Iran rejects any negotiation with US while Israeli attacks continue

TEHRAN, June 20 (Agencies): Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi rejected any negotiations with the United States while Israel continues its attacks on Iran, in an interview with state TV broadcast on Friday.

"The Americans have repeatedly sent messages calling seriously for negotiations. But we have made clear that as long as the aggression does not stop, there will be no place for diplomacy and dialogue," said the chief diplomat, who was due in Geneva for talks with his European counterparts.

Earlier this week, Reuters had reported, quoting an unnamed German official, that foreign ministers from Germany, France and the UK would hold talks with Iranian officials as part of the European bloc’s push to end the conflict through diplomacy and ensure that Iran’s nuclear enrichment is strictly for civilian purposes.

US joining Israeli strikes would cause hell, Iranian minister tells

The US joining Israeli strikes would cause "hell for the whole region", Iran's deputy foreign minister has told the BBC.

Saeed Khatibzadeh said this is "not America's war" and if US President Donald Trump does get involved, he will always be remembered as "a president who entered a war he doesn't belong in".

He said US involvement would turn the conflict into a "quagmire", continue aggression and delay an end to the "brutal atrocities".

His comments came after the Soroka hospital in southern Israel was hit during an Iranian missile attack. Iranian state media reported that the strike targeted a military site next to the hospital, and not the facility itself.

Israel's Ministry of Health said 71 people were injured during the attack on the Soroka Medical Centre.

Meanwhile, Israel's military said it had targeted Iran's nuclear sites including the "inactive" Arak heavy water reactor and Natanz facility.

Tehran has not given an update on casualties in Iran from Israeli strikes.

Iran appoints new Revolutionary

Guards intelligence chief

Iran appointed a new chief of intelligence at its Revolutionary Guards on Thursday, the official Irna news agency said, after his predecessor was killed in an Israeli strike last week.

Major General Mohammad Pakpour, the commander of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), appointed Brigadier General Majid Khadami as the new head of its intelligence division, Irna said.

He replaces Mohammed Kazemi, who was killed on Sunday alongside two other Revolutionary Guards officers-Hassan Mohaghegh and Mohsen Bagheri-in an Israeli strike.

Thousands protest in Tehran, Baghdad against war

Thousands of people joined a protest against Israel in the Iranian capital on Friday after weekly prayers, chanting slogans in support of their leaders, images on state television showed.

"This is the Friday of the Iranian nation's solidarity and resistance across the country," the news anchor said.

Footage showed protesters in Tehran holding up photographs of commanders killed since the start of the war with Israel, while others waved the flags of Iran and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah.

Thousands of supporters of powerful Iraqi cleric Moqtada Sadr rallied Friday in Baghdad and other cities against Israel's war with Iran, AFP correspondents said.

"No to Israel! No to America!" chanted demonstrators gathered after Friday prayers in the Sadr City district of Baghdad, Moqtada Sadr's stronghold in the capital, holding umbrellas to shield themselves from Iraq's scorching summer sun.

"It is an unjust war... Israel has no right" to hit Iran, said protester Abu Hussein.

"Israel is not in it for the (Iranian) nuclear (program). What Israel and the Americans want is to dominate the Middle East," added the 54-year-old taxi driver.

Israel army says struck weapons

research centre in Tehran

Israel's military said Friday it struck dozens of targets in Tehran overnight, including what it called a centre for the "research and development of Iran's nuclear weapons project," in the eighth day of war between the two foes.

Countries evacuating citizens

from Iran and Israel

Countries around the world are taking measures to evacuate their citizens from Israel and Iran as the two nations enter the seventh day of their air war and airspace in the region remains closed.

A week of Israeli air and missile strikes against its major rival has wiped out the top echelon of Iran's military command, damaged its nuclear capabilities and killed hundreds of people, while Iranian retaliatory strikes have killed at least two dozen civilians in Israel.

Here are some of the countries whose citizens have left:

AUSTRALIA

The Australian government evacuated by land a small group of the 1,200 Australians seeking to leave Israel on Wednesday, Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong said on Thursday.

Around 2,000 Australians in Iran have registered for assistance.

CHINA

China has evacuated more than 1,600 citizens from Iran and hundreds more from Israel, a Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson said on Thursday. Several thousand Chinese nationals are thought to reside in Iran, according to state media reports.

FRANCE

France will arrange a convoy by the end of the week from Iran to the Turkish or Armenian borders, French foreign minister Jean-Noel Barrot said on Thursday.

French citizens in Israel can board buses starting Friday morning from the Jordanian border and a flight has been chartered from Amman, Barrot said.

GERMANY

345 German citizens have left the Middle East region, the foreign ministry said, after the country provided charter flights to Germany.

INDIA

India said on Wednesday that it had launched "Operation Sindhu" to evacuate Indian nationals from Iran. 110 Indian students have been evacuated from northern Iran into Armenia on June 17, India's foreign ministry said.

ITALY

Italy is organizing a charter flight from Egypt on June 22 to allow its citizens to leave Israel. The country is facilitating road convoys from Teheran to countries neighbouring Iran, the foreign ministry said on Friday.

JAPAN

87 Japanese nationals and their family members have evacuated by land to neighbouring countries from Israel and Iran, Japan's Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya said on Friday.