Israel kills three top Iranian commanders as Erdogan says he's 'optimistic' for Tehran's 'victory'

Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthis will attack US ships in the Red Sea if Trump joins the Israeli strikes on Iran, the Yemeni militia's spokesman Ameen Hayyan said in a video message on X.

Houthi forces have been attacking ships in the Red Sea and surrounding waters since the war in Gaza broke out in October 2023, often targeting commercial vessels operated by the US and Israel.

In a statement, the Qatari Prime Minister and Foreign Minister,  Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani, has called for "concerted regional and international efforts to de-esalate tensions and resolve disputes" after a meeting with the Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi.

The Qatari Prime Minister also condemned Israel's "aggression" against Iran, describing it as "a clear breach of the rules and principles of international law."

An Israeli strike has hit a centrifuge manufacturing workshop at the Isfahan nuclear site in Iran, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has said in a statement, but adds that no radiological consequences are foreseen.

It is the third such facility targeted in Israel’s attacks on Iran’s nuclear-related sites over the past week, according to IAEA chief Rafael Grossi.

“We know this facility well. There was no nuclear material at this site and therefore the attack on it will have no radiological consequences,” Grossi said.

Grossi has previously said that “attacks on nuclear sites in (...) Iran have caused a sharp degradation in nuclear safety and security” in the country.

Iran has acknowledged detaining a German cyclist for the first time, AP reports, after footage of the unnamed man's arrest emerged on the semi-official Mehr news agency.

That footage says the cyclist was detained in the Markazi province. According to AP's information, German news agency DPA had previously reported that the arrest took place last year and that the man is being held in Tehran's notorious Evin prison, where several European citizens have been arbitrarily held in recent years.

Euronews has reached out to the German Ministry of Foreign Affairs to confirm the detention of the German national and to corroborate the date of the arrest.

Tehran's public acknowledgment of the detention could signal it is looking to use the detainee as a bargaining chip, with Germany one of the key European nations spearheading efforts to find a diplomatic solution to the conflict.

Germany has temporarily moved its Tehran embassy staff out of the country due to the "current threat situation," a foreign ministry official said on Saturday according to Reuters.

Other European countries including the UK, Portugal and the Czech Repulic have also withdrawn diplomatic staff from their Tehran embassies in recent days.

Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has named three successors to replace him should he be killed in an Israeli strike, and nominated commanders to replace his top military brass should more of them be killed, the New York Times reports.

Citing three senior Iranian officials familiar with the plans, the New York Times reports Ali Khamenei has appointed these successors from an underground bunker where he is believed to be sheltering with his family.

An update on our previous reporting that Iran had partially recovered its internet connectivity.

Internet-access advocacy group NetBlocks.org has now reported another collapse "following a brief period when residents could exchange messages with the outside world."

"Iran's nation-scale internet shutdown remains in effect, limiting access to information as the conflict with Israel continues," the group said.

The Israeli army has said that its Air Force fighter jets are carrying out fresh strikes on military targets in southwestern Iran.

It comes as Iranian media report several "powerful explosions" in the oil-rich Khuzestan province, including in the vicinity of the city of Ahvaz.

Smoke had also been seen rising above the port city of Mahshahr, Fars news agency said.

Air defences have reportedly been activated in both areas.

An Israeli official has described Iran's overnight attack as a "small barrage", claiming Israel has successfully debilitated Iran's ability to strike back in recent days.

“We've been able to take out a large amount of their launchers, creating a bottleneck — we're making it harder for them to fire toward Israel,” the official said, according to AP. “Having said all that, I want to say the Iranian regime obviously still has capabilities.”

Israel estimates it has now taken out more than 50% of Iran's launchers, the official added.

We previously reported that the IDF had said it had killed two Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) commanders: Saeed Izadi and Behnam Shahriyari.

Israel confirmed in a military briefing on Saturday that a third commander, Aminpour Judaki, who led a drone unit within the IRGC, has also been killed, AFP reports.

If you're just joining us, here’s a summary of today’s developments:

• Israel and Iran have exchanged more strikes overnight. The Isfahan nuclear site was struck in central Iran, while a drone fell on a residential area in northern Israel, marking the first time an Iranian UAV has penetrated Israeli defences since the start of the conflict.

• Three senior IRGC commanders were killed in overnight strikes according to the Israeli military. They include a commander of the Palestine Corps in the Iranian Quds Force, responsible for coordinating with the militant group Hamas.

• 430 people have been killed and 3,056 wounded in Iran since Israel since the conflict started on June 13, according to the Iranian Health Ministry.

• Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has told a gathering of Arab League foreign ministers that he is “optimistic victory will be Iran's.” He accused Israel of sabotaging the nuclear talks between Iran and the US and said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is not interested in "resolving issues through diplomatic means."

• Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi has warned that it would be “very, very dangerous for everyone” if the US were to join Israeli attacks on Iran.

• Emmanuel Macron has said he will "accelerate" negotiations with Iran, despite US President Donald Trump claiming earlier that “Europe is not going to be able to help” and that Iran “doesn’t want to speak to Europe.”

French President Emmanuel Macron has spoken to Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and vowed to accelerate diplomatic efforts to reach a negotiated settlement.

"I am convinced that a path exists to end war and avoid even greater dangers," Macron said in a post on X. "To achieve this, we will accelerate the negotiations led by France and its European partners with Iran."

Macron's foreign minister, Jean-Noël Barrot, was among the four European diplomats who met with their Iranian counterpart Abbas Araghchi in Geneva on Friday. Macron's vow to keep pushing towards a diplomatic solution comes despite Trump claiming late last night that “Europe is not going to be able to help."

Macron also said he had reiterated his calls for two French citizens, Cécile Kohler and Jacques Paris, to be released from an Iranian prison. They were arrested at Tehran airport in May 2022 after spending a holiday in the country.

The French President also repeated the demand that Iran never aquire a nuclear weapon.

The Iranian Minister of Communications has said that as of tonight, Iran's internet connection will be "fully restored", our colleagues from Euronews' Persian and Arabic services report.

Over recent days, internet connection in Iran has been significantly disrupted, creating a near-communication blackout for many.

Internet-access advocacy group NetBlocks.org reported a "partial restoration in internet connectivity" this morning after what they described as a "~62 hour government-imposed shutdown."

It said coverage remains "diminished in some areas and overall connectivity remains below ordinary levels."

The Israeli military has released satellite images it says show destruction caused to the nuclear site in Isfahan following this morning's strikes.

The images suggest several above-the-ground facilities have been hit and damaged.

In comments made to reporters in Istanbul earlier on Saturday, the Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said that US involvement in the conflict would be "unfortunate" and "very, very dangerous."

"Unfortunately we have heard that the US may join this aggression. That would be very unfortunate and I think that would be very, very dangerous for everybody," Araghchi said.

He also repeated his comments made in Geneva last night that in order for Iran to return to the negotiating table with the US, "the aggression should be stopped."

"It is obvious I can not go to negotiations with the United States when our people are under bombardment, under the support of the United States," he said, indicating Iran had "indications" that the US may have supported Israel's bombardments "since day one."

"We are optimistic that victory will be Iran's," Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said ahead of a gathering of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in Istanbul.

In the speech to foreign ministers of the OIC member states, Erdogan slammed Israeli Prime Minsiter Benjamin Netanyahu, accusing him of "not wanting to resolve issues through diplomatic means" and even comparing his "ambitions" to Hitler's.

Erdogan said that Israel's strikes on Iran intended to derail the nuclear negotiations between Iran and the US.

He also said Iran had taken "legitimate precautions" to protect its own people "within the framework of self-defence."

Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan gives an opening speech during the Council of Foreign Ministers of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation meeting, in Istanbul, Turkey, Saturday, June 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)

Turkey's foreign minsiter Hakan Fidan has said Israel is "pushing the region to the brink of total disaster" and called on the international community to prevent a further sprial of violence.

Fidan spoke ahead of a meeting of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in Instabul. He added that the OIC should "act together and show solidarity with Iran."

The UN refugee agency, UNHCR, has called for de-escalation between Israel and Iran, warning that more people could be displaced.

“This region has already endured more than its share of war, loss, and displacement — we cannot allow another refugee crisis to take root,” the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi, said. “The time to de-escalate is right now. Once people are forced to flee, there’s no quick way back — and all too often, the consequences last for generations.”

Many Iranians are reported to have fled to neighbouring countries including Armenia, Azerbaijan and Turkey in recent days.

Hours after a group of European foreign ministers met their Iranian counterpart for talks in Geneva on Friday, US President Donald Trump appeared to dismiss their push for negotiations.

"Iran doesn’t want to speak to Europe, they want to speak to us,” the US president told reporters as he arrived in Morristown, New Jersey.

“Europe is not going to be able to help in this one.”

The British, French and German foreign ministers, as well as the EU's top diplomat Kaja Kallas said in a joint statement on Friday that they "shared their support for discussions to continue and welcomed ongoing US efforts to seek a negotiated solution."

“This is a perilous moment, and it is hugely important that we don’t see regional escalation of this conflict,” the UK's Foreign Secretary David Lammy said after the meeting.

The Iranian foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, said after the meeting that Iran was open to talks on its nuclear programme once Israeli attacks on Iran had stopped.

Trump has given a two-week timeline to decide whether the US will join Israel in striking Iran's nuclear sites.

President Donald Trump speaks with reporters upon arriving at Morristown Municipal Airport in Morristown, N.J., Friday, June 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

In a post on X, an adviser to Iran's Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, has said Tehran will make the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Grossi, "pay" after the war is over.

Ali Larijani's threat would suggest Tehran believes the atomic agency played a role in triggering the conflict.

A recent quarterly report issued by the IAEA voiced "serious concern" over Tehran's tockpile of uranium enriched to near weapons-grade levels, saying Iran had become “the only non-nuclear-weapon state to produce such material."

But Grossi has since repeatedly said there is no conclusive evidence Iran is developing nuclear weapons.

Magen David Adom, Israel's national emergency service, has said that a drone strike has hit a two-storey residential building in northern Israel.

" At this stage, no visible casualties have been identified. Forces at the site are conducting searches beneath the rubble to ensure no one is trapped," it added in a post on X.

It would mark the first Iranian drone to impact a residential area since the conflict began.

Let's take a look at comments made to the media last night by the Russian President during a Q&A at a flagship economic event in St Petersburg.

Putin suggested, again, that Moscow could help mediate the conflict between Israel and Iran, by finding a compromise that would allow Tehran to pursue a strictly peaceful nuclear programme.

Putin said it was a "delicate issue" but believed that "a solution could be found."

He strongly refuted allegations that the Kremlin had abandoned its ally, Tehran, claiming Moscow has maintained good realtions with both Iran and Israel.

He also said he had asked both Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US President Donald Trump to ensure the safety of Russian nationals working at the nuclear power plant in Iran’s port of Bushehr, a project Moscow is supporting.

Read Kieran Guilbert's full write-up of the Russian President's comments

Putin wants to broker Israel-Iran deal while ramping up war in Ukraine

The offer to mediate between Israel and Iran comes as Russia has intensified its war against Ukraine, including striking residential buildings in Kyiv.…

A commander of the Weapons Transfer Unit of the Quds Force, a branch of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), has been killed in a strike in western Iran, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) have said in a post on X.

Commander Behnam Shahriyari was "responsible for all weapons transfers from the Iranian regime to its proxies across the Middle East," the IDF said.

It comes as Iran's Tasnim news agency says that five further IRGC members were killed in total following an Israeli strike on Khorramabad this morning.

We have updated numbers on Iranian casualties resulting from Israeli strikes, which started nine days ago on Friday, 13 June.

The Health Ministry says 430 people have been killed and more than 3,500 injured.

Among the sites targeted by Israel overnight was Iran's nuclear facility in Isfahan, a city in central Iran, around 440km south of Tehran.

According to the Fars and Mehr news agencies, the strike caused no hazardous leaks or risks to the population.

A local official told both agencies that the attack "occurred at dawn today" and that "no leakage of hazardous materials was detected."

The Iranian Health Ministry has said, however, that it is taking "precautionary measures" to address any potential nuclear or chemical leak at its nuclear facilities.

The Israeli military, the IDF, has said the strikes targeted "a centrifuge production facility" at the Isfahan site and that "significant damage" was caused to its centrifuge production capabilities.

This satellite image provided by Maxar Technologies shows the Isfahan enrichment facility in Iran, Tuesday June 3, 2025. (Maxar Technologies via AP)

The IDF and the Israeli defence minister Israel Katz have said that an Israeli strike has killed a commander of the Palestine Corps in the Iranian Quds Force, a branch of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC).

The commader, Saeed Izadi, “funded and armed Hamas ahead of the October 7 massacre," according to Katz. The IDF said in a statement that he was responsible for "military coordination" between Hamas and "senior commanders of the IRGC and the Iranian regime."

Katz described it as "a huge achievement for Israeli intelligence and the Israeli Air Force."

The strike was carried out in an apartment in the Iranian city of Qom. The deputy governor of Qom said that a child and two further people were killed as part of an attack on a residential building in the city, according to Iranian media.

The IRGC has not yet confirmed Izadi's death.

More on the meeting of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) starting today in Istanbul, Turkey.

More than 40 foreign ministers from the OIC's 57 member states are exected to be in attendance, including the Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi, who met with his British, French and German counterparts as well as the EU's top diplomat, Kaja Kallas, in Geneva yesterday.

“At this meeting, at the suggestion of Iran, the issue of the Zionist regime’s attack on our country will be specifically addressed,” Araghchi said, according to Iran's Tasnim news agency.

The Turkish President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, is also expected to attend, Turkish media reports.

It's Saturday, 21 June, and the Israel-Iran conflict has entered its ninth day.

Euronews' team will bring you the latest updates and breaking news from the region in our rolling coverage.