Two key Iranian nuclear scientists are among six scientists killed in Israeli strikes on sites in Iran on Friday.
More than 200 Israeli Air Force fighter jets hit more than 100 nuclear, military and infrastructure targets across Iran, including its main nuclear facility in Natanz.
The Israeli army said it had damaged the Natanz uranium enrichment site’s underground structures, including a multistorey enrichment hall with centrifuges, electrical rooms and additional supporting infrastructure.
It added that “vital infrastructure at the site that allows for its continuous functioning and the continued advancement of the Iranian regime’s project to obtain nuclear weapons was attacked”.
This came just a day after United States President Donald Trump said his administration was “fairly close to a pretty good agreement” with Iran and that military action “could blow it” and lead to a “massive conflict”.
However, on Thursday, Washington also hinted at the possibility of an imminent escalation when it announced it was partially evacuating its embassy in Iraq and had authorised “the voluntary departure” of dependants of US personnel from other locations across the Middle East.
On Thursday, the United Nations nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), declared that Iran had not complied with its nonproliferation obligations for the first time in almost 20 years. Tehran maintains that its nuclear programme focuses on peaceful purposes and is not developing weapons.
The spokesperson for Iran’s armed forces, Abolfazl Shekarchi, warned that Israel would pay a “heavy price” for its attacks, which also killed three senior military figures, including Mohammad Bagheri, the country’s highest-ranking official.
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