2 Iranian strikes on towns near Israel’s main nuclear research facility injured more than 100 people

Iranian strikes have hit two communities near Israel’s main nuclear research facility, injuring more than 100 people in the southern part of the country. It was the first time an Israeli nuclear research facility had been targeted in the war which started three weeks ago.

The strikes came hours after Iran’s Natanz nuclear enrichment facility was hit by airstrikes, for which Israel’s military denied responsibility.

Israel’s military said it was unable to stop Iranian missiles that hit the cities of Dimona and Aradi, the largest city near the center of the sparsely populated Negev desert.

Israel’s Magen David Adom emergency rescue center said at least 64 people were injured in the Arad strike. The spokesman for Magen David Adom said seven were hospitalized in critical condition, 15 in satisfactory condition and 42 in critical condition.

Magen David Adom’s teams continue to search the rubble to find more injured, the organization said.

In a separate Iranian strike hours ago in the nearby city of Dimona, at least 40 people were injured, Magen David Adom said earlier.

After the two strikes, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed that the Israeli military would continue its war efforts in the Middle East.

“This is a very difficult night in the campaign for our future,” Netanyahu said in a statement posted on social media, adding that he spoke with the mayor of Arad, one of the two cities hit, and conveyed “our prayers for peace to the wounded.”

“We are determined to continue to attack our enemies from all sides,” Netanyahu wrote.

“It is becoming increasingly clear that the Iranian regime is resorting to reckless attacks that clearly show its instability and disregard for people’s health while targeting civilians, said Lt. Col. Nadav Shosh, spokesperson for the Israel Defense Forces, on social media.

Pictures taken by Israeli emergency services show a large crater near what appear to be apartments with walls sheared off. The missile appeared to have hit an open area.

Rescuers say the accident in Aradi has caused damage to at least 10 residential areas, three of which are seriously damaged and in danger of collapsing.

Israel is believed to be the only country in the Middle East with nuclear weapons, although its leaders refuse to confirm or deny their existence. I International Atomic Energy Agencythe United Nations’ nuclear watchdog, said in X that it had not received reports of damage to the Israeli facility or abnormal radiation levels.

Israel on Saturday denied responsibility for the strike on Iran’s Natanz nuclear facility, located 135 kilometers southeast of Tehran. The official news agency of Iran’s judiciary, Mizan, said there were no leaks. The IAEA said it was monitoring the strike, but “no increase in radiation levels outside the site” was reported.

The nuclear plant had been hit Israeli Airlines during the Iran-Israel 12-day war in June 2025, and later that month it’s US.

The IAEA said most of Iran’s estimated 970 pounds of enriched uranium is located elsewhere, under debris at its Isfahan facility, which was also bombed by the US last June.

The Pentagon declined to comment on the Natanz strike, which took place in the first week of the war and the 12-day war last June.

“If the state of Israel cannot stop the missiles from the heavily defended area of ​​Dimona, that is a sign of entering a new phase of the war,” Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said on X before the Arad strike spread.

On Friday, many people reported on the talks he told CBS News that the Trump administration has been planning ways and means to protect or remove Iran’s nuclear facilities. The timing of any such operation, if President Trump would order it, remains unclear. Another source said he had not yet made a decision.