By Olivier Acuña Barba •
Published: 19 Jun 2025 • 23:23
• 2 minutes read
Iran’s leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei appears to be on Israel’s hit list | Credits: Bloomberg
Israel’s Defence Minister Katz said Thursday that “eliminating” Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, is one of the country’s war goals. The veiled death threat came after Iranian missiles hit a major hospital in southern Israel and buildings in Tel Aviv, injuring at least 240 people.
Katz said that the Israeli military “has been instructed and knows that to achieve all of its war goals, this man absolutely should not continue to exist,” referring to the ayatollah, the Associated Press reported.
Israel’s airstrikes aim to do more than destroy Iran’s nuclear centrifuges and missile capabilities. They seek to shatter the foundations of Khamenei’s government and leave it near collapse, Israeli, Western and regional officials told Reuters.
‘Hospital beds are gone now’
Staff at the Israeli hospital hit by a missile said some of the most immobile patients were moved to the basement earlier this week to protect them. During a visit to Soroka Medical Centre’s basement, staff told The Associated Press that approximately 60 patients had been moved there.
Dr. Dana Braiman said that had patients not been moved, many could have been injured or killed by the missile. “The beds they were lying in are now gone.”
Israeli military spokesperson Brigadier General Effie Defrin accused Iran of deliberately targeting civilians in the hospital attack. “That is state-sponsored terror and a blatant violation of international law,” Defrin added.
According to Reuters, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said they had targeted Israeli military and intelligence headquarters near the hospital, but an Israeli military official denied there were military targets nearby.
Trump now presses pause
In response to Iran’s attacks, Israel launched air strikes on Iran’s Arak heavy water reactor, its latest attack on the Islamic country’s sprawling nuclear program. Iranian state television stated that there was “no radiation danger whatsoever” and that the facility had been evacuated before the attack.
In Washington, the White House said President Donald Trump would take two weeks to decide if he would pull the trigger on US attacks against Iran. It said Trump is still hopeful that Iran will cede to US and Israeli demands on Iran’s nuclear program.
“Based on the fact that there’s a substantial chance of negotiations that may or may not take place with Iran shortly, I will make my decision whether or not to go within the next two weeks,” press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters, quoting a message from the president.
Iran can build a nuclear weapon now
“Iran has all that it needs to achieve a nuclear weapon. All they need is a decision from the Supreme Leader to do that, and it would take a couple of weeks to complete the production of that weapon,” Leavitt said, according to a Reuters report.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry summoned Germany’s envoy following what it said were “unwise and irresponsible” statements by the German chancellor backing Israeli attacks on Iran that violate international law, AP said.
The German official conveyed Tehran’s “strong protest” to Markus Potzel, over the German chancellor’s remarks, which he described as an “implicit endorsement of lawbreaking and the use of force against a peaceful country and government.”
A week has gone by since Israel attacked Iran, and according to Al Jazeera, one critical question emerges: Can the Israeli and Iranian economies survive a war?
As of Thursday, the Israeli attacks have killed 240 people, while Iranian strikes have killed at least 24 people. The conflict is costing them both billions of dollars daily. Israel has approximately six times what Iran has in its war chest, so that alone is telling of which nation is likely to succeed in this conflict.
