JERUSALEM: The Israeli military confirmed it struck a heavy water reactor and a uranium processing plant in central Iran on Friday, as it targeted nuclear sites in the Islamic republic.
“A short while ago, the Israeli Air Force... struck the heavy water plant in Arak, central Iran,” the military said in a statement, describing the site as a “key plutonium production site for nuclear weapons.”
Iranian media had earlier reported that US-Israeli strikes hit the Khondab heavy water complex, saying they caused no casualties or radiation leak from the site.Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi warned that Tehran would exact a "HEAVY price for Israeli crimes" in response.
Work on the reactor on the outskirts of the village of Khondab began in the 2000s, but was halted under the terms of a now-abandoned 2015 nuclear deal struck between Iran and world powers.
The core of the reactor was removed and concrete was poured into it, rendering it inoperative.
