Tel Aviv: Israel’s military said on Saturday it struck an Iranian nuclear research facility overnight and killed three senior Iranian commanders in targeted attacks, while emphasising it was preparing for the possibility that the war could turn into a lengthy campaign.
Early Saturday, smoke could be seen rising from an area near a mountain in Isfahan, where a local official said Israel had attacked the nuclear research facility in two waves.
The target was two centrifuge production sites, and the attacks came on top of strikes on other centrifuge production sites elsewhere in recent days, according to an Israeli military official speaking on condition of anonymity under army guidelines to brief reporters.
It was the second attack on Isfahan, which was hit in the first 24 hours of the war as part of Israel’s goal to destroy the Iranian nuclear program. Akbar Salehi, Isfahan province’s deputy governor for security affairs, confirmed the Israeli strikes had caused damage to the facility but said there had been no human casualties.
Iran launched a new wave of drones and missiles at Israel but there were no immediate reports of significant damage, and the Israeli official called it a “small barrage” that was largely intercepted by Israel’s defences.
The official said part of the reason that Iran’s overnight attack had been relatively small was that the military had
been targeting its launchers, and estimates it has now taken out more than 50 per cent of them.
“We’ve been able to take out a large amount of their launchers, creating a bottleneck — we’re making it harder for them to fire toward Israel,” he said. “Having said all that, I want to say the Iranian regime obviously still has capabilities.”
Israel’s Magen David Adom rescue service said Saturday an Iranian drone hit a two-story building in northern Israel, but there were no casualties.
Later, the Israeli military’s chief spokesman, Brig. Gen. Effie Defrin, said the army had been told by Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir to be prepared for a “prolonged campaign” to destroy its targets, including nuclear sites, enrichment facilities and missile infrastructure.
“We are deepening our strikes night after night and we have amazing achievements,” he said. “We will continue until the threat is removed.”
Meanwhile, Iran’s supreme leader has largely stopped using electronic communications to speak with his commanders, instead relying on trusted aide to deliver messages, The New York Times reported on Saturday.
According to the officials, Khamenei is currently in a bunker and has outlined a clear chain of succession. He has appointed replacements within his military command in case senior figures are killed and has named three senior clerics as potential successors for the role of supreme leader if he is assassinated.
Talks in Geneva on Friday failed to produce a breakthrough. European officials expressed hope for future discussions, and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said he was open to further dialogue while emphasising that Tehran had no interest in negotiating with the US while Israel continued attacking.
“Iran is ready to consider diplomacy once again and once aggression is stopped and the aggressor is held accountable for the crimes committed,” he told reporters.
The Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen have threatened to resume attacks on US vessels and warships in the Red Sea if the Trump administration joins Israel’s military campaign against Iran.
Saturday’s threat came in a prerecorded video statement by Houthi military spokesman Brig Gen Yahya Saree.
“In the event of the American involvement in the attack and aggression against Iran with the Israeli enemy, the armed forces will target its ships and warships in the Red Sea,” Saree said.
The Trump administration has deployed American B-2 stealth bombers from Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri. These long-range strike aircraft are headed to Guam, a strategic U.S. military base in the western Pacific, according to reports. US President Donald Trump is weighing active US military involvement in the conflict, which Araghchi said Saturday “would be very unfortunate”.
“I think that it would be very, very dangerous for everyone,” he said in Istanbul, speaking on the sidelines of a meeting of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation.
The war between Israel and Iran erupted June 13, with Israeli airstrikes targeting nuclear and military sites, top generals and nuclear scientists. At least 722 people, including 285 civilians, have been killed in Iran and more than 2,500 wounded, according to a Washington-based Iranian human rights group.
Iran has retaliated by firing more than 450 missiles and 1,000 drones at Israel, according to Israeli army estimates. Most have been shot down by Israel’s multi-tiered air defences, but at least 24 people in Israel have been killed and hundreds wounded.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said Israel’s military operation in Iran would continue “for as long as it takes” to eliminate what he called the existential threat of Iran’s nuclear program and arsenal of ballistic missiles. But Netanyahu’s goal could be out of reach without US help. Barring a commando raid or even a nuclear strike, Iran’s underground Fordo uranium enrichment facility is considered to be out of reach to all but America’s “bunker-buster” bombs. Trump said he would put off deciding whether to join Israel’s air campaign against Iran for up to two weeks.