Despite talking peace, the US and Israel invoked concern from the world nuclear watchdog when air strikes hit a uranium processing facility in Arak and a heavy water reactor in Khondab.
The attacks came a day after US President Donald Trump extended a deadline by 10 days for Iran to reopen the blockaded Strait of Hormuz or face att acks against its civilian energy grid.
Israel’s army confirmed that it struck the two facilities, while Iranian sources said there was no release of radioactive material at either site.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said it had been informed by Iran “that the Shahid Rezayee Nejad Yellow Cake Production Facility in Yazd province” was attacked, but noted that “no increase in off-site radiation levels” was reported.
Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Tehran would exact a “HEAVY price for Israeli crimes”. He revealed that that strikes had also targeted, Khuzestan Steel and Mobarakeh Steel, two of Iran’s largest steel factories.
The attack “contradicts [Donald Trump’s] extended deadline for diplomacy”, he said.
Meanwhile Iran’s Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) warned that they would strike industrial sites in the region in response to the attacks, and warned civilians working in such plants to “leave their workplaces immediately”.
Iran’s Vice President Esmael Saghab Esfahani threatened on X to attack Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea port of Yanbu, home to the Samref oil refinery, as well as the coastal Fujairah oil complex in the United Arab Emirates, should a ground invasion take place.
