Israel Expands Strikes on Iran’s Nuclear Facilities — And Why Does Israel Explode On Its Own Sites, Or Can Israel Extend Its Nuclear Operations?

“If the Israelis decide to continue bombing them, they’ll always have the ability to reconstitute the program,” he says.

I wonder if military force can really end Iran’s nuclear program. In the end, he says, there is no single facility or scientist that holds the key to the entire nuclear enterprise in Iran.

Lewis also saw no evidence that Israel had struck at tunnels deep beneath a nearby mountain. Iran was reportedly digging those tunnels to create a more fortified facility for its centrifuges. In recent days it had promised that it would speed up the development of a third site.

“That’s likely to disrupt operations at the plant, but crucially, what they didn’t do was find a way to destroy the thousands of centrifuges that are buried underground,” Lewis says.

Video posted online and verified by NPR showed black smoke billowing from the Natanz site early Friday morning local time. A set of images from the commercial satellite company Airbus showed damage to the main electrical substation at the facility and to buildings used to assemble and run centrifuges.

Source: Israel expands strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities

Israeli air strikes on the Natanz facility and a nuclear weapon program of the regime of the Intermediate Power Arm of the International Atomic Force (IAEA)

According to Jeffrey Lewis a professor at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies who is familiar with Iran’s program, preliminary analysis of satellite imagery at the site shows that the damage from the first wave of attacks was limited.

The attack followed intelligence from Israel’s Mossad spy agency, which Israel says suggested Iran was close to developing a nuclear weapon — which Israel considered a direct threat to its national security.

It’s unclear how quickly that material could practically be converted into bombs. During the enrichment process, the gas is stored. It must be converted into metal to make components for a nuclear device. Iran has never constructed a nuke before, but in the last decade has been conducting research on one, and has said that it has no intentions of doing so.

Iran’s nuclear program has been centered around the Natanz facility. According to the IAEA, which has been monitoring activities at the site for the past several years, Iran has recently been using thousands of centrifuges to enrich uranium to 60%, far above the levels normally used in civilian nuclear reactors. Iran has more than 400 kilograms of highly enriched material that could be enough to build around 10 nuclear weapons, according to the agency.

“I have repeatedly stated that nuclear facilities must never be attacked, regardless of the context or circumstances,” Grossi said during a meeting of the agency’s board of governors.

In a statement, the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran said that the attack at the Natanz plant caused damage but that no radioactive or chemical contamination had leaked outside the site.

Iran retaliated for the Israeli air strikes with a series of strikes on Israel and Israel retaliated with air strikes on Iran.

The Iranian military leaders and nuclear scientists were killed in the Israeli air strikes ahead of the expected talks with the international community on Sunday.

Later Friday morning, Israel said it intercepted Iranian drones while Jordan said its air force blocked attacks aimed at Israel in Jordanian airspace. Iran, Jordan, Israel, and Iraq all closed their airspace to flights.

Iran has been declared in violation of non-proliferation agreements by the IAEA. Iran says its uranium enrichment program is for peaceful purposes.

Israel says it killed 9 Iranian nuclear scientists, and braces for attacks from Iran – an ultimatum from the U.S. foreign minister

Trump said he was giving the nation “chance after chance to make a deal” on its nuclear program and said that the alternative “would be much worse than anything they know, anticipated, or were told.”

I gave Iran an ultimatum of 60 days to make a deal. They should have done it. He wrote on a social network. “Now they have, perhaps, a second chance!”

On Saturday, the Omani foreign minister said on social media that the meeting was canceled. He said diplomacy and dialogue were the only pathways to lasting peace.

The sixth round of talks about Iran’s nuclear program was expected to begin in Oman on Sunday. The U.S. tried to broker a deal with Iran in which it would limit enrichment of uranium in exchange for the lifting of sanctions.

The deaths of the scientists were called a blow to Iran’s ability to pursue weapons of mass destruction by the Israeli military.

Sirens blared throughout Tel Aviv late Friday and smoke billowed in the sky as people ran for shelter as Iran fired hundreds of missiles at Israel in retaliatory strikes, which continued into Saturday morning.

Source: Israel says it killed 9 Iranian nuclear scientists, and braces for attacks from Iran

A U.N. Ambassador Tells the Israelis: Iran is “The Most Dangerous and Terrorist Regime in the World”

Fears of a bigger regional conflict have been raised, one that could cause unrest in neighboring countries and affect global energy markets.

The official told NPR that the United States helped shoot down the Iranian missiles. The U.S. official spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly.

Speaking to the U.N. Security Council on Friday, Iran’s U.N. ambassador Amir Saeid Iravani accused Israel of trying to “kill diplomacy” and called the country “the most dangerous and terrorist regime in the world.” He told the Security Council that Israel needed to be held accountable.

Over 320 people were injured and 78 people were killed. The death toll was expected to rise, as Iran’s state television reported that a residential building in Tehran was also hit.

Israeli emergency services organization Magen David Adom said three people were killed and dozens more injured. The Palestinians who are in the West Bank have a Red Crescent that says children are among the injured.

Irancrossed red lines by firing missiles at civilians, and Israel warned it would pay a heavy price, the Times of Israel reported.

The Prime Minister stated in a video statement on Friday that an attack on Iran was in the works for months after the assassination of Hezbollah’s leader.