Both Iran and Israel said they were targeting each other’s nuclear research and development facilities as the war between Iran and U.S.-Israeli forces stretches into its fourth week.
The continued strikes between Iran and Israel come after Tehran claimed that the Natanz Nuclear Facility had been hit by an airstrike early Saturday. Iran blamed the strike on a joint U.S.-Israeli attack, but Israel has denied conducting the strike on Natanz. The Pentagon also did not comment on the Natanz strike when reached by the Washington Examiner.
In retaliation, Iran announced it was conducting targeted strikes against Israel’s Dimona nuclear research facility on Saturday.
Israel’s emergency response service, the Magen David Adom, said it had transported 39 injured individuals from the scene of the strike in Dimona, including a 10-year-old boy in serious condition.
The targeted Negev Nuclear Research Center is southeast of the Israeli city of Dimona. It has a nuclear reactor that Israel has consistently maintained is solely for research purposes in the face of media and Iranian speculation of its use for nuclear weapons.
The Israel Defense Forces also announced a series of Israeli strikes against a nuclear research and development facility located at Malek Ashtar University of Technology in Tehran on Saturday.
“The ‘Malek-ashtar’ University facility was utilized by the Iranian terror regime’s military industries and ballistic missiles array to develop nuclear weapon components and weapons,” the IDF posted on X.
The attacks on nuclear facilities Saturday marks a renewed emphasis on the targeting of nuclear programs in the war. In addition to the the Natanz facility being hit again on Friday, the Iranian Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant was struck by a projectile on Tuesday.
CENTCOM SAYS IT DESTROYED IRANIAN INTEL SUPPORT AND RADARS USED TO TRACK SHIPS IN STRAIT OF HORMUZ
International Atomic Energy Agency Director-General Rafael Mariano Grossi has called for “maximum restraint during the conflict to prevent risk of a nuclear accident.”
Tensions have been high on Saturday after Iran launched two intermediate-range ballistic missiles at the U.K. military base on Diego Garcia island, reaching well over 2,000 miles. The launch bucked Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi’s claims that Iranian missiles only have an approximate 1,200-mile range and angered on-edge European leaders.
