Israel Strikes Iran's Isfahan Nuclear Facility Amid Escalating Air War
A primary nuclear facility in Iran's Isfahan province was targeted by an Israeli airstrike, though local authorities have reported no radiation leaks.
Smoke was visible early Saturday morning near a mountainous area in Isfahan city following overnight Israeli strikes on the site, which activated the country's air defense systems, amid continued tit-for-tat strikes between the Islamic Republic and Israel.
This is the second Israeli aerial attack on Isfahan, and as the Trump White House has vowed to not let Iran get a nuclear weapon.
'Within the compound, a centrifuge production facility was also targeted, along with additional military targets of the Iranian regime in the Isfahan area,' the IDF said Saturday morning.
'This is what the nuclear facility in Isfahan looks like, which is used to convert uranium, which is the stage that follows the enrichment stage on the way to producing nuclear weapons,' said Israeli Army spokesman Avichay Adraee in an online post.
'The air force struck the central facility along with buildings used to produce centrifuges. We continue to strike the Iranian nuclear project,' the statement said.
According to more:
Iran's Fars news agency reported that there was no leakage of hazardous materials from the Isfahan site following the latest strikes.
Meanwhile, four primed ballistic missile launchers were 'neutralized' in strikes before a salvo was launched at Israel, the military said.
One UN-affiliated war monitor has alleged the following:
Israel illegally, criminally, and deliberately attacked a nuclear facility in Isfahan, Iran, creating this way the risk of a nuclear catastrophe with mass civilian casualties.This is not just a violation of international law, it is terrorism. pic.twitter.com/SzKnAUciq8 — Mohamad Safa (@mhdksafa) June 21, 2025
Below is T he Wall Street Journal on the significance of the Isfahan site:
The Israeli military has now hit several of Iran's centrifuge production sites, including at Isfahan, Tehran and Karaj. While this represents a blow to Iran's centrifuge production, questions remain over its uranium stockpile.
Iran's large stockpile of enriched uranium was held in or around Isfahan. Safeguarding that stockpile, which has enough highly enriched uranium for around 10 nuclear weapons, would be crucial for any Iranian attempt to rush toward building a bomb. Tehran hinted last month it might disperse that material, which is held in barrels sealed by the International Atomic Energy Agency and regularly inspected. It isn't known if Iran did so.
And here is Financial Times on Saturday after the Isfahan strike:
The Israeli military said on Saturday that it had launched an overnight assault involving 50 warplanes, with some targeting two centrifuge production facilities at Isfahan.
However, the crown jewel of the Islamic Republic's nuclear program, a sprawling uranium enrichment facility built deep under a mountain in Fordow, remains out of reach of Israel's conventional weapons.
Q: Your intelligence community says they have no evidence that Iran is building a nukeTRUMP: Then my intelligence community is wrong. Who said that?Q: You director of national intelligence Tulsi GabbardTRUMP: She's wrong pic.twitter.com/RI9Jzouagh — Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) June 20, 2025
There are also emerging Saturday reports that Iran has killed another Iranian nuclear scientist:
As Israeli jets struck military targets, high-ranking officers and nuclear-related facilities in Iran during the opening salvo of Operation Rising Lion, there was another extremely high-stakes clandestine mission taking place. Code-named Operation Narnia, Israeli operatives reportedly used a 'secret weapon' to simultaneously kill nine of Iran's top nuclear scientists as they slept in their beds, according to Israel's N12 news outlet. It was the latest move in Israel's long-time effort to blunt Iranian nuclear ambitions by killing off the people capable of advancing the program.
Officials declined to say what this special weapon, 'which remains under censorship and has not been disclosed publicly,' was, the Times of Israel explained. The War Zone cannot verify these claims. However, as we have previously reported, Israel hit residences of high-value individuals with smaller munitions and Mossad used drones and anti-tank guided missiles inside Iran (more on those later) on the first night of its attack. These targeted assassinations continue today, although not in the same volume seen during the opening acts of the war. It remains possible that some of these systems were used in the assassination of the scientists.
After testifying before the Senate weeks ago that Iran is not actively pur s uing a nuclear bomb, Gabbard has since said US intelligence showed Iran is 'at the point that it can produce a nuclear weapon within weeks to months.'
Meanwhile, the head of the leading intergovernmental watchdog for nuclear energy and atomic weapons, IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi, has said that it is possible that there are operations being kept secret from nuclear monitors.
The IDF releases footage showing the aftermath of its airstrikes on Iran's Isfahan nuclear facility. A first strike on Ishafan on June 13 destroyed several critical sections, including uranium conversion infrastructure and labs, according to the IDF.Strikes overnight were… pic.twitter.com/pJ3J5H5FkP — Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) June 21, 2025
But at the same time, the United States' own intelligence community has indicated the Islamic Republic is not seeking a nuke. The BBC reports in response to some of DNI Tulsi Gabbard's latest comments:
Disagreement has been building within Trump's 'America First' movement over whether the US should enter the conflict.
On Saturday morning, Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said his country was 'absolutely ready for a negotiated solution' on their nuclear programme but that Iran 'cannot go through negotiations with the US when our people are under bombardment.'
'President Trump has been clear that can't happen, and I agree,' she added in a new public statement. Trump has said he will make a decision on striking Iran within 'two weeks' – but there remain many variables, no the least of which has been a perceived public rift between DNI Gabbard and the White House.
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