IDF bombs Arak nuke facility, missile factory in overnight strikes

Dozens of Israeli fighter jets hit strategic Iranian targets, including a heavy water reactor and missile production facilities, with over 100 guided munitions.

By World Israel News Staff

The Israeli Air Force launched a sweeping series of airstrikes across Iran overnight, targeting dozens of military sites and nuclear-related facilities, the IDF announced Thursday morning.

According to an official statement from the IDF spokesperson’s office, more than 40 Israeli fighter jets participated in the operation, striking with over 100 precision munitions on military and strategic infrastructure across Tehran, Natanz, and the Arak region.

Among the key targets was a non-operational nuclear reactor in the Arak area, believed to be a central component of Iran’s historical plutonium production capability.

The reactor, which Iran began building in 1997, was never completed due to international pressure and diplomatic agreements.

However, Israeli intelligence has claimed that Iran intentionally avoided completing a promised conversion of the site that would have rendered it incapable of producing weapons-grade plutonium.

According to the IDF, the strike was specifically aimed at the core containment structure, a crucial element in any attempt to reactivate the reactor for military use.

Israeli warplanes also struck the Natanz nuclear facility, the army said. The IDF has struck the Natanz facility – a sprawling uranium enrichment plant – multiple times since the launch of Operation Rising Lion last Friday.

The International Atomic Energy Agency estimates that the facility and its centrifuges were “badly hit” in the early Israeli strikes.

The IDF stated that the facility contained specialized equipment and components essential for accelerating Iran’s nuclear weapons program.

Beyond nuclear infrastructure, the airstrikes targeted an array of Iranian military manufacturing capabilities.

These included factories producing ballistic missile components, air defense systems, and military-grade raw materials.

Israeli fighter jets also destroyed missile storage sites, radar installations, air defense batteries, and other detection systems belonging to the Iranian regime.