Tensions continue to remain high in West Asia as Israel intensified strikes on Iran’s key steel, power and nuclear facilities last night, further escalating the ongoing conflict. Tehran has condemned the attacks, saying they undermine diplomatic efforts and contradict the extended deadline for negotiations.

 

Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, in a social media post, warned that Tehran will impose a heavy price on Israel following strikes on key infrastructure, including two of Iran’s largest steel plants and sensitive nuclear facilities. Mr Araghchi said Israel had targeted major industrial assets such as steel factories, a power plant, and civilian nuclear sites, adding that the strikes were allegedly carried out in coordination with the United States. 

 

The airstrikes came less than a day after US President Donald Trump extended a pause on US attacks on Iran’s energy sites for 10 days. President Trump said he extended the deadline because negotiations between the United States and Iran had been going well and Iran had permitted several oil tankers to transit the Strait of Hormuz.

 

The Israeli military said its air force hit two Iranian nuclear facilities. It targeted the Khondab Heavy Water Complex near Arak in central Iran. It is alleged that the facility was being rebuilt to potentially produce weapons-grade plutonium. No casualties or radiation risks have been reported. In a separate strike, a yellowcake production plant in Ardakan, in Yazd province, was also hit.

 

Yellowcake is a concentrated form of uranium after impurities are removed from the raw ore. Iran’s Atomic Energy Organisation confirmed the attack and said there were no radioactive leaks. The International Atomic Energy Agency has been informed, and its Director General, Rafael Grossi, has called for military restraint to avoid any risk of a nuclear incident.

 

Meanwhile, Iranian authorities reported casualties at other industrial sites, including one worker killed in a strike on a steel plant in Isfahan and damage to a cement facility in Firuzabad. Israel has indicated that its military campaign will continue to intensify.

 

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps urged workers at industrial sites linked to American stakeholders or Israeli interests to evacuate immediately, signalling imminent retaliatory action.

 

On the other hand, according to several media reports, an Iranian missile attack yesterday left at least 10 American service members wounded and damaged several US refuelling aircraft at Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia. Two of the troops were seriously wounded. Satellite imagery that appeared to show the damage to the aircraft was posted online.