India a good player for stability and future in West Asia, says Israeli envoy Reuven Azar

New Delhi [India], June 22 : Amid the ongoing conflict between Iran and Israel, Israel's Ambassador to India, Reuven Azar, on Sunday said that India is seen as a "good and positive" player for peace and development in the West Asia region.

Speaking about India's possible role in the current situation, Azar said, "We see India as a good player, a player for stability, a player that is promoted to work with us and the rest of the international community to build a better future in West Asia. Once we have defeated this Iranian aggression, I think we will be in a situation where we will be able to promote peace in our region and many economic projects that India plans to be part of, like IMEEC (India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor) and other projects of cooperation."

Azar's comments came in the context of US airstrikes on three of Iran's nuclear sites on Sunday.

Reacting to the US operation, the Israeli envoy said, "We thank President Trump for his bold historic move to remove nuclear capability from the Islamic Republic of Iran. This is not only an important move for Israel, but it's an important move for the region and the world. President Trump has defended civilisation by taking this decision."

He also explained the role of Israel's prior actions in enabling these attacks. "Earlier, Israel took care of Iranian air defences in Iran and that allowed us to have freedom of action to hit the installations that were threatening our existence, those installations that were being built to carry through their promise to annihilate the State of Israel," Azar said.

Earlier today the Israeli Air Force launched a new wave of airstrikes targeting military sites in western Iran, shortly after Iranian missile attacks injured civilians in Israel.

In a statement, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said, "The IAF has begun a series of strikes toward military targets in western Iran. Additionally, this morning, the IAF struck missile launchers ready to launch toward Israeli territory, soldiers in the Iranian Armed Forces, and swiftly neutralised the launchers that launched missiles toward Israeli territory a short while ago."

According to Israel's news agency TPS, missile impacts were reported in several parts of the country, including Tel Aviv, Haifa, and central Israel. Air raid alarms were heard again in northern regions, and residents were told to stay inside bomb shelters after another wave of missiles was detected.A Times of Israel report citing IDF confirmed its latest response, saying it hit primed missile launchers in fresh strikes on western Iran.

A short while ago, ballistic missile launchers used in the attack on Israel this morning were destroyed in strikes, and Iranian soldiers were "eliminated" as well, the Israeli publication citing the country's military forces said.

According to a report by the Times of Israel, Israel's national emergency service, Magen David Adom (MDA), has updated the casualty numbers from the Iranian missile strikes. "Magen David Adom raises the wounded toll of the latest Iranian ballistic missile attack to 16. A man in his 30s is moderately wounded by shrapnel, and 15 other people are lightly hurt, MDA says. Several missile impacts were reported in central Israel after sirens sounded. One missile hit Haifa, where no sirens sounded ahead of the impact."

Israel's Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson, Oren Marmorstein, condemned the Iranian actions. "The Iranian regime is firing ballistic missiles at civilian population centres in Israel," he said in a X post.

During the intervening hours of Saturday and Sunday, US and Israel targeted Iran's nuclear sites in Natanz, Isfahan, and Fordow. Fardow is Iran's main enrichment location for uranium enrichment to 60 per cent.

According to a CNN report, the US likely used six B-2 bombers to drop a dozen GBU-57 A/B "bunker buster" bombs, also known as Massive Ordnance Penetrators (MOP), on the Fordow nuclear site, which is Iran's main location for uranium enrichment.

A US official also told CNN that a full payload of bombs was dropped on Fordow.In his first public remarks following the strikes, President Trump warned that further action could be taken if Tehran fails to agree to a satisfactory peace settlement."There will be either peace or there will be tragedy for Iran, far greater than we've witnessed over the last eight days," Trump said in his address to the nation from the White House on Saturday (local time).

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