trump leaves G7 early to focus on conflict

Before leaving the summit in Canada, Trump joined the other leaders in a joint statement saying Iran “can never have a nuclear weapon” and calling for a “de-escalation of hostilities in the Middle East, including a ceasefire in Gaza.”

French President Emmanuel Macron told reporters that discussions were underway on a ceasefire between Israel and Iran, but Trump appeared to shoot that down in his comments on social media.

Macron “mistakenly said that I left the G7 Summit, in Canada, to go back to D.C. to work on a ‘cease fire’ between Israel and Iran,” Trump wrote. “Wrong! He has no idea why I am now on my way to Washington, but it certainly has nothing to do with a Cease Fire. Much bigger than that.”

Trump said he wasn’t ready to give up on diplomatic talks, and could send Vice President JD Vance and special envoy Steve Witkoff to meet with the Iranians.

“I may,” he said. “It depends on what happens when I get back.”

Israel says it has ‘aerial superiority’ over Tehran

Israeli military spokesperson Brig. Gen. Effie Defrin said Monday his country’s forces had “achieved full aerial superiority over Tehran’s skies.”

The military said it destroyed more than 120 surface-to-surface missile launchers in central Iran, a third of Iran’s total, including multiple launchers just before they launched ballistic missiles towards Israel. It also destroyed two F-14 fighter planes that Iran used to target Israeli aircraft, the military said.

Israeli military officials also said fighter jets had struck 10 command centers in Tehran belonging to Iran’s Quds Force, an elite arm of its paramilitary Revolutionary Guard that conducts military and intelligence operations outside Iran.

Israel’s military issued an evacuation warning for a part of central Tehran that houses state TV and police headquarters, as well as three large hospitals, including one owned by the Guard. It has issued similar evacuation warnings for parts of the Gaza Strip and Lebanon ahead of strikes.

___ Melzer reported from Nahariya, Israel. Associated Press writers Nasser Karimi and Amir Vahdat in Tehran, Iran; Melanie Lidman in Tel Aviv, Israel; and Tara Copp in Washington contributed to this report.

6) Iran renews missile attacks on Israel, killing 5 and wounding dozens

Courtesy Barrie360.com and The Associated Press

By Ami Bentov, June 16, 2025

Iran fired a new wave of missile attacks on Israel early Monday, triggering air raid sirens across the country as emergency services reported at least five killed and dozens more wounded in the fourth day of open warfare between the regional foes that showed no sign of slowing.

One missile fell near the American consulate in Tel Aviv, and its concussion caused minor damage, U.S. Ambassador Mike Huckabee said on X. There were no injuries to American personnel.

Iran announced it had launched some 100 missiles and vowed further retaliation for Israel’s sweeping attacks on its military and nuclear infrastructure, which have killed at least 224 people in the country since last Friday.

The attacks raised Israel’s total death toll to at least 19, and in response the Israeli military said fighter jets had struck 10 command centers in Tehran belonging to Iran’s Quds Force, an elite arm of its Revolutionary Guard that conducts military and intelligence operations outside Iran.

Powerful explosions, likely from Israel’s defense systems intercepting Iranian missiles, rocked Tel Aviv shortly before dawn on Monday, sending plumes of black smoke into the sky over the coastal city.

Authorities in the central Israeli city of Petah Tikva said that Iranian missiles had hit a residential building there, charring concrete walls, shattering windows and ripping the walls off multiple apartments.

The Israeli Magen David Adom emergency service reported that two women and two men — all in their 70s — and one other person were killed in the wave of missile attacks that struck four sites in central Israel.

“We clearly see that our civilians are being targeted,” said Israeli police spokesman Dean Elsdunne outside the bombed-out building in Petah Tikva. “And this is just one scene. We have other sites like this near the coast, in the south.”

Petah Tikva resident Yoram Suki rushed with his family to a shelter after hearing an air raid alert, and emerged after it was over to find his apartment destroyed.

“Thank God we were OK,” the 60-year-old said.

Despite losing his home, he urged Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to keep up the attacks on Iran.

“It’s totally worth it,” he said. “This is for the sake of our children and grandchildren.”

In addition to those killed, the MDA said paramedics had evacuated another 87 wounded people to hospitals, including a 30-year-old woman in serious condition, while rescuers were still searching for residents trapped beneath the rubble of their homes.

“When we arrived at the scene of the rocket strike, we saw massive destruction,” said Dr. Gal Rosen, a paramedic with MDA who said he had rescued a 4-day-old baby as fires blazed from the building.

During an earlier barrage of Iranian missiles on central Israel on Sunday, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said that Iran will stop its strikes if Israel does the same.

But after a day of intensive Israeli aerial attacks that extended targets beyond military installations to hit oil refineries and government buildings, the Revolutionary Guard struck a hard line on Monday, vowing that further rounds of strikes would be “more forceful, severe, precise and destructive than previous ones.”

Health authorities also reported that 1,277 were wounded in Iran, without distinguishing between military officials and civilians.

Rights groups, like the Washington-based Iranian advocacy group called Human Rights Activists, have suggested that the Iranian government’s death toll is a significant undercount. Human Rights Activists says it has documented more than 400 people killed, among them 197 civilians.

Israel argues that its assault on Iran’s top military leaders, uranium enrichment sites and nuclear scientists was necessary to stop Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.

Iran has always insisted its nuclear program is peaceful, and the U.S. and others have assessed that Tehran has not pursued a nuclear weapon since 2003.

But Iran has enriched ever-larger stockpiles of uranium to near weapons-grade levels in recent years and was believed to have the capacity to develop multiple weapons within months if it chose to do so.

___Tia Goldenberg in Tel Aviv and Isaac Scharf in Jerusalem, Israel, Isabel DeBre in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and David Rising in Bangkok contributed to this report.

7) Israel and Iran trade strikes for a third day as nuclear talks are called off

Courtesy Barrie360.com and The Associated Press

By Jon Gambrell, Melanie Lidman and Julia Frankel, News, June 15, 2025

Israel unleashed airstrikes across Iran for a third day on Sunday and threatened even greater force as some Iranian missiles evaded Israeli air defenses to strike buildings in the heart of the country. Planned talks on Iran’s nuclear program, which could provide an off-ramp, were canceled.

The region braced for a protracted conflict after Israel’s surprise bombardment of Iran’s nuclear and military sites on Friday killed several top generals and nuclear scientists, and neither side showed any sign of backing down. Iran said Israel struck two oil refineries, raising the prospect of a broader assault on Iran’s heavily sanctioned energy industry that could affect global markets.

The Israeli military, in a social media post, warned Iranians to evacuate arms factories, signaling what could be a further widening of the campaign. Around noon local time, explosions were heard again in the Iranian capital, Tehran.

U.S. President Donald Trump has expressed full support for Israel’s actions while warning Iran that it can only avoid further destruction by agreeing to a new nuclear deal.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Sunday that if the Israeli strikes on Iran stop, then “our responses will also stop.” He said the United States “is a partner in these attacks and must take responsibility.”

Explosions in Tehran

New explosions echoed across Tehran and were reported elsewhere in the country early Sunday, but there was no update to a death toll released the day before by Iran’s U.N. ambassador, who said 78 people had been killed and more than 320 wounded.

In Israel, at least 10 people were killed in Iranian strikes overnight and into Sunday, according to Israel’s Magen David Adom rescue service, bringing the country’s total death toll to 13. The country’s main international airport and airspace remained closed for a third day.

Israeli strikes targeted Iran’s Defense Ministry early Sunday after hitting air defenses, military bases and sites associated with its nuclear program. The killing of several top generals and nuclear scientists in targeted strikes indicated that Israeli intelligence has penetrated Iran at the highest levels.

Death toll mounts in Israel

In Israel, at least six people, including a 10-year-old and a 9-year-old, were killed when a missile hit an apartment building in Bat Yam, near Tel Aviv. Daniel Hadad, a local police commander, said 180 people were wounded and seven are still missing.

An Associated Press reporter saw streets lined with damaged and destroyed buildings, bombed out cars and shards of glass. Responders used a drone at points to look for survivors. Some people could be seen leaving the area with suitcases.

Another four people, including a 13-year-old, were killed and 24 wounded when a missile struck a building in the Arab town of Tamra in northern Israel. A strike on the central city of Rehovot wounded 42.

The Weizmann Institute of Science, an important center for research in Rehovot, said “there were a number of hits to buildings on the campus.” It said no one was harmed.

Israel has sophisticated multi-tiered air defenses that are able to detect and intercept missiles fired at populated areas or key infrastructure, but officials acknowledge it is imperfect.

Urgent calls to deescalate

World leaders made urgent calls to deescalate. The attack on nuclear sites set a “dangerous precedent,” China’s foreign minister said. The region is already on edge as Israel seeks to annihilate Hamas, an Iranian ally, in the Gaza Strip, where the war is still raging after Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu brushed off such calls, saying Israel’s strikes so far are “nothing compared to what they will feel under the sway of our forces in the coming days.”

Israel, the sole though undeclared nuclear-armed state in the Middle East — said it launched the attack to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapon. The two countries have been regional adversaries for decades.

Iran has always said its nuclear program was peaceful, and the U.S. and others have assessed it has not pursued a weapon since 2003. But it has enriched ever larger stockpiles of uranium to near weapons-grade levels in recent years and was believed to have been able to develop multiple weapons within months if it chose to do so.

The U.N.’s atomic watchdog censured Iran last week for not complying with its obligations.

Araghchi, Iran’s top diplomat, said Israel had targeted an oil refinery near Tehran and another in the country’s Bushehr province on the Persian Gulf. He said Iran had also targeted “economic” sites in Israel, without elaborating.

Araghchi was speaking to diplomats in his first public appearance since the initial Israeli strikes.

Semiofficial Iranian news agencies reported that an Israeli drone strike had caused a “strong explosion” at an Iranian natural-gas processing plant. Israel’s military did not immediately comment.

The extent of damage at the South Pars natural gas field was not immediately clear. Such sites have air defense systems around them, which Israel has been targeting.

An oil refinery was also damaged in the northern Israeli city of Haifa, according to the firm operating it. Bazan Group said pipelines and transmission lines between facilities were damaged, forcing some downstream facilities to be shut down. It said no one was wounded.

Iran calls nuclear talks ‘unjustifiable’

The Arab Gulf country of Oman, which has been mediating indirect talks between the U.S. and Iran over Tehran’s nuclear program, said a sixth round planned for Sunday would not take place.

“We remain committed to talks and hope the Iranians will come to the table soon,” a senior U.S. official said on condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive talks.

Araghchi, Iran’s foreign minister, said Saturday that the nuclear talks were “unjustifiable” after Israel’s strikes, which he said were the “result of the direct support by Washington.”

In a post on his Truth Social account early Sunday, Trump reiterated that the U.S. was not involved in the attacks on Iran and warned that any retaliation directed against it would bring an American response “at levels never seen before.”

“However, we can easily get a deal done between Iran and Israel, and end this bloody conflict!!!” he wrote.

‘More than a few weeks’ to repair nuclear facilities

In Iran, satellite photos analyzed by AP show extensive damage at Iran’s main nuclear enrichment facility in Natanz. The images shot Saturday by Planet Labs PBC show multiple buildings damaged or destroyed. The structures hit include buildings identified by experts as supplying power to the facility.

U.N. nuclear chief Rafael Grossi told the Security Council that the above-ground section of the Natanz facility was destroyed. The main centrifuge facility underground did not appear to have been hit, but the loss of power could have damaged infrastructure there, he said.

Israel also struck a nuclear research facility in Isfahan. The International Atomic Energy Agency said four “critical buildings” were damaged, including its uranium conversion facility. It said there was no sign of increased radiation at Natanz or Isfahan.

An Israeli military official, speaking on condition of anonymity in line with official procedures, said that according to the army’s initial assessment “it will take much more than a few weeks” for Iran to repair the damage to the Natanz and Isfahan nuclear sites. The official said the army had “concrete intelligence that production in Isfahan was for military purposes.”

 Israel unleashed airstrikes across Iran for a third day on Sunday and threatened even greater force as some Iranian missiles evaded Israeli air defenses to strike buildings in the heart of the country. Planned talks on Iran’s nuclear program, which could provide an off-ramp, were canceled.

The region braced for a protracted conflict after Israel’s surprise bombardment of Iran’s nuclear and military sites on Friday killed several top generals and nuclear scientists, and neither side showed any sign of backing down. Iran said Israel struck two oil refineries, raising the prospect of a broader assault on Iran’s heavily sanctioned energy industry that could affect global markets.

The Israeli military, in a social media post, warned Iranians to evacuate arms factories, signaling what could be a further widening of the campaign. Around noon local time, explosions were heard again in the Iranian capital, Tehran.

U.S. President Donald Trump has expressed full support for Israel’s actions while warning Iran that it can only avoid further destruction by agreeing to a new nuclear deal.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Sunday that if the Israeli strikes on Iran stop, then “our responses will also stop.” He said the United States “is a partner in these attacks and must take responsibility.”

Explosions in Tehran

New explosions echoed across Tehran and were reported elsewhere in the country early Sunday, but there was no update to a death toll released the day before by Iran’s U.N. ambassador, who said 78 people had been killed and more than 320 wounded.

In Israel, at least 10 people were killed in Iranian strikes overnight and into Sunday, according to Israel’s Magen David Adom rescue service, bringing the country’s total death toll to 13. The country’s main international airport and airspace remained closed for a third day.

Israeli strikes targeted Iran’s Defense Ministry early Sunday after hitting air defenses, military bases and sites associated with its nuclear program. The killing of several top generals and nuclear scientists in targeted strikes indicated that Israeli intelligence has penetrated Iran at the highest levels.

Death toll mounts in Israel

In Israel, at least six people, including a 10-year-old and a 9-year-old, were killed when a missile hit an apartment building in Bat Yam, near Tel Aviv. Daniel Hadad, a local police commander, said 180 people were wounded and seven are still missing.

An Associated Press reporter saw streets lined with damaged and destroyed buildings, bombed out cars and shards of glass. Responders used a drone at points to look for survivors. Some people could be seen leaving the area with suitcases.

Another four people, including a 13-year-old, were killed and 24 wounded when a missile struck a building in the Arab town of Tamra in northern Israel. A strike on the central city of Rehovot wounded 42.

The Weizmann Institute of Science, an important center for research in Rehovot, said “there were a number of hits to buildings on the campus.” It said no one was harmed.

Israel has sophisticated multi-tiered air defenses that are able to detect and intercept missiles fired at populated areas or key infrastructure, but officials acknowledge it is imperfect.

Urgent calls to deescalate

World leaders made urgent calls to deescalate. The attack on nuclear sites set a “dangerous precedent,” China’s foreign minister said. The region is already on edge as Israel seeks to annihilate Hamas, an Iranian ally, in the Gaza Strip, where the war is still raging after Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu brushed off such calls, saying Israel’s strikes so far are “nothing compared to what they will feel under the sway of our forces in the coming days.”

Israel, the sole though undeclared nuclear-armed state in the Middle East — said it launched the attack to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapon. The two countries have been regional adversaries for decades.

Iran has always said its nuclear program was peaceful, and the U.S. and others have assessed it has not pursued a weapon since 2003. But it has enriched ever larger stockpiles of uranium to near weapons-grade levels in recent years and was believed to have been able to develop multiple weapons within months if it chose to do so.

The U.N.’s atomic watchdog censured Iran last week for not complying with its obligations.

Araghchi, Iran’s top diplomat, said Israel had targeted an oil refinery near Tehran and another in the country’s Bushehr province on the Persian Gulf. He said Iran had also targeted “economic” sites in Israel, without elaborating.

Araghchi was speaking to diplomats in his first public appearance since the initial Israeli strikes.

Semiofficial Iranian news agencies reported that an Israeli drone strike had caused a “strong explosion” at an Iranian natural-gas processing plant. Israel’s military did not immediately comment.

The extent of damage at the South Pars natural gas field was not immediately clear. Such sites have air defense systems around them, which Israel has been targeting.

An oil refinery was also damaged in the northern Israeli city of Haifa, according to the firm operating it. Bazan Group said pipelines and transmission lines between facilities were damaged, forcing some downstream facilities to be shut down. It said no one was wounded.

Iran calls nuclear talks ‘unjustifiable’

The Arab Gulf country of Oman, which has been mediating indirect talks between the U.S. and Iran over Tehran’s nuclear program, said a sixth round planned for Sunday would not take place.

“We remain committed to talks and hope the Iranians will come to the table soon,” a senior U.S. official said on condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive talks.

Araghchi, Iran’s foreign minister, said Saturday that the nuclear talks were “unjustifiable” after Israel’s strikes, which he said were the “result of the direct support by Washington.”

In a post on his Truth Social account early Sunday, Trump reiterated that the U.S. was not involved in the attacks on Iran and warned that any retaliation directed against it would bring an American response “at levels never seen before.”

“However, we can easily get a deal done between Iran and Israel, and end this bloody conflict!!!” he wrote.

‘More than a few weeks’ to repair nuclear facilities

In Iran, satellite photos analyzed by AP show extensive damage at Iran’s main nuclear enrichment facility in Natanz. The images shot Saturday by Planet Labs PBC show multiple buildings damaged or destroyed. The structures hit include buildings identified by experts as supplying power to the facility.

U.N. nuclear chief Rafael Grossi told the Security Council that the above-ground section of the Natanz facility was destroyed. The main centrifuge facility underground did not appear to have been hit, but the loss of power could have damaged infrastructure there, he said.

Israel also struck a nuclear research facility in Isfahan. The International Atomic Energy Agency said four “critical buildings” were damaged, including its uranium conversion facility. It said there was no sign of increased radiation at Natanz or Isfahan.

An Israeli military official, speaking on condition of anonymity in line with official procedures, said that according to the army’s initial assessment “it will take much more than a few weeks” for Iran to repair the damage to the Natanz and Isfahan nuclear sites. The official said the army had “concrete intelligence that production in Isfahan was for military purposes.”

8) Israel-Iran conflict looms large as leaders arrive for G7 summit in Alberta

Courtesy Barrie360.com and Canadian Press

By Canadian Press Staff, June 15, 2025.

An escalating conflict between Israel and Iran seems set to dominate this week’s G7 leaders’ summit in Alberta as members of Canada’s Jewish and Iranian communities fear for those caught in the violence.

Prime Minister Mark Carney was scheduled to arrive Sunday in Kananaskis, Alta., to host U.S. President Donald Trump and other leaders in his first major summit.

Earlier in the day, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the growing conflict in the Middle East will be a “centrepiece” of the meeting, which will formally kick off on Monday.

“This provides the opportunity to talk to our co-leaders about the fast-moving situation and to make our strong case together that there must be de-escalation of this conflict in the interests of the region and the world,” he told reporters in Ottawa ahead of a meeting with Carney on Parliament Hill.

Carney on Friday called for Israel and Iran to exercise “maximum restraint” and move toward a diplomatic solution.

The two Middle Eastern countries exchanged missile attacks for a third consecutive day on Sunday, with Israel warning that worse is to come. Israel launched the attacks on Iran Friday amid simmering tensions over Tehran’s rapidly advancing nuclear program.

Hamed Esmaeilion, a Canadian Iranian human rights activist, said it’s been “a very suspenseful 48 hours” for his family and friends living in Iran, including his parents and brother.

He said his family members don’t live in Tehran, but friends living in the capital city are under severe stress. “They are desperate and they don’t know where to go and they just stay at home and hear the explosions,” he said in an interview.

Esmaeilion said Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has “no respect for human life,” adding he worries about the civilian cost of the conflict.

“I know that everybody is hoping that this regime would be gone yesterday, but I think this process should be democratic,” he said. “And the war doesn’t help if it continues and if it endangers the lives of civilians.”

Esmaeilion, who lost his wife and daughter in the destruction of Flight PS752 by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in 2020, said Israel’s strikes have damaged the prospect of holding Iran’s regime accountable for shooting down the passenger plane.

Israel has so far killed several senior commanders of the IRGC. “What I hear from other families of the victims … is that they’re not unhappy (about) their demise, but they would have preferred to deal with these criminals in the court of justice rather than on the battlefield,” Esmaeilion said.

Iran’s health ministry estimated Sunday that 224 people had been killed since Israel’s attacks began. Spokesman Hossein Kermanpour said on social media that 1,277 other people were hospitalized.

Israel, for its part, said Iran’s retaliatory strikes have so far killed 14 people and injured 390 others.

Rabbi Dan Moskovitz, a senior rabbi of Temple Sholom in Vancouver, said on Sunday that it’s heartbreaking and devastating to see the death toll continue to rise in Israel.

Moskovitz said Iran is targeting densely populated metropolitan areas, including in Tel Aviv and Haifa.

“It would be like shooting a ballistic missile into downtown Toronto and Vancouver, whereas Israel is strategically targeting Iran’s nuclear infrastructure and its weapons production and the leadership of their military,” he said.

Carney is slated to meet with Trump on Monday morning at the summit in Alberta. Moskovitz said it’s critical for both leaders to talk about the conflict in the Middle East.

“I think it’s incumbent upon the leaders of the West to stand up for their values and to defend their people against the existential threat that a nuclear Iran poses,” he said.

The Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs is also calling on world leaders at the G7 summit to “reaffirm Israel’s right to defend itself — and to act decisively against the threat of a nuclear-armed Iran.”

In a statement on Sunday evening, Global Affairs Canada said the government is “closely monitoring the rapidly evolving tensions between Israel and Iran and urges all parties to prioritize de-escalation and the protection of civilians.”

“Canada condemns Iran’s attack on Israel and urges restraint on both sides. Further actions can cause devastating consequences for the broader region,” the statement said.

The death toll grew Sunday as Israel targeted Iran’s Defense Ministry headquarters in Tehran and sites it alleged were associated with Iran’s nuclear program, while Iranian missiles evaded Israeli air defences and slammed into buildings deep inside Israel.

In Israel, at least 10 people were killed in Iranian strikes overnight and into Sunday, according to the Magen David Adom rescue service. The country’s main international airport and airspace remained closed for a third day.

In a social media post on Sunday, Trump issued a stark warning to Iran against retaliating on U.S. targets in the Middle East while also predicting Israel and Iran would “soon” make a deal to end their escalating conflict.

Meanwhile, Trump has rejected a plan presented by Israel to the U.S. to kill Khamenei, a U.S. official familiar with the matter told the Associated Press. The official was not authorized to comment on the sensitive matter and spoke on the condition of anonymity.

Canadians in the region are being warned there have been reports of military debris falling in “various locations” along with the strikes, and the government urged Canadians to follow the advice of local authorities.

Canada has launched a dedicated crisis response website and is advising Canadians to avoid all travel to Israel and Iran, and to avoid non-essential travel to Jordan. It’s urging a high degree of caution for travel to Qatar. — By Maura Forrest in Montreal, with files from the Associated Press and Nono Shen in Vancouver.