Iranian missiles hit Dimona, Arad in Israel after attack on Natanz nuclear site
Iranian missiles hit Dimona, and Arad, in Israel — both towns near a nuclear research center — on Saturday. This followed an attack on Iran’s Natanz nuclear site, which the International Atomic Energy Agency reported early Saturday morning.
Over 100 people, including children, were injured in Israel, the Israel Foreign Ministry said on X.
IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Gross called for “military restraint” after both attacks.
In Dimona, the IAEA said it hasn’t gotten any indication of damage to the nuclear research center, and no abnormal radiation levels have been detected.
While the site in Dimona is purported to only be for research, it is widely believed that Israel has nuclear weapons — which could make it the only country in the Middle East with them.
Israel has neither denied nor confirmed this.
Iranian state TV said the attack on Dimona was a “response” to the earlier strike on Natanz, according to the Agence France-Presse.
The Iranian Tasnim news agency said the strikes on Natanz also did not lead to radioactive material leakage. Residents near the facility are not at risk, the news agency added.
The Israeli military said it was “not aware of an IDF strike on the location,” according to The Washington Post.
Israel and Iran’s response to attacks
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said it was a “difficult evening” in Israel, and that emergency and rescue forces are currently operating on the ground.
Meanwhile, Iran’s Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf claimed on X that “Israel’s skies are defenseless.”
“If the Israeli regime fails to intercept the missiles in the highly protected Dimona area, it is operationally a sign of entering a new phase of the battle,” he said.
Israeli authorities are looking into how missiles made it through its air defense system, the BBC reported.
“In both Dimona and Arad, interceptors were launched that failed to hit the threats, resulting in two direct hits by ballistic missiles with warheads weighing hundreds of kilograms,” Israeli firefighters were quoted by the news outlet as saying.
Also on Saturday, Adm. Brad Cooper, who leads U.S. Central Command, said the U.S. has hit over 8,000 military targets in Iran, including 130 vessels.
“My operational assessment continues to be Iran’s combat capability is on the steady decline as our offensive strikes ramp up,” he said.
Ella Rae Greene, Editor In Chief
