Nepali citizens in Israel and Iran advised to exercise caution

Kathmandu -  Nepal’s Foreign Ministry has advised Nepali citizens residing in Iran and Israel to stay alert, follow local guidance, and exercise caution amid the ongoing conflict.

In a statement issued on Friday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) said that Nepali missions in Doha and Tel Aviv are closely monitoring the situation and remain in contact with the Nepali communities in both countries.

The MoFA  urged both Iran and Israel to avoid further escalation and to pursue dialogue through diplomatic channels for peace and regional stability.

Nepal emphasised that peaceful negotiations are essential to prevent further violence and instability in the region.

Iran retaliates to Israeli attacks

On Friday (13^th June), Iran launched waves of ballistic missiles towards Israel in retaliation for a major attack on Tehran’s nuclear and military sites, reports said.

Explosions were heard over Tel Aviv and Jerusalem as sirens sounded across Israel on Friday night. This follows a massive attack by Israel  in the early hours of Friday, which targeted Iranian nuclear sites, senior military commanders and scientists.

UN nuclear chief Rafael Grossi told an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council that Israeli strikes destroyed the above-ground section of Iran’s main nuclear facility at Natanz.

U.S. ground-based air defense systems are helping shoot down missiles Iran targeted at Israel, U.S. officials said.

Israel’s attacks on Iran on Friday killed several top Iranian generals and scientists, including the armed forces chief of staff, Major-General Mohammed Bagheri, and the IRGC chief, Hossein Salami, al Jazeera news agency reported.

Iran’s ambassador to the United Nations, Amir Saeid Iravani, told the UN Security Council that 78 people were killed and more than 320 others injured in Israel’s Friday attacks, including women and children.

In a statement, Israel's military said that it had struck more than 200 targets across Iran.

Writing in Al Jazeera, two academics,  Ibrahim Al-Marashi and Mohammad Eslami, wrote that the (Israeli) strikes meant to prevent Iran from going nuclear may instead push it to build the bomb – and draw the region into wider conflict. “Whether this confrontation escalates further now hinges largely on one man: Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. If Iran’s supreme leader comes to view the survival of the Islamic Republic as fundamentally threatened, Tehran’s response could expand far beyond Israeli territory,” they said.