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Israel issues Tehran evacuation order as Iran threatens to leave nuclear weapons treaty

by Julian Borger in Tel Aviv on June 16, 2025 at 9:35 pm

Order similar to those issued in Gaza a further sign Israeli campaign is evolving towards war of attrition

Middle East crisis – latest updates

Israeli forces issued an evacuation order to residents of a large part of Tehran on Monday, warning them of the imminent bombing of “military infrastructure” in the area in a social media post very similar to those regularly directed at Palestinians in Gaza over the past 20 months.

The post on X was from the account of the Israel Defense Forces’ Arabic spokesperson, Col Avichay Adraee, and is a further sign of the evolving nature of the Israeli campaign against Iran, which began with attacks on air defences, nuclear sites and the military chain of command, but appears to have drifted towards a war of attrition focused on Iran’s oil and gas industry and on the capital.

Fernández seals Chelsea win over LAFC at Club World Cup but fans stay away

by Jacob Steinberg at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta on June 16, 2025 at 9:17 pm

Group D: Chelsea 2-0 LAFC (Neto 34, Fernández 79)
Crowd of 22,137 in 75,000-capacity Atlanta venue

Chelsea bought Liam Delap to score goals but they will not complain if their new No 9 also makes them. There is range to Delap’s game and this was an impressive start from the 22-year-old, whose late assist for Enzo Fernández ensured that his new side opened their Club World Cup campaign with a comfortable 2-0 win over Los Angeles FC.

Enzo Maresca will be pleased. There is healthy competition for places in attack now that Delap has joined for the bargain price of £30m. Nicolas Jackson looks ready for the battle. He responded well, setting up the opening goal for Pedro Neto as Chelsea cruised past limited opposition from Major League Soccer in Group D.

At least 37 Palestinians killed in Gaza food site shooting, local authorities say

by Jason Burke International security correspondent on June 16, 2025 at 9:15 pm

Death toll is highest yet reported in near-daily shootings since US-backed group began distributing food in territory

Middle East crisis – live updates

At least 37 Palestinians were killed on Monday in new shootings in Gaza near food distribution centres run by private US contractors guarded by Israeli troops, local authorities said.

Witnesses blamed the shootings on Israeli troops who opened fire early in the morning as crowds of hungry Palestinians converged on two hubs managed by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), a private organisation that recently began operating in Gaza with Israeli and US support.

Ice raids in LA continue as armed agents target immigrant communities

by Sam Levin in Los Angeles on June 16, 2025 at 8:48 pm

Mayor of Montebello, a suburb east of LA with 79% Latino population, said: ‘This is racial profiling’

US immigration raids continued to target southern California communities in recent days, including at a popular flea market and in a Los Angeles suburb where US citizens were detained.

On Saturday, as mass protests swept the nation, including tens of thousands demonstrating in LA, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) agents descended on a swap meet in Santa Fe Springs in southeast LA county. Video showed dozens of heavily armed, masked officers carrying out the raid before a scheduled concert at the long-running event that features vendors, food and entertainment every weekend

‘This is not our first rodeo’: Israelis remain stoic amid Iran strikes

by Emma Graham-Harrison in Petah Tikva on June 16, 2025 at 7:00 pm

Despite the losses of lives and homes, many citizens back Netanyahu’s decision to attack Iran

Middle East crisis – live updates

The Iranian missile blew the door off the White City museum celebrating Bauhaus Tel Aviv, and shattered the windows of the Quick coffee shop down the road, where cinnamon buns and salads sat in the display case ready for a relaxed summer day that would never come.

In the ultra-orthodox neighbourhood of Bnei Bark another missile collapsed a school, killing an 80-year-old man. A third hit partway up a high-rise tower in manicured, suburban Petah Tikva, destroying a reinforced safe room and killing the family inside.

Donald Trump repeats call for Russia to be readmitted at G7 summit in Canada

by Patrick Wintour in Banff on June 16, 2025 at 6:47 pm

US president said Ukraine war would not have happened if Moscow had not been thrown out in 2014 over Crimea

Donald Trump has displayed his disdain for the collective western values supposedly championed by the G7 group of industrialised countries by again demanding that Russia be readmitted to the group. He also said the war in Ukraine would not have happened if Moscow had been kept in the club.

Trump made his remarks in front of media, alongside Canada’s prime minister, Mark Carney, who is hosting the G7, at the start of the summit’s first round of talks.

‘A bloodbath’: doctors describe carnage at Iran’s hospitals after Israeli strikes

by William Christou and Deepa Parent on June 16, 2025 at 6:29 pm

Exhausted medical workers say facilities are overwhelmed and death toll is higher than 224 reported

The stream of wounded in Imam Khomeini hospital in Tehran had been steady since Friday. On Sunday evening it became a flood. A renewed wave of Israeli strikes on Iran’s capital overwhelmed the hospital’s emergency unit, turning it into what one doctor described as a “bloodbath”.

“It was a bloodbath. We were overwhelmed by chaos and the screams of grieving family members. Dozens upon dozens of people with life-threatening injuries, minor wounds and even bodies were brought in,” a doctor at the emergency unit of the hospital told the Guardian on Monday under condition of anonymity.

The Guardian view on Netanyahu’s Iran war: long planned, recklessly pursued – and perilous for all | Editorial

by Editorial on June 16, 2025 at 6:15 pm

Israel’s strikes against Tehran risk spiralling conflict, flout legal norms and may permanently bury the last chance for nuclear diplomacy

In late 2020, Gen Mark Milley – then chairman of the US joint chiefs of staff – urged Donald Trump not to attack Iran and to ignore pressure from the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, who was pushing hard for military action. Mr Trump backed down after the general warned that attacking Iran would start a war, with the risk of US officials being “tried as war criminals in The Hague”.

Five years on, Israel’s prime minister has the fight with Tehran that he has spent decades preparing for, bolstered by Mr Trump’s claims that international law no longer applies. After all, why worry about red lines when The Hague’s already got a warrant out for you and your allies pretend not to notice? It helps when the US treats the international criminal court like a rogue actor. Mr Trump has even gone after the court’s judges and prosecutor for daring to scrutinise “our close ally” Israel over Gaza. Legal norms? Apparently, those are for enemies, not friends.