Live: Iran holds funeral for top military, nuclear figures killed in Israeli strikes

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi is expected to take part in a special session of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in Istanbul on Saturday, a Turkish foreign ministry source said, amid the ongoing conflict between Iran and Israel, Reuters reported.

The 51st Council of Foreign Ministers is set to focus on Israel’s recent strikes on Iranian territory, including Thursday’s attack on the Khondab nuclear facility in Arak.

The Israeli army confirmed it had targeted a partially constructed heavy-water reactor at the site, which experts believe could be used to produce weapons-grade plutonium.

Turkey has strongly condemned Israel’s actions, labelling them illegal and asserting that Iran was acting in self-defence.

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan is expected to open the two-day gathering by urging Muslim nations to respond collectively to what he described as “destabilising actions” across the region.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will also address the summit. The OIC, which brings together 57 member states, has long functioned as a platform for political and diplomatic engagement among Muslim-majority countries.

The Times of Israel reports that Iran launched around 30 ballistic missiles at Israeli territory early Thursday morning, according to assessments by the Israeli military.

Iran’s deputy foreign minister has issued a warning to Washington, urging it not to intervene in support of Israel as regional tensions continue to rise.

Speaking on Thursday, Kazem Gharibabadi told state television that Tehran was fully prepared to defend its national security if the conflict escalates. “If the United States wants to actively enter the field in favour of the Zionist regime, Iran will have to use its tools to both teach a lesson to aggressors and defend its national security and national interests,” he said.

Gharibabadi added that “naturally, our military decision makers have all the necessary options on the table.”

A series of clips from an interview between prominent US conservative broadcaster Tucker Carlson and US Senator Ted Cruz have gone viral, igniting controversy over the senator’s foreign policy positions and apparent gaps in basic geopolitical knowledge about Iran.

The full conversation, released on Wednesday on The Tucker Carlson Show, showcases rising tensions within Trump's right-wing base over the US role in the Middle East, particularly regarding Israel, Iran, and the possibility of wider war. 

The rift within Republicans has seen Trump's "Make America Great Again" base, or "America Firsters", generally opposing the US being dragged into another war in the Middle East. The hawks within his base and his administration have been pushing the US into greater involvement in the Israel-Iran conflict.

In a striking exchange, Carlson and Cruz engaged in a heated argument over US involvement in the Israel-Iran conflict, with voices raised as they shouted over each other.

Read more: US Senator Ted Cruz faces backlash for not knowing basic facts about Iran

The Associated Press has provided further details on the damage to Soroka Medical Centre in Be’er Sheva, a major facility with over 1,000 beds that serves nearly one million people in southern Israel.

Israeli media aired images showing shattered windows and thick black smoke billowing from the site.

In a statement, the hospital confirmed that several sections were damaged and that the emergency room was treating people with minor injuries.

Alongside the strike on Soroka, a missile also hit a high-rise building and several residential blocks near Tel Aviv, according to Israel’s Magen David Adom rescue service. At least 40 people were wounded in the attacks.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who faces accusations of systematically destroying Gaza’s health system, including its hospitals, has vowed to make Iran “pay the full price” following the missile strike on an Israeli hospital.

In a post on X, Netanyahu said, “This morning, Iran’s ‘terrorist tyrants’ launched missiles at Soroka hospital in Beersheba and at a civilian population in central Israel.”

Donald Trump has repeated in recent days, often in capital letters on his Truth Social account, that Iran cannot be allowed to obtain a nuclear weapon. 

His view is shared by Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s prime minister, who has said that Israel’s surprise attack on Iran, which has killed hundreds since 13 June, is a pre-emptive measure to stop Iran from creating a nuclear weapon. 

Iran denies it is trying to produce nuclear arms, and that its nuclear programme is for civilian purposes.

It is a signatory to the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), which says that states that do not already have nuclear weapons cannot obtain them. 

The NPT gives the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) the power to monitor and verify that non-nuclear states are complying.

Read more: What do we know about Israel's own nuclear weapons?

IRNA, Iran’s state news agency, reported via Telegram that this morning’s missile strike was aimed directly at the Israeli army’s Command and Intelligence headquarters, known as IDF C4I, along with a military intelligence facility located in the Gav-Yam Technology Park.

According to the agency, the targeted site sits next to Soroka hospital in the southern city of Be’er Sheva.

IRNA claimed the hospital sustained only minor damage caused by the blast’s shockwave. “The military infrastructure was a precise and direct target,” the agency stated.

The Israeli army claims it has killed Yassin Abdel Moneim Ezzedine, a senior Hezbollah artillery commander in the group’s Litani sector in southern Lebanon.

According to the military’s Arabic-language spokesperson, Avichay Adraee, Ezzedine was involved in planning attacks on Israeli targets and played a role in efforts to restore Hezbollah’s artillery capabilities.

Adraee said Ezzedine had “advanced numerous shooting plots towards Israel and has been involved in attempts to rebuild Hezbollah’s artillery forces.” Hezbollah has not yet commented on the reported killing.

Iranian state television has reported that the Arak heavy-water reactor was targeted in an attack, according to Reuters.

The news comes shortly after the Israeli military issued warnings urging residents living near the site to evacuate immediately.

Authorities in Tehran have yet to confirm the extent of the damage or provide an official response.

US President Donald Trump believes he is only weighing military strikes on Iran's Fordow nuclear plant, but the history of Middle East "mission creep" lurks behind his deliberations. 

Mission creep is when a military campaign's objectives start to shift and devolve into a longer, unforeseen commitment, and has often characterised US military adventures around the world.

"If the US does join the war in Iran - and right now I think it won’t - it will go in planning only to do some limited bombing. But as we all know, once you're in a war, there can be a lot of surprises. It is much easier to get into a war than to get out of one,” Tom E Ricks, the author of Fiasco: The American Military Adventure in Iraq, told Middle East Eye.

On Thursday evening, The Wall Street Journal reported that Trump approved a US attack plan on Iran but is waiting to see if he can get Iran to renounce its nuclear programme. The New York Times also followed that with a report saying Iran was willing to accept Trump's offer to meet. 

Read more: As Trump weighs bombing Iran's Fordow, 'mission creep' lurks behind US attack

A US-based rights organisation says Israeli strikes on Iran have left at least 639 people dead as the conflict enters its seventh day.

• Human Rights Activists, headquartered in Washington, reported the figures on Wednesday, citing its sources inside Iran.

• The group, known for tracking casualties during Iran’s 2022 protests over Mahsa Amini’s death, said the toll includes 263 civilians and 154 members of the security forces.

• It said the numbers were compiled using local Iranian news outlets and verified through a network of informants within the country.

• Iranian authorities have not provided consistent updates on casualties since Israel began its strikes.

• The most recent figures from Tehran reported 224 deaths and 1,277 injuries, although that number has not been updated in days.

Hello and welcome to Middle East Eye's live coverage as we track the latest developments following Israel's strikes on Iran, now entering their sixth day and marking a major escalation in regional tensions.

• Israeli forces claim strike on Iran's security HQ in Tehran, with additional explosions reported in Karaj and near Payam airport

• Missile sirens sound across central Israel as Iranian projectiles are launched; Israeli military reports successful interceptions

• Trump remains non-committal on US involvement: "I may do it. I may not do it. I mean, nobody knows what I'm going to do," the US president stated

• Khamenei warns against US intervention: Iran's Supreme Leader vows resistance against "imposed war", threatening "irreparable consequences" if America joins attacks

• Putin calls for de-escalation after discussing safety of Russian workers in Iran with Israeli officials

Three top officials at the Arms Control Association, said US involvement in Israel's "illegal attacks" on Iran would set back U.S. and global security and increase the risk of nuclear proliferation in a statement on Wednesday. 

The US-based nonpartisan membership organisation said military involvement would "set back efforts to reach an effective nuclear agreement to block Iran's pathways to the Bomb".

The statement also added that the "consensus view among U.S. intelligence agencies before Israel's bombing campaign was that Iran had not made a decision to move forward on building a bomb, and was several months away, if not longer, from being able to assemble a crude device.

"There was no imminent threat that Iran was weaponizing its nuclear program before Israel's attack began."

The organisation warned that "military strikes cannot destroy Iran's extensive nuclear knowledge," but could prompt it "to consider withdrawing from the nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, and possibly proceeding to weaponization, a step it has not taken up to this point."

It strongly urged the US government “to choose nuclear nonproliferation diplomacy over war”. 

North Korea slammed Israel for launching strikes on Iran, and warned US and European powers against "fanning up the flames of war", according to a foreign ministry spokesperson, AFP reported on Wednesday.

"The Democratic People's Republic of Korea expresses serious concern over Israel's military attack and resolutely denounces it," the spokesperson said in a statement carried by the state-run news agency KCNA.

He added that Israel's killing of civilians was "an unpardonable crime against humanity".

"The illegal act of state-sponsored terrorism by Israel [is] raising the danger of a new all-out war in the Middle East region." 

Russian President Vladimir Putin says an Iran-Israel deal that suits both sides is possible.