GENEVA, June 21 (AFP/Reuters): Iran said Friday it would not resume nuclear negotiations with the United States until Israel halts its attacks, as Israel's military chief warned the week-old war will be "prolonged".
A series of blasts were heard in Tehran on Friday as Iran's Fars news agency said air defences had been activated, as Israel kept up its bombardment and Iran launched missiles at its arch enemy.
"We must be ready for a prolonged campaign," Israeli military chief Eyal Zamir told Israelis in a video statement, eight days after his country launched a massive wave of strikes it said were aimed at stopping Iran from developing nuclear weapons-an ambition Tehran has denied.
"The campaign is not over. Although we have made significant achievements, difficult days still lie ahead," he said.
As US President Donald Trump mulls the prospect of entering the war between the two foes, top diplomats from Britain, France and Germany met with their Iranian counterpart Abbas Araghchi in Geneva.
Iran-Israel war must not
become refugee crisis: UN
The United Nations said on Saturday the Iran-Israel war must not be allowed to trigger another refugee crisis in the Middle East, saying once people fled there was no quick way back.
UNHCR, the UN's refugee agency, said the intensity of the attacks between the two sides was already triggering population movements in both countries.
Such movements had already been reported from Tehran and other parts of Iran, it said, with some people crossing into neighbouring countries.
Strikes in Israel had caused people to seek shelter elsewhere in the country and in some cases abroad.
"This region has already endured more than its share of war, loss and displacement. We cannot allow another refugee crisis to take root," said Filippo Grandi, the UN high commissioner for refugees.
Erdogan says Israel attacks
aimed to sabotage Iran talks
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Saturday that Israel's attacks on Iran right before a new round of nuclear talks with the United States aimed to sabotage the negotiations, and it showed Israel did not want to resolve issues through diplomacy.
Speaking at a foreign ministers' meeting of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation in Istanbul, Erdogan urged countries with influence over Israel not to listen to its "poison" and to seek a solution to the fighting via dialogue without allowing a wider conflict.
He also called on Muslim countries to increase their efforts to impose punitive measures against Israel on the basis of international law and United Nations' resolutions.
Israel military kills Iran
coordinator with Hamas
Israel's military said Saturday it had killed a top Iranian official in charge of military coordination with Palestinian militant group Hamas in a strike on Qom, south of Tehran.
Israeli "fighter jets struck and eliminated in the area of Qom the commander of the Palestine Corps of the Quds Force, and the key coordinator between the Iranian regime and the Hamas terrorist organisation, Saeed Izadi," the military said in a statement.
