{"id":553514,"date":"2026-03-22T16:06:10","date_gmt":"2026-03-22T16:06:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/553514\/"},"modified":"2026-03-22T16:06:10","modified_gmt":"2026-03-22T16:06:10","slug":"threats-of-war-expansion-strikes-near-nuclear-program-sites-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/553514\/","title":{"rendered":"Threats of war expansion, strikes near nuclear program sites"},"content":{"rendered":"

ARAD, Israel \u2014\u00a0Iran\u00a0and the allied Lebanese militant group Hezbollah stepped up attacks on Israel on Sunday after\u00a0the United States and\u00a0Iran\u00a0threatened\u00a0to target critical infrastructure in the\u00a0war in the Middle East, now in its fourth week.<\/p>\n

Iran\u00a0said the\u00a0Strait of Hormuz, crucial to oil and other exports, would be \u201ccompletely closed\u201d immediately if the U.S. follows up on President Donald Trump\u2018s new threat to attack its power plants. Trump late Saturday set a 48-hour deadline to open the strait.<\/p>\n

Iran\u2019s parliament speaker said Tehran also would retaliate against U.S. and Israeli energy and wider infrastructure in the region.<\/p>\n

Israeli leaders visited Arad, one of two southern communities near a secretive nuclear research site struck by Iranian missiles late Saturday, wounding scores of people. Prime Minister\u00a0Benjamin Netanyahu\u00a0said it was a \u201cmiracle\u201d no one was killed. He claimed Israel and the U.S. were well on their way to achieving their war goals and asked the international community for more support.<\/p>\n

\"\"Smoke and debris rise from an Israeli airstrike that hit the Qasmiyeh Bridge near the coastal city of Tyre, Lebanon, Sunday, March 22, 2026. (AP Photo\/Mohammad Zaatari) Smoke and debris rise from an Israeli airstrike that hit the Qasmiyeh Bridge near the coastal city of Tyre, Lebanon, Sunday, March 22, 2026. (AP Photo\/Mohammad Zaatari) <\/p>\n

The developments signaled the war, which the U.S. and Israel launched Feb. 28, was moving in a dangerous new direction, despite Trump\u2019s comment last week he was considering \u201cwinding down\u201d operations. It has killed over 2,000 people, rattled the global economy and sent oil prices surging.<\/p>\n

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

Energy and desalination plants are threatened<\/p>\n

Iran\u00a0has practically closed the Strait of Hormuz that connects the Persian Gulf to the rest of the world.\u00a0Roughly one-fifth of global oil supply\u00a0passes through it, but attacks\u00a0on ships\u00a0and threats of further strikes have stopped nearly all tanker traffic. Some of the largest oil producers have made cuts because their crude has nowhere to go.<\/p>\n

The U.S. and its allies in Europe and Asia rely heavily on the oil to meet energy demand. In its most recent attempt to relieve pressure on energy prices, the U.S. has lifted some sanctions on Iranian oil at sea.<\/p>\n

Trump said if\u00a0Iran\u00a0didn\u2019t open the strait, the U.S. would destroy its \u201cvarious POWER PLANTS, STARTING WITH THE BIGGEST ONE FIRST!\u201d<\/p>\n

Iranian parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf responded on X that if Iran\u2019s power plants and infrastructure are targeted, then vital infrastructure across the region \u2014 including energy and\u00a0desalination facilities\u00a0\u2014 would be considered legitimate targets and \u201cirreversibly destroyed.\u201d<\/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) <\/p>\n

Under international law, power plants that benefit civilians can be targeted only if the military advantage outweighs the suffering it cases to civilians, legal scholars say.<\/p>\n

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

Strikes in Israel and\u00a0Iran\u00a0bring new nuclear concerns<\/p>\n

Iran\u00a0said its strikes in the Negev Desert late Saturday were in retaliation for an earlier attack on Iran\u2019s\u00a0main nuclear enrichment site\u00a0in Natanz, according to state-run media.<\/p>\n

Tehran praised the attack as show of strength, even as Israel\u2019s military asserts that Iranian missile launches have gradually decreased in frequency since the war began.<\/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 Qalibaf said.<\/p>\n

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

Israel is\u00a0widely believed to possess\u00a0nuclear 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.<\/p>\n

The International Atomic Energy Agency 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\u00a0says strikes also hit hospital<\/p>\n

Iran\u00a0said strikes hit a hospital in Andimeshk. Its health ministry said patients and doctors were evacuated to another city.<\/p>\n

Iran\u2019s death toll in the war has surpassed 1,500, state media reported Saturday, citing the 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

A Qatari military helicopter crash on Saturday, blamed on a technical malfunction, killed all seven aboard, Qatari authorities said.<\/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) 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.<\/p>\n

Hezbollah launched strikes on Israel soon after the war began, calling it retaliation for the killing of Iran\u2019s Supreme Leader Ayatollah\u00a0Ali Khamenei. Israel then targeted Hezbollah in deadly airstrikes and expanded its ground presence in southern Lebanon.<\/p>\n

Fighting there has intensified. Israel on Sunday expanded its list of targets to include all bridges over the Litani River, which Defense Minister Israel Katz said Hezbollah is using to move fighters and weapons into the south. Israel later struck the Qasmiyeh bridge near Tyre, giving an hour\u2019s warning.<\/p>\n

Katz also ordered the military to accelerate its destruction of Lebanese homes near Israel\u2019s northern border.<\/p>\n

Lebanese authorities say Israel\u2019s strikes have killed more than 1,000 people and displaced more than 1 million. Meanwhile, Hezbollah has fired hundreds of rockets into Israel.<\/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

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

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