Iran\u2019s nuclear facilities came under attack Friday, state media reported, just hours after Israel threatened to \u201cescalate and expand\u201d its campaign against Tehran. Israel claimed responsibility for the attacks and Iran quickly threatened to retaliate.<\/p>\n
Iran\u2019s Atomic Energy Organization said the Shahid Khondab Heavy Water Complex in Arak and the Ardakan yellowcake production plant in Yazd Province were targeted, IRNA reported. The strikes did not cause any casualties and there was no risk of contamination, it said. The Arak plant has not been operational since\u00a0Israel attacked it last June<\/a>.<\/p>\n Yellowcake is a concentrated form of uranium after impurities are removed from the raw ore. Heavy water is used as a moderator in nuclear reactors.<\/p>\n The Israeli military later hailed its attacks on several Iranian targets including \u201cmissile production capabilities, infrastructure remaining from its nuclear program, and terror regime targets.\u201d It said raw materials are processed for enrichment at the Yazd plant and that the strike was a major blow to Iran\u2019s nuclear program.<\/p>\n The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps warned Iran would retaliate for the attacks, IRNA reported. Seyed Majid Moosavi, IRGC\u2019s Aerospace Force commander, posted on X<\/a> that employees of companies tied to the U.S. and Israel should abandon their workplaces.<\/p>\n \u201cYou tested us once before; the world has once again seen that you yourselves started playing with fire and attacking infrastructure,\u201d he said. \u201cThis time, the equation will no longer be \u2018an eye for an eye,\u2019 just wait.\u201d<\/p>\n US pushes diplomatic solution<\/p>\n Word of the attacks came after U.S. President Donald Trump claimed talks on ending the war were going \u201cvery well\u201d and that he had given Tehran more time to open the\u00a0Strait of Hormuz<\/a>. Iran maintains it has not engaged in any negotiations.<\/p>\n With\u00a0stock markets reeling<\/a>\u00a0and economic fallout from\u00a0the war<\/a>\u00a0extending far beyond the Middle East, Trump is under growing pressure to end Iran\u2019s chokehold on the strait, a strategic waterway through which a fifth of the world\u2019s oil is usually shipped.<\/p>\n A Gulf Arab bloc said Thursday that Iran has been\u00a0exacting tolls<\/a>\u00a0from ships to ensure safe passage.<\/p>\n Trump envoy Steve Witkoff said\u00a0Washington delivered<\/a>\u00a0a\u00a015-point \u201caction list\u201d<\/a>\u00a0to Iran for a possible ceasefire, using Pakistan as an intermediary. It proposes restricting Iran\u2019s nuclear program and reopening the Strait of Hormuz.<\/p>\n