UN nuclear watchdog says no damage seen at Iran’s Fordow or Khondab sites
No damage was observed at Iran’s Fordow Fuel Enrichment Plant or the Khondab heavy water reactor, which is still under construction, the UN nuclear watchdog said Saturday.
No further damage has been seen at Natanz since Israeli strikes there on Friday, it added.
Earlier, the agency confirmed that four critical buildings at the Isfahan nuclear site were hit, including a uranium conversion facility and a fuel plate fabrication plant, but reported no change in off-site radiation levels.
“As in Natanz, no increase in off-site radiation expected,” the IAEA said on X.
An Iranian ballistic missile struck a residential building in the northern Israeli city of Tamra on Saturday night, killing one woman and injuring 13 others, according to Hebrew media.
The two-story home, located east of Haifa, was directly hit during a new wave of missile fire launched from Iran.
Earlier, the Israeli military confirmed that several missiles had been fired from Iranian territory. Channel 13 reported that one person was critically wounded and five others lightly hurt in western Galilee before the Tamra strike.
According to Walla News, Iran launched between 40 and 45 missiles in the initial barrage. Missiles were also sighted over Jerusalem, with reports of explosions in other northern cities including Haifa.
The United States is not a party to the military conflict with Iran and must be distinguished from the Israelis, Iran’s deputy foreign minister Kazem Gharibabadi said Saturday.
“If Israeli attacks end, there is a possibility of returning to the negotiating table,” he added.
Gharibabadi said no one has the right to demand restraint from Iran.
“Have we ever attacked the United States or assassinated anyone there? Then why are there so many American military bases surrounding Iran?”
He defended Iran's missile attacks on Israel and said, “Our attack on Israel was a legitimate act of self-defense and fully legal.”
Russia's President Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump talk during a bilateral meeting at the G20 leaders summit in Osaka, Japan, June 28, 2019.
Donald Trump told his Russian counterpart the United States remains open to renewed nuclear negotiations with Iran, but Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said Tehran will not return to talks until Israeli attacks stop.
Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin held a 50-minute call on Saturday focused on the escalating conflict between Israel and Iran, after Oman's foreign minister announced the sixth round of Tehran-Washington talks will not take place.
“Putin condemned Israel's military operation against Iran and expressed serious concern about a possible escalation of the conflict, which would have unpredictable consequences for the entire situation in the Middle East,” Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov said Saturday.
Trump said that his special envoy Steve Witkoff was ready to resume nuclear talks with Iran's foreign minister, according to the Russian president's foreign policy adviser.
“While there will be no meeting Sunday, we remain committed to talks and hope the Iranians will come to the table soon,” Axios quoted a US official as saying.
However, Pezeshkian told French President Emmanuel Macron in a phone call, “The Islamic Republic will not sit at the negotiating table under pressure, irrational demands, double standards—or during continued Israeli aggression."
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas on Saturday that continued Israeli attacks—and US support for them—made talks “unjustifiable.”
Foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei also said Israel's strikes had “rendered diplomacy meaningless.”
Yet behind the scenes, there may still be movement. Despite Iran’s hard public line, two Western diplomats told Axios that Araghchi privately indicated Tehran could return to talks once it concludes its military response to Israel’s strikes.
