What we know
- NEW WAVE OF STRIKES: Israel and Iran continued to exchange strikes today, a week into their war. Israel’s military said it targeted areas in western Iran, while a building was hit in the southern Israeli city of Beersheba.
- EUROPE-IRAN TALKS: Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi will be in the Swiss city of Geneva today for talks with his British, French, German and E.U. counterparts in an effort to end the conflict. The U.S. envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, will not attend.
- TRUMP CONSIDERS U.S. ACTION: President Donald Trump said he was still considering a U.S. military strike on Iran’s nuclear sites. “I will make my decision whether or not to go within the next two weeks,” he said yesterday, according to the White House.
- HUNDREDS KILLED: Israeli strikes have killed at least 639 people in Iran since the conflict began a week ago, The Associated Press reported, citing a Washington-based human rights group. The Iranian health ministry says more than 2,500 people have been wounded. The death toll in Israel from Iran's retaliatory strikes remains at 24.
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American Iranians' concern grows as communication gets harder
American Iranians say they are worried about the safety of their loved ones in Iran as the recent attacks are making communication much harder.
Americans flee Israel after strikes forced flights to stop
Some Americans in Israel have been able to leave the region after a flight arranged by Florida in partnership with a nonprofit organization brought evacuees home after Israeli airspace was closed off for most civilian flights for over a week.
'War in Iran but you're eating chips': Young Iranians take to TikTok
As tensions in Iran rise, young Iranians are turning to TikTok to voice their anxiety and anger about the escalating conflict.
One widely viewed video — verified by NBC News and viewed 1.5 million times — shows a young woman in a car fleeing the capital. "It's war in Iran but you're eating chips and your cousins got 50 cent on full blast while heading north,“ text on the video read. "Leaving tehran I can’t stand this anymore…,” it reads.
The owner of the TikTok account @nusey.bah declined to comment until she crossed the border.
Another TikTok user, Hasti Zendehdel, said she began posting to show “the humanity behind the headlines.” She last visited Tehran in March 2024. “I miss hearing my mother tongue...my cousins...the scent of orange blossoms in our neighborhood,” she said. “I miss everything.”
Emerson T. Brooking, director of strategy at the Atlantic Council’s Digital Forensic Research Lab, said: “If younger generations grow up with different views of other people, it becomes harder for them to contemplate violence against them. They understand that even if someone lives under an oppressive regime, they have the same thoughts, feelings and creativity.”
Israel to build 1,000 shelters
The Israeli government approved a plan recently to build 1,000 shelters throughout the country and renovate 500 others, according to Defense Ministry said.
"In light of the security situation, the government recently approved a plan in a telephone poll to accelerate protection in the home front," it said in a statement.
‘She’s wrong’: Trump breaks with Gabbard on Iran assessment
Trump broke with his intelligence community and National Intelligence Director Tulsi Gabbard over Iran's nuclear capabilities.
Asked by NBC News why he disagreed with the assessment of his own intelligence agencies, who said they had no evidence Iran was building a nuclear weapon, Trump responded, "Well, then my intelligence community is wrong."
Trump — who was on the tarmac in Morristown, New Jersey, this afternoon, after Air Force One landed at the airport — then asked, "Who in the intelligence community said that?"
When told it was Gabbard, he said, "She's wrong."
Iranian foreign minister on U.S.: ‘We don’t know how we can trust them anymore’
NBC News’ Andrea Mitchell interviewed Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi in Geneva about the growing tensions among Israel, the United States and Iran.
Araghchi said Iran does not know whether the United States can be trusted anymore and called the Trump administration’s actions a “betrayal to diplomacy.”
Macron says Iran shouldn't be allowed to enrich any nuclear material
French President Emmanuel Macron told reporters today that a return to negotiations between Israel and Iran should include a push toward no nuclear enrichment by Iran.
It is the first time Macron has said Iran should not be allowed to enrich nuclear material. He has previously said Iran should not be allowed to develop a nuclear weapon.
Macron also said a return to talks should grant the International Atomic Energy Agency access to all nuclear-related sites in Iran, a framework to limit Iran's ballistic missile capability, an end to financing of groups France considers terrorists and the release of hostages.
A foreign ministry spokesperson in Paris added that France is proposing a ceasefire, a de-escalation and negotiations with Iran.
Following Macron's comments, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot met with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, British Foreign Secretary David Lammy and German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul in Geneva. The meeting provided hope that a return to talks is possible but did not give any concrete indication that that is the case, The Associated Press reported.
5.2-magnitude earthquake shakes central Iran
A 5.2-magnitude earthquake was reported in central Iran this evening. The earthquake struck about 22 miles southwest of Semnan, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
The earthquake was felt in Tehran, Karaj, Qom, Sorkheh and Damavand.
Israeli attacks on Iran nuclear installation caused radiological leaks, U.N. watchdog says
The head of the United Nations' nuclear watchdog today warned that Israeli attacks on Iran's Natanz nuclear site have caused radiological and chemical contamination within the facility.
"So far there is no radiological release affecting the public, but there is a danger this could still happen," International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Rafael Grossi told the U.N. Security Council.
Grossi added that a direct hit on the Bushehr power plant could also cause a dangerous meltdown and radioactive leak.
"A hit that disabled electrical power could cause its reactor’s core to melt, which could result in a high release of radioactivity to the environment," he added, according to a written statement.
Strikes against the Tehran Nuclear Research Reactor could also be very dangerous for large areas of the capital, Tehran, the statement added.
Switzerland temporarily closes embassy in Tehran
Switzerland decided to temporarily close its embassy in Tehran because of the fighting between Israel and Iran, the Foreign Affairs Department said.
"Expatriate staff have left Iran and are safe. As soon as the situation permits, the staff will return to Teheran," it said in a statement.
Switzerland, which has long been an intermediary between the United States and Iran, said it would keep U.S. citizens in Iran notified about the risks of being there.
