Iran attacked the Israeli cities of Arad and Dimona on Saturday, injuring more than 100 people and leaving shattered buildings near Israel’s main nuclear research facility.
At least 84 people were injured in Arad, 10 of them seriously, while another 33 were injured in Dimona, AFP reported.
Commenting on the attacks, Iranian state television said the attack was “in response” to a previous US-Israel attack on its own nuclear facility in Natanz, while Israel called the attacks a “war crime” and claimed children were also injured.
The Israeli military also said it failed to intercept the rockets that hit the two cities, the first success of Iranian missiles against Israeli air defenses in the area around the nuclear plant.
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“If the Israeli regime is unable to intercept the rockets in the heavily defended Dimona area, it is operationally a sign of entering a new phase of the battle,” Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said on X before news of the Arad attacks spread.
While Iran has not specifically said it targeted an Israeli nuclear facility, the targeting of the area seems to indicate that it very likely did, the BBC reported.
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Here is why Arad and Dimona are strategically important
With populations of about 30,000 and 40,000 people, Arad and Dimona are two cities in southern Israel that lie in close proximity to Shimon Peres’ Negev Nuclear Research Center, believed to be home to Israel’s undeclared nuclear weapons arsenal.
The two cities also serve as a nexus of military, technological and critical infrastructure in Israel’s Negev desert, with Dimona serving as a defense hub and Arad serving as a residential and logistics hub.
Construction of the nuclear facility, sometimes unofficially referred to as the Dimona reactor, began in 1958, with the reactor believed to have become active sometime between 1962 and 1964.
Israel is believed to have developed its first nuclear bomb at the Dimona facility in 1967, but information about the nuclear facility remains highly classified to this day.
Despite Israel’s nuclear capabilities being an open secret, Tel Aviv has to this day refused to confirm or deny the possession of nuclear weapons.
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Israel denies the attack on the Natanz nuclear facility
Shortly after the US-Israel-Iran conflict broke out on February 28, Iran claimed that the strikes by Washington and Tel Aviv were aimed at a nuclear facility at Natanz, about 220 kilometers from the capital, Tehran.
The Natanz nuclear facility was hit again on Saturday, Iran’s Mizan news agency reported, adding that no radiation leaks were reported.
Meanwhile, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said it was investigating reports of the Natanz attack.
“There is no reported increase in radiation levels outside the site. The IAEA is investigating the report,” the agency said.
However, when asked about the attacks, the Israeli military said it was “not aware” of any attack on Natanz, while the Pentagon also did not comment.
The Natanz facility, along with Isfahan and Fordow, was among three facilities hit by the US during the 12-day war in June last year.
