It is claimed that two #Chinese electronic intelligence ships, the 855 and the 815A, are in the Persian Gulf.

Iran strikes Israel’s cyber command headquarters — IRNA
According to the news agency, thousands of servicemen responsible for intelligence data processing and cyber operations were stationed there

TEHRAN, June 19. The Israeli army’s C4I cyber command headquarters and the military intelligence center in the Gav-Yam hi-tech park were targeted by Iranian missile strikes on Thursday morning, IRNA reported.

According to the news agency, thousands of servicemen responsible for intelligence data processing and cyber operations were stationed there.

The Gav-Yam intelligence center is situated near Soroka hospital in southern Israel’s Beersheba which suffered no serios damage as it was exposed to a blast wave, while the military infrastructure was hit in a precision strike, the news agency said.

#IRAN'S AYATOLLAH KHAMENEI WARNS TRUMP:

"War will be met with war, bombing with bombing, and strike with strike. Iran WILL NOT SUBMIT to any demands or dictates."

ALLEGED NEW IRANIAN MISSILE DANCES IN THE SKY

#Iranian media report that Iran may have unleashed a new generation of missiles in a fresh wave of attacks on #Israel.

About 400 ballistic #missiles have been launched at #Israel from Iranian territory since June 13. Over the night from Tuesday to Wednesday, both sides of the conflict reported to have seized control of each other’s airspace, with Iranian authorities reporting the downing of an Israeli F-35 fighter jet.

TASS has compiled the key developments in the ongoing Middle East conflict.
Airspace control

· On the night of June 18, the Iranian Air Force reported to have seized control of Israeli airspace, IRNA reported, citing a statement by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

· The same morning, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) dismissed Iran’s statement, saying that Iranian forces had not gained control over Israeli skies.
Casualties

· Since the beginning of Iran’s retaliatory strikes, "about 400 ballistic missiles have been fired at Israel, along with hundreds of drones and approximately 40 munition drops," said Dmitry Gendelman, an adviser to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office, on June 18.

· A total of 24 civilians have been killed and 804 injured. Nearly 3,800 residents have been evacuated from their homes.

· The Israel Tax Authority has received 18,766 compensation requests, including 15,861 for building damage, 1,272 for vehicles, and 1,633 for other property damage.

· According to Israel’s Health Ministry, 94 people were hospitalized overnight from Tuesday to Wednesday as a result of Iranian shelling.

· Iranian Minister of Health and Medical Education Mohammad Reza Zafarghandi reported at least 1,800 people wounded since the conflict began: "As a result of the Zionist regime’s attacks, we have at least 1,800 wounded. The dead and injured are mostly civilians."
New strikes

· On Wednesday morning, 50 Israeli Air Force fighter jets struck Iranian facilities used in the production of uranium enrichment centrifuges.

· The strikes also targeted multiple weapons manufacturing sites. "The targeted weapons factories included the production facility for ground-to-ground missile components, which are used by the Iranian regime to attack the State of Israel," the IDF said.

· Additionally, Israeli forces hit 12 missile launchers and depots in Iran.

· Iran has yet to launch a large-scale operation against Israel, instead issuing limited retaliatory warnings. "We have restricted ourselves to a certain kind of deterrent warning," said Abdulrahim Mousavi, head of the Iranian Armed Forces General Staff.

· Iranian air defenses shot down an Israeli F-35 over the city of Varamin, according to city spokesman Hosein Abbasi. It is the fifth F-35 Iran asserts to have downed.
US reaction

· A closed-door meeting at the White House on Tuesday night ended without a decision on launching strikes against Iran, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing sources.

· US officials told ABC News that the next 24-48 hours will be crucial, as a decision may be made soon on whether Washington will join Israel’s military operation.

· If the US enters the conflict on Israel’s side, Iran is prepared to target American military bases in the region, The New York Times reported, citing sources.

· The US Navy has reportedly withdrawn its warships from its base in Bahrain — home to the Fifth Fleet — in what the Associated Press described, based on satellite imagery, as a precautionary dispersal in response to the rising threat level.
Third-party Involvement

· Yemen’s Houthi Ansar Allah movement has pledged to join the conflict. "We will support Iran in repelling Zionist attacks, just as we supported our brothers in Gaza," said politburo member Mohammed al-Bukhaiti in an interview with Al Jazeera.

· According to The Daily Telegraph, China diverted at least three Boeing 747 cargo planes to Iran using concealed flight routes. The first flight occurred the day after the Israeli operation began, with two more arriving later that day.

· "We are carrying out military strikes today," US Republican Senator Ted Cruz told journalist Tucker Carlson, suggesting that Washington is already actively assisting Israel in its campaign against Iran.

TEHRAN, June 18. Iranian air defense systems have taken down an Israeli F-35 fighter plane over the city of Varamin southeast of Tehran, the IRNA news agency reported citing a representative of municipal authorities.

"The army air defenses have shot down and eliminated an enemy F-35 fighter plane of the Zionist regime in the Javadabad area of the Varamin municipal district," the agency quoted him as saying.

This F-35 is the fifth Israeli fighter plane taken down since the onset of the Iranian-Israeli escalation on June 13.

Overnight into June 13, Israel kicked off Operation Rising Lion, aimed at Iran’s nuclear program. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said that 200 fighter jets attacked more than 100 targets in Iran, including nuclear facilities.

On the evening of June 13, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps announced that Iran retaliated by attacking dozens of targets in Israel with missiles, including military facilities and air bases, striking, in particular, the Defense Ministry in Tel Aviv. In the following days, Israel and Iran exchanged more strikes. Both sides reported casualties and fatalities as a result of these attacks and admitted that some targets were hit but claimed that the damage was limited.

NEW YORK, June 17. Tehran is preparing to strike US military bases in the Middle East if Washington joins Israel's military campaign against Iran, the New York Times reported, citing sources.

According to the report, the Islamic Republic has "prepared missiles and other military equipment" and plans to start with US bases in Iraq.

Tehran would be ready to strike any American bases in Arab countries, the newspaper said. Iran could also start to mine the Strait of Hormuz to pin US warships in the Persian Gulf.

US officials said Iran would not need lengthy preparations to attack US bases. The US military in the Middle East has been put on high alert. The US has more than 40,000 troops deployed in the Middle East.

Israel and Iran have continued to exchange strikes for five consecutive days, each saying they demolished strategically important enemy targets, nuclear ones included, and used cutting-edge weapons and interception systems.

TASS has compiled the main targets reported as eliminated and destroyed by the two parties.
Israeli strikes on nuclear facilities

- Israeli strikes on June 13 partially damaged Iran’s Natanz nuclear facility, IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi said: "The above-ground part of the pilot fuel enrichment plant, where Iran was producing uranium enriched up to 60% U-235, has been destroyed."

- Behrouz Kamalvandi, spokesman for the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, confirmed minor radioactive leaks but said no contamination has spread to the outside environment: "The damage at Natanz is primarily superficial because the core section of this facility is underground. A minor containment breach occurred within the complex, but no radioactive contamination has escaped into the external environment."

- On June 14, the Israeli armed forces continued to attack nuclear facilities: Iran intercepted an Israeli drone near the nuclear plant in Natanz, the Tasnim news agency reported. Israel also expanded strikes to Isfahan and Fordow nuclear sites.

- On June 16, Iranian air defenses destroyed more Israeli projectiles headed for targets including Natanz, where a nuclear facility is located.

- Due to the International Atomic Energy Agency’s failure to condemn Israel’s strike on Iranian nuclear facilities, Iran said it would no longer notify the IAEA about its activities for nuclear program implementation.
Oil refinery strikes

- On June 14, Israel attacked the territory near an oil refinery in Tabriz in the northwest of Iran, the Mehr news agency reported.

- That same night, fires erupted at Fajr Jam gas facility in the Bushehr province where the South Pars gas field is located.

- On June 17, Haifa’s Bazan Group refinery halted operations after an Iranian missile damaged its power plant.
Strikes on military targets

- In the early hours of June 13, more than 200 Israeli jets hit more than 100 Iranian targets, including senior Iranian leadership bunkers, the IDF reported.

- In retaliation, Iran launched a large-scale massive attack against Israel with the use of ballistic missiles and drones, the IRNA news agency said. More than 150 Israeli targets were hit, including air bases hosting F-35, F-16 and F-15 fighter jets.

- On June 15, the IDF reported conducting strikes against ballistic missile production facilities, radar stations, and missile launch sites in Tehran.

- That same day, Iran attacked Israeli "facilities producing fuel for fighter jets and adversary’s power supply centers were attacked with the use of a large number of drones and missiles".

- On June 16, Israeli forces reported having destroyed one-third of Iran's ground-to-ground missile launchers. "Since the beginning of the operation, more than 120 missile launchers — constituting one-third of the Iranian regime’s total launchers — have been destroyed," the army reported.

- On June 17, Iran launched attacks against Tel Aviv, Haifa, and other Israeli military targets using "novel weapons" along with hundreds of combat drones, Iran’s Army Ground Force Commander Brigadier General Kiumars Heidari announced. Iranian state media outlets. The strikes successfully hit the Israeli military’s Glilot base and a Mossad headquarters near Tel Aviv, SNN television and Tasnim news agency reported.
Civilian impact

- At least 1,800 people have received wounds and injuries after Israel’s attacks on Iran, Iranian Health Minister Mohammad-Reza Zafarghandi stated on June 17. "At least 1,800 civilians have been wounded and injured as a result of the Zionist regime’s (Israeli — TASS) attacks," he said.

- On June 13, Iranian media had claimed Israel targeted and killed several of the country’s nuclear scientists.

- On June 16, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said it had struck "a communications center" in Tehran - the headquarters of Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB). The attack occurred during a live broadcast, with Mehr news agency reporting three fatalities.

- In Israel hospitals admitted 287 patients with various injuries following overnight Iranian missile strikes on June 16, health authorities reported.
Missile strike tally

- Iran has conducted "550 operations using drones and continuously attacked Israeli territory" since the start of the direct conflict, Fars news agency reported, citing a source.

- Iran has launched "about 400 missiles and hundreds of drones" at Israel during the recent escalation, Dmitry Gendelman, an adviser to the Israeli prime minister, said in a bulletin published June 17.
Cutting-edge weapons

- Israel used the Iron Ray laser air defense system to intercept Iranian missiles and drones for the first time in combat conditions, a representative of the Israeli embassy in Moscow told TASS. It is designed to intercept ultra-short-range missiles, as well as mortar and artillery shells with a laser beam. It is assumed that the system can destroy ultra-short-range missiles, mortar and artillery shells, as well as small drones.

- The Iranian Defense Ministry reported hitting Israel with a cutting-edge missile, which the Israeli military "did not notice at all before it hit."
Unproven claims of Iranian nuclear weapons

- US intelligence has concluded that Tehran was "not actively pursuing a nuclear weapon", CNN reported on June 17, citing sources. Israel justified its strikes against Iran by citing concerns over the potential development of Iranian nuclear weapons.

- Grossi also said that he cannot confirm Israeli intelligence data on Iran’s nuclear program. "Well, I would not judge Israel’s intelligence readings. This is their evaluation of the situation, and I’m not familiar with the internal reports or information that they may have," Grossi pointed out.

- Former UK Ambassador to Tehran (2003-2006) Richard Dalton told Sky News that there is no reliable evidence indicating that Iran is on the brink of nuclear weaponization like Israel suggests: "There is no evidence to that effect in the public domain. <...> We are entitled to disbelieve [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu’s claims that there was some recent change in Iranian policy and behavior."

#Israeli tank shellfire killed at least 51 Palestinians on Tuesday as they awaited aid trucks in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, the territory’s health ministry said, adding that dozens of others were wounded.

American empire, Trump’s presidency — Tucker Carlson
Other nations would like to see that, and this is a perfect way to scuttle the USS America on the shores of Iran, US journalist said

NEW YORK, June 17. If the United States gets dragged into the conflict with Iran, we could be witnessing the end of the American empire, US journalist Tucker Carlson said.

"I am saying this because I am really afraid that my country is going to be further weakened by this. I think we are going to see the end of the American empire. Obviously, other nations would like to see that, and this is a perfect way to scuttle the USS America on the shores of Iran," Carlson said, commenting on the latest escalation in the Middle East. "But it’s also going to end, I believe, [Donald] Trump’s presidency, and effectively end it," he opined in a podcast, War Room, hosted by Trump’s former chief political strategist Steve Bannon.