Israel carried out airstrikes against Iranian nuclear and military targets beginning on June 12. The Israeli strikes hit missile bases, military headquarters, and nuclear facilities including Iran's Natanz uranium enrichment site. Israel also killed several senior Iranian nuclear scientists and high-ranking Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) generals, including armed forces chief of staff Mohammad Bagheri, IRGC head Hossein Salami, and IRGC Aerospace Force commander Amir Ali Hajizadeh. Iran retaliated by launching ballistic missiles at Israel. Both countries were continuing to exchange fire as of June 18.
News Briefs
June 18, 2025
-- Associated Press
June 12, 2025
Iran announced that it would begin operating a third uranium enrichment facility in response to its censure by the International Atomic Energy Agency's (IAEA) Board of Governors. The Agency's board voted to censure Iran following the release of a comprehensive report on IAEA investigations into suspected Iranian violations of its Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty obligations. The report concluded that Iran had failed to cooperate satisfactorily with the investigations into the presence of nuclear material at multiple undeclared sites. Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) spokesman Behrouz Kamalvandi said that the new enrichment site had already been constructed in an "invulnerable" location.
-- Associated Press
June 5, 2025
A federal jury in the United States convicted Pakistani national Muhammad Pahlawan on charges related to smuggling advanced conventional weapons from Iran to the Houthis in Yemen. Pahlawan captained an unflagged dhow that was boarded by the U.S. Navy in the Arabian Sea in January 2024, resulting in the seizure of weapons including ballistic missile components, anti-ship cruise missile components, and a warhead. Pahlawan had allegedly coordinated with two Iranian nationals affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), Shahab Mir’kazei and Yunus Mir’kazei, to make multiple smuggling voyages from Iran to Yemen since August 2023.
-- U.S. Department of Justice
May 31, 2025
In a report to member states, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said that Iran had increased its stockpile of uranium enriched to 60% purity from 274.8 kilograms to 408.6 kilograms since early February. IAEA Director General Raphael Grossi said that the rate of accumulation reflected "significantly increased production" of highly enriched uranium by Iran. According to an IAEA measure, Iran possessed enough 60%-enriched material to fuel 10 nuclear weapons at the time of the report.
-- Wall Street Journal
May 26, 2025
Iran's foreign ministry denied reports that Tehran was considering offering a three-year suspension of uranium enrichment as part of its nuclear negotiations with the United States. Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei said that Iran would not accept a suspension of its enrichment program, and Iranian president Masoud Pezeshkian said that Iran was willing to walk away from negotiations if necessary. Both Iran and the United States had reported progress in talks held in Rome on May 23.
-- Al Jazeera
May 16, 2025
Diplomats from Iran, France, Germany, and the United Kingdom met for talks in Istanbul. It was the first negotiation between Iran and the three European countries since U.S.-Iran talks on Iran's nuclear program began in April. Iran and the European parties agreed to meet again if needed, according to Iran's deputy foreign minister.
-- Reuters
May 6, 2025
U.S. President Donald Trump announced a ceasefire agreement between the United States and the Houthi rebels in Yemen. The United States had been carrying out an air campaign against the Houthis since mid-March, in response to Houthi attacks on commercial shipping in the Red Sea. According to the foreign minister of Oman, which helped broker the agreement, the United States agreed to stop striking Houthi targets in exchange for the Houthis stopping attacks against U.S. vessels. It was not clear whether the Houthis agreed to halt attacks on other vessels.
-- New York Times
May 5, 2025
Iran claimed to have successfully tested a new ballistic missile named Qassem Bassir. Iranian Defense Minister Aziz Nasirzadeh said the missile had a 1,200 kilometer range and claimed that it could evade the U.S. Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) missile defense system. Western and Russian experts said that the missile was the first Iranian medium-range ballistic missile to use electro optical (EO) seekers, which make it resistant to electronic jamming. According to Iranian media, the Qassem Bassir is an upgraded version of the Martyr Hajj Qassem missile unveiled in 2020.
-- RFE/RL
May 4, 2025
A missile fired from Yemen evaded Israel's Arrow air defense system to strike Ben Gurion Airport near Tel Aviv, forcing the airport to briefly stop operations. The Houthis claimed responsibility for the attack and said that they had used a hypersonic ballistic missile. They also declared their intention to repeatedly target Israeli airports in order to disrupt flights entering and leaving the country.
-- CNN
April 27, 2025
A large explosion at Shahid Rajaei port in southern Iran killed 25 people and injured 800, according to Iranian state media. Private security firm Ambrey said that the port had received a shipment of ammonium perchlorate, a missile propellant ingredient, from China in March and that initial reporting indicated the explosion was linked to improper handling of the chemical. The Iranian defense ministry denied that consignments with military applications were present at the port.
-- Associated Press