{"id":553424,"date":"2026-03-22T14:59:10","date_gmt":"2026-03-22T14:59:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/553424\/"},"modified":"2026-03-22T14:59:10","modified_gmt":"2026-03-22T14:59:10","slug":"threats-of-war-expansion-strikes-near-nuclear-program-sites","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/553424\/","title":{"rendered":"Threats of war expansion, strikes near nuclear program sites"},"content":{"rendered":"

CAIRO \u2014 Iran and its ally, the Lebanese militant Hezbollah group, stepped up pressure on Israel on Sunday, with intense attacks on the country\u2019s north and south after the United States and Iran threatened to widen their targets in the war in the Middle East, now in its fourth week.<\/p>\n

As Israel came under renewed fire, top Israeli leaders traveled to the Negev Desert, home to the country\u2019s main nuclear research centre and the site where Iran\u2019s barrages struck two towns on Saturday, shattering apartment buildings and injuring scores of people in Arad and Dimona.<\/p>\n

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu toured Arad and said it was a \u201cmiracle\u201d no one was killed there. He claimed Israel and the U.S. were well on their way to achieving the war\u2019s goals and implored the international community for support.<\/p>\n

\"\"Pictures-of-the-Week-Global-Photo-Gallery Israeli security forces inspect an apartment struck by an Iranian missile that killed two people in Ramat Gan, Israel, Wednesday, March 18, 2026. (AP Photo\/Ohad Zwigenberg) <\/p>\n

Earlier, U.S. President Donald Trump warned the United States will destroy Iran\u2019s power plants if Tehran fails to fully open the Strait of Hormuz in 48 hours. Iran\u2019s parliament speaker said if the U.S. follows through on its threat, Tehran would retaliate against American and Israeli energy and wider infrastructure in the region.<\/p>\n

The developments signaled the Iran war, which the U.S. and Israel launched on Feb. 28, was moving in a dangerous new direction, despite Trump\u2019s mention last week he was considering \u201cwinding down\u201d operations. The war that has killed hundreds of people, rattled the global economy and sent oil prices surging.<\/p>\n

Hezbollah claimed responsibility for an airstrike Sunday that killed a man in northern Israel while Gulf Arab states \u2014 including Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates \u2014 said they were working to intercept new Iranian strikes.<\/p>\n

\"\"Israel Iran Mideast Wars Israeli soldiers atop an APC in northern Israel near the border with Lebanon, Saturday, March 21, 2026. (AP Photo\/Ariel Schalit) Iran responds to Trump\u2019s threat over its Strait of Hormuz closure<\/p>\n

Iran has practically closed the Strait of Hormuz, a critical chokepoint connecting the Persian Gulf to the rest of the world through which roughly one-fifth of the world\u2019s supply passes. Attacks on commercial ships and threats of further strikes have stopped nearly all tankers from navigating the strait, compelling some of the world\u2019s largest oil producers to make cuts because their crude has nowhere to go.<\/p>\n

The blockade is a liability for both the U.S. and its allies in Europe and Asia, who rely heavily on the Persian Gulf supply to meet energy demand and power factories, vehicles and homes. The U.S. lifted some sanctions on Iranian oil at sea to relieve pressure on energy prices.<\/p>\n

On Saturday, Trump said he would give Iran 48 hours to open the strait or the U.S. would destroy Iran\u2019s \u201cvarious POWER PLANTS, STARTING WITH THE BIGGEST ONE FIRST!\u201d<\/p>\n

The Iranian parliament speaker, Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, responded Sunday on X that if Iran\u2019s power plants and infrastructure were targeted, then vital infrastructure across the region \u2014 including energy and desalination facilities \u2014 would be considered legitimate targets and \u201cirreversibly destroyed.\u201d<\/p>\n

Separately, Iranian officials on Sunday said they would keep providing safe passage through the strait to vessels from countries other than its enemies.<\/p>\n

\"\"Israel US Iran Israeli security forces and rescue teams work at the site struck by an Iranian missile in Arad, southern Israel, Sunday, March 22, 2026. Nuclear concerns as the war rages<\/p>\n

Iran said its strikes in the Negev Desert were in retaliation to an earlier attack on Iran\u2019s main nuclear enrichment site in Natanz, according to state-run media.<\/p>\n

Tehran hailed the attack as show of strength \u2014 even as Israel\u2019s military asserts that Iranian missile launches have gradually decreased in frequency since the start of the war.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf the Israeli regime is unable to intercept missiles in the heavily protected Dimona area, it is, operationally, a sign of entering a new phase of the battle,\u201d said Qalibaf, the Iranian parliament speaker.<\/p>\n

Dimona is about 20 kilometres (12 miles) west of the nuclear research centre and Arad around 35 kilometres (22 miles) to the north.<\/p>\n

Soroka, southern Israel\u2019s main hospital, received at least 175 wounded from Arad and Dimona, the hospital\u2019s deputy director Roy Kessous told The Associated Press.<\/p>\n

Israel is widely believed to possess nuclear weapons, though it doesn\u2019t confirm or deny their existence. The UN nuclear watchdog said on X it had not received reports of damage to the Israeli centre or abnormal radiation levels.<\/p>\n

The IAEA has been informed by Iran that the Natanz nuclear site was attacked today. No increase in off-site radiation levels reported. IAEA is looking into the report.
IAEA Director General @rafaelmgrossi<\/a> reiterates call for military restraint to avoid any risk of a nuclear\u2026 pic.twitter.com\/jDCWYbOwao<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 IAEA – International Atomic Energy Agency \u269b\ufe0f (@iaeaorg) March 21, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n

Israel denied responsibility for hitting Natanz on Saturday while the Iranian judiciary\u2019s official news agency, Mizan, said there was no leakage. The Pentagon declined to comment on the strike at Natanz, which was also hit in the first week of the ongoing war and in the 12-day war last June.<\/p>\n

The UN watchdog \u2014 the International Atomic Energy Agency \u2014 has said the bulk of Iran\u2019s estimated 972 pounds (441 kilograms) of enriched uranium is elsewhere, beneath the rubble at its Isfahan facility.<\/p>\n

Iran says strike on Natanz also hit a hospital<\/p>\n

Iran said Saturday\u2019s strike at Natanz also hit a hospital in nearby Andimeshk. The health ministry reported patients and doctors were evacuated from there.<\/p>\n

\u201cPatients in the city of Andimeshk were forced to leave the only hospital in the city,\u201d Health Ministry spokesman Hossein Kermanpour wrote on X.<\/p>\n

He posted images showing a ward with a partially collapsed ceiling, a corridor strewn with broken glass, and said patients had been transferred to another city.<\/p>\n

\"\"Israel Iran Mideast Wars An Israeli soldier jumps from a tank in northern Israel near the border with Lebanon, Saturday, March 21, 2026. (AP Photo\/Ariel Schalit) <\/p>\n

In Iran, the death toll in the war surpassed 1,500 on Saturday, state media reported, citing the health ministry. In Israel, 15 people have been killed by Iranian strikes. More than a dozen civilians in the occupied West Bank and Gulf Arab states have been killed in strikes.<\/p>\n

The war has also seen noncombat related accidents, including a U.S. refueling plane crash in western Iraq that killed six U.S. service members and a Qatari military helicopter crash on Saturday that was blamed on a technical malfunction. All seven aboard the helicopter were killed, Qatari authorities said Sunday.<\/p>\n

Hezbollah strike on northern Israel claims first fatality there<\/p>\n

The Israeli civilian was killed in the northern town of Misgav Am in what Israel\u2019s military said \u201cseemed to be\u201d a rocket attack. Israeli medics said they found the man in his car and released a video showing two vehicles ablaze.<\/p>\n

\"\"Israel US Iran Israeli security forces and rescue teams work at the site struck by an Iranian missile in Arad, southern Israel, Sunday, March 22, 2026. <\/p>\n

Hezbollah, an ally of Iran, launched strikes on Israel soon after the war erupted, saying it was in retaliation for the killing of Iran\u2019s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Israel struck back, bombarding Lebanon and targeting Hezbollah in deadly airstrikes, expanding its presence in southern Lebanon and amassing more troops near the border.<\/p>\n

Lebanese authorities say Israel\u2019s strikes have killed more than 1,000 people and displaced more than 1 million.<\/p>\n

By Sam Metz And Samy Magdy.<\/p>\n

Metz reported from Ramallah, West Bank. Associated Press writers Melanie Lidman in Tel Aviv, Israel, Koral Saeed in Abu Snan, Israel, and Isabel Debre in Beirut contributed reporting.<\/p>\n