Israel Report - Saturday 21 June 2025
I will go and return to my place, till they acknowledge their offence, and seek my face: in their affliction they will seek me early. [Hosea 5; v 15]
For I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, 'Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. [[Matthew 23 v 39]
IRAN Update
Israel and Iran traded more blows overnight and on Friday, as the conflict continued into its eighth day.
Among the most notable targets struck in Israel today was the port city of Haifa.
Local mayor Yona Yahav [above] confirmed that Iran had struck “two strategic points” in the city. Visiting the impact site, he said: “I am very depressed. To the residents of Haifa, I say — strictly follow the instructions.”
There were reports of two people injured in Haifa, one of them seriously injured, according to Haaretz. The same source stated that at least 20 missiles were identified as part of this wave of strikes, with some hitting areas of Beersheba and others coming down in Haifa.
Haifa is home to the main naval base of the Israel Defence Forces, home to submarines, corvettes, and other vessels. It remains unclear at this point whether this was the intended target and whether or not it was hit.
A satellite image reveals how close the impact was to the port facilities and fuel farm.
Israeli Channel 12 TV reported today that the international shipping company Maersk has decided to suspend all of its shipping movements to the port until further notice.
The Israeli Defence Force (IDF) said more than 60 fighter jets using approximately 120 munitions hit dozens of Iranian military areas overnight, including targets inside the Iranian capital.
In a post on X, the IDF said it struck several industrial sites in Tehran, which it claimed were used to manufacture missiles. “During the night, several industrial sites used to manufacture missiles were struck in the Tehran area. These sites were developed over many years and served as a key industrial centre for the Iranian Ministry of Defence,” it said.
Other targets were said to be sites producing missile components and facilities manufacturing raw materials used in casting missile engines. Additionally, a site producing an undisclosed critical component of the Iranian regime’s nuclear weapons program was targeted, the IDF said.
Reportedly, a key Iranian nuclear scientist was killed in a strike on a building in Tehran.
Today, Israeli Minister of Defence Israel Katz said that he had authorised the military to intensify attacks on “symbols of the regime” in the Iranian capital.
“We must strike at all the symbols of the regime and the mechanisms of oppression of the population, such as the Basij, and the regime’s power base, such as the Revolutionary Guard,” Katz said in a statement.
The IDF also said that more than 25 Israeli Air Force (IAF) fighters destroyed more than 35 missile storage and launch facilities in Iran on Friday morning. These targets were in the areas of Tabriz and Kermanshah in Iran, the Israeli military said.
After a week of Israeli strikes, it is estimated that at least 657 people have been killed and 2,037 others wounded. These figures come from the Washington-based Human Rights Activists group. Of those dead, the group identifies 263 civilians and 164 security force personnel.
Iran has ruled out — at least publicly — talks with the United States over ending its nuclear weapons program as long as Israeli “aggression” continues.
This comes after Trump signaled yesterday that he would decide on whether to order the U.S. military to strike Iranian nuclear facilities within the next two weeks and has demanded Iran return to the negotiating table.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi [above] said the country’s leadership will not hold talks with Washington as it is a “partner to Israeli crimes against Iran.” Reuters reports that Araqchi had told Iranian state TV: “There is no room for negotiations with us until Israeli aggression stops.”
Trump indicated Friday that he was disinclined to ask Israel to halt its strikes against Iran, despite Tehran’s foreign minister asserting that his country would not hold nuclear talks with Washington as long as Israel’s offensive across the Islamic Republic continued.
“I think it’s very hard to make that request right now,” Trump told reporters. “If somebody is winning, it’s a little bit harder to do that [than] if somebody’s losing. But we’re ready, willing and able, and we’ve been speaking to Iran.”
US B2 Spirit stealth bombers have left US soil on their way to the Middle East.
According to open sources and communications, US Pegasus tankers have refueled a pair of B2s over the Pacific Ocean, while another pair is operating about 75 km behind them.
Two more tankers took off from north of San Francisco and are heading north. The planes are expected to leave tracking range in the coming hours, with the next refueling point being in Hawaii later today - but en route to Guam.
Will they reach the base in Diego Garcia? The base is 3,000 km from Iran, easily within their range.
The US and Coalition forces have concentrated a huge aircraft presence at Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia. The airbase now houses at least 20 new tankers, as well as nearly 40 F-15/F-16 fighters.
RUSSIA SPEAKS;
There have been more statements from Russian officials about the course of the conflict.
The Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov [above] warned of the risk of the Middle East more generally falling into an “abyss of instability and war.”
Peskov also told reporters that he didn’t know when Russian President Vladimir Putin might meet President Trump. “The situation is extremely tense and is dangerous not only for the region but globally,” he added.
Peskov also told Sky News that Russia would react “very negatively” if Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei were to be killed.
It is being reported that Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has begun naming possible successors in case the commanders are eliminated. 3 clerics have been identified as his possible successors.
U.S Airforce to Europe - Middle East…
The movement of U.S. Air Force aircraft into Europe, and then forward to bases in the Middle East, continues.
In the past, we have reported specifically about the deployment of tankers and fighters to locations closer to the conflict zone.
The departure of F-22 Raptor stealth fighters from RAF Lakenheath in England has also been observed today, with the likely destinations being U.S. airbases in the Middle East, as evidenced by the movement of aerial refueling tankers to support them on their trip.
Meanwhile, in the last couple of days, there has been extensive evidence of U.S. Air Force transport aircraft movements. Publicly available flight-tracking data reveals that at least 20 C-17 Globemaster III airlifters have been on the move from Europe to bases in the Middle East in the last 24 hours.
The arrival of a C-5 Galaxy strategic transport aircraft was also noted today at Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia.
Iranian Aircraft are on The Move Too……
This follows the highly unusual movement of Iran’s primary presidential plane and two other government airliners to the Omani capital Muscat.
The latest movements concern a pair of Boeing 737s from Saha Airlines and a single Airbus A320 from Meraj Airlines.
Transporting who one wonders?
Iranian Internet Shut Down…. Earthquake…
The shutdown of the internet in Iran is making new videos and images from the conflict there scarce. A recently posted video, shot a few days ago, shows a massive Israeli airstrike on Tehran.
New satellite imagery shows an underground facility Israel hit about 20 kilometres west of the Fordow nuclear site.
Amid all the bombardment, Iran was hit by a “moderately strong, 5.1-magnitude earthquake.”
The temblor happened at 9:19 p.m. Iran time about 22 miles southwest of Semnan, Iran, data from the agency shows.
Huge Crowds Rally Across Middle East, Venting Anger at Israel……..
Demonstrators took to the streets of Iran, Iraq and Lebanon on Friday after midday prayers, expressing anger at Israel’s widening offensive.
Tens of thousands of demonstrators poured into the streets across Iran, Iraq and Lebanon on Friday after midday prayers, in a sweeping display of fury toward Israel amid a rapidly widening regional conflict.
In Tehran, crowds surged from mosques into central squares, trampling and burning Israeli and American flags while holding aloft portraits of Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Chants of “Death to Israel” and “Death to America” rang out from the sea of demonstrators as they marched in what Iranian state media called protests of “rage and victory.” Similar demonstrations in support of the country’s military were also reported in at least half a dozen other Iranian cities, including Tabriz and Mashhad.
In Iraq, thousands gathered on Friday in Baghdad’s Sadr City district — a stronghold of the powerful Shiite cleric Moktada al-Sadr, who has at times resisted Iranian influence — to denounce Israel and express solidarity with Iran.
In Basra and Najaf, two other Shiite-majority cities in Iraq, crowds echoed similarly defiant sentiments.
In the southern suburbs of the Lebanese capital, Beirut, where the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah holds sway, supporters also staged rallies, marching amid the rubble of neighbourhoods heavily damaged during Hezbollah’s recent war with Israel.
Still reeling from its recent war with Israel, Hezbollah — Iran’s most powerful regional ally — has for now indicated privately that it does not intend to intervene in Iran’s conflict with Israel, according to senior Lebanese officials and Western diplomats.
It simply no longer has the ability to do so.
Israel Report
Amen!!!