Heavy strikes on nuclear program: IDF hits Arak nuclear reactor & Natanz weapon facility in one night

Continuing its intense bombardment of targets in Iran, Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said on Thursday morning that it hit air defense sites, weapon production factories, and two nuclear sites over the past night.

In the last wave of strikes on Thursday morning, 40 fighter jets struck dozens of military targets using over 100 munitions, the military said.

As part of this wave, the aircraft struck the inactive nuclear reactor in the area of Arak for the first time since the start of the war.

According to the IDF, it hit “the structure of the reactor's core seal, which is a key component in plutonium production… to prevent the reactor from being restored and used for nuclear weapons development.”

“Construction of the reactor began in 1997 but was not completed due to international community intervention. The reactor was originally intended for the production of weapons-grade plutonium, capable of enabling the development of nuclear weapons.”

Following international agreements, the regime later began shifting the site to the production of low-grade plutonium not suitable for weapons, but did not complete the conversion “in order to exert pressure on the West,” the IDF explained.

Another strike again hit the facility in Natanz, this time, destroying a nuclear weapons development site containing “components and specialized equipment used to advance nuclear weapons development, and projects designed to accelerate the regime’s nuclear program.”

As part of an earlier wave of strikes, 60 fighter jets hit over 20 military targets in Tehran, including production sites for nuclear centrifuges, as well as research and development sites of the regime's nuclear development project.

“These sites were designated to allow the Iranian regime to expand the scale and pace of its uranium enrichment [for the] purpose of developing nuclear weapons. The Iranian regime enriches uranium far more than the needed amount for civilian use, with an emphasis on enrichment to high levels,” the IDF said.

Other targets that were attacked overnight include various military production sites, like “factories producing raw materials, components used in assembling ballistic missiles, and sites for the production of Iranian air defense systems and missiles.”

“Additionally, air defense batteries, surface-to-surface missile storage sites, detection radar systems, and detection equipment belonging to the Iranian regime, were neutralized from the air.”

The IDF also struck a site for the production of anti-tank missiles, which were being transferred to Iran’s proxies throughout the region, including Hezbollah.

“In recent years, hundreds of missiles produced by the Iranian regime have been transferred to the Hezbollah terrorist organization. Since the beginning of the war, Hezbollah has launched hundreds of anti-tank missiles toward Israel, injuring and killing numerous civilians and soldiers,” the IDF said.

“It is now clear to all of you that there is a direct line connecting Iran to the entire axis,” said IDF Chief of Staff, Lt.-Gen. Eyal Zamir during a situation assessment in the Gaza Strip.

“Striking Iran means striking the axis – from Yemen to every front you are aware of. And in the end, it reaches close here; it reaches Hamas,” he said.

“We are engaged in a very significant operation to remove an existential threat posed to the State of Israel. This is the most serious existential threat we face. It is where we are now operating, and it is where we are focusing the IDF’s efforts. We are striking their nuclear program, and we are targeting aspects of the program.”

“That’s why the operation we are conducting in Iran directly affects the situation here as well. Important and direct lessons have been learned from the events of October 7 – we are not waiting. We are preventing threats. We are not waiting for those threats to materialize to the point where it is too late to address them. This is exactly what we are doing - confronting the nuclear program, confronting the missile program, and reducing the threat,” Zamir said.