2 Iran Nuclear Sites Destroyed in Israeli Airstrikes, Says IAEA

The UN nuclear watchdog said Israeli strikes on Wednesday destroyed two buildings making centrifuge components for Iran's nuclear programme near Tehran, while Iran said it fired hypersonic missiles as the arch foes traded fire for a sixth day.

- Agencies

[e-mail] TEHRAN:

After the Israeli military issued a warning for civilians to leave one district of Tehran for their safety, Israeli warplanes hit the capital on Wednesday.

"More than 50 Israeli Air Force fighter jets... carried out a series of airstrikes in the Tehran area over the past few hours," the Israeli military said, adding that several weapons manufacturing facilities were hit.

"As part of the broad effort to disrupt Iran's nuclear weapons development programme, a centrifuge production facility in Tehran was targeted."

Centrifuges are vital for uranium enrichment, the sensitive process that can produce fuel for reactors or, in highly extended form, the core of a nuclear warhead.

The strikes destroyed two buildings making centrifuge components for Iran's nuclear programme in Karaj, a satellite city of Tehran, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said on Wednesday.

In another strike on a site in Tehran, "one building was hit where advanced centrifuge rotors were manufactured and tested", the agency added in a post on X.

Iran's near-bomb-grade uranium's location uncertain: UN watchdog The United Nations nuclear watchdog said the location of Iran's near-bomb-grade stockpile of enriched uranium cannot currently be verified, as Israel's ongoing military assault is preventing inspectors from doing their work.

Iran's 409 kilograms (902 pounds) of highly-enriched uranium — enough to produce 10 nuclear warheads — should theoretically be secured under an International Atomic Energy Agency seal at an underground facility at Isfahan.