Israel attacked nuclear facilities

Tehran (dpa) — Iran’s nuclear facilities have again come under attack, the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) said on Friday.

According to the report, the Chondab heavy-water reactor in Markazi province was targeted.

The governor’s office said that there was no danger to the public due to security measures put in place beforehand, the Fars news agency reported.

The heavy-water research reactor near the city of Arak had been hit last June when Israel and the US attacked Iranian nuclear facilities.

At the time, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) had clarified that construction work was still under way at the research reactor and that, consequently, no nuclear material was present there.

The Israeli military on Friday confirmed the attack, citing Iran’s repeated attempts to rebuild the facility following last year’s destruction.

“The Israeli army will not allow the Iranian terrorist regime to continue its efforts to advance its nuclear weapons programme, which poses an existential threat to the State of Israel and the entire world,” a military spokesperson said.

The United States has called preventing Iran from ever acquiring nuclear weapons as a war objective. Tehran denies developing nuclear weapons.

The AEOI said that another attack targeted a production facility for “yellowcake” – the raw material used to manufacture nuclear fuel elements – in Ardakan, central Iran.

No radioactive material was released, state broadcaster IRIB reported.

The AEOI stated that there had been no damage in either attack. These claims could not be independently verified.