Geneva, June 21: Israel has launched strikes on dozens of targets in Iran, including missile production sites, and Iran fired a barrage of missiles that hit near industrial facilities in the southern Israeli city of Beersheba and the northern city of Haifa, as the conflict between the two sides entered its second week, Al Jazeera said in its report.

An Iranian nuclear scientist was killed on Friday morning following an Israeli strike in Tehran, according to the Israeli public broadcaster Kan. The news followed reports from the Iranian media saying that a residential building in the capital’s central Gisha district was hit by a drone strike.

The identity of the scientist was not immediately clear. Israel has killed several nuclear scientists since it started attacking Iran on June 13.

A hospital in Tehran was hit in a separate Israeli missile strike, the third such medical facility damaged in the past eight days, Iran’s health ministry was quoted by the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) as saying. There were no immediate reports of casualties from the hospital strike, but six ambulances were damaged, the ministry said.

Despite the attacks, thousands of Iranians took to the streets of Tehran following Friday prayers to denounce Israel and the US for the deadly attacks in the country.

In the northwestern province of Kermanshah, a medical clinic was also hit, leaving it completely damaged, according to Press TV.

Both Iran and Israel have been exchanging allegations of targeting medical facilities, which is prohibited by international humanitarian law.

In a statement, Israel’s Defence Minister Israeli Katz said he has instructed the military to intensify attacks on “symbols of the regime” in Tehran, aiming to destabilise it.

Earlier on Friday, at least seven people were slightly injured after Iranian missile strikes hit Beersheba, the largest city in the Negev desert in southern Israel, according to Israeli media.

The attack temporarily shut the city’s central rail station and damaged several buildings including the Microsoft office located inside a technology park, which is also near an Israeli army military telecommunications branch.

After air raid sirens sounded later on Friday, Israeli media reported there were potential impacts in Tel Aviv, Beersheba and Haifa. At least 23 people were injured in Haifa, according to Israeli emergency service, Magen David Adom.

Iran-Europe meeting

Against the backdrop of deadly exchanges, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi was in the Swiss capital, Geneva, for meeting with his French, German, British and European Union counterparts.

Before Israel launched its assault on Iran on last week, Tehran was engaged in diplomatic talks with the United States in an attempt to end the long-running dispute over its nuclear programme.

US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff had planned to meet Araghchi in Oman on June 15 but the meeting was cancelled after Israel attacked.

After the meeting with the EU foreign ministers on Friday, Araghchi expressed “grave concern” about the failure of European leaders to condemn Israel’s attacks on Iran.

“Iran is ready to consider diplomacy once again – once the aggression is stopped and the aggressor is held accountable for the crimes committed,” he said.

In an appearance at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva earlier in the day, Araghchi said the Israeli attacks were a “betrayal” of diplomatic efforts.

People’s News Monitoring Service