Israel-Iran conflict heats up

RED SEA THREAT RISES, US FLEXES MUSCLE

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Israel's military said on Saturday it struck an Iranian nuclear research facility overnight and killed three senior Iranian commanders in targeted attacks, while emphasizing 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 govLernor 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.