Israel strikes Uranium plant in Iran; Tehran vows retaliation

Tehran: The Israeli military confirmed on Friday that it carried out airstrikes on a uranium processing site in Yazd, central Iran, escalating tensions in the ongoing West Asia conflict.

"A short while ago, the Israeli Air Force... struck a uranium extraction plant located in Yazd, central Iran," the Israeli military said in a statement, describing the site as a "unique facility in Iran used for the production of raw materials required for the uranium enrichment process".

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Iran’s Atomic Energy Organisation said the Shahid Khondab Heavy Water Complex in Arak and the Ardakan yellowcake production plant in Yazd Province were targeted. The agency added that the strikes caused no casualties and posed no risk of contamination. The Arak plant has remained non-operational since Israel attacked it last June.

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) warned that Iran would retaliate for the attacks on its nuclear facilities. Seyed Majid Moosavi, IRGC’s Aerospace Force commander, posted on X: "You tested us once before; the world has once again seen that you yourselves started playing with fire and attacking infrastructure. This time, the equation will no longer be ‘an eye for an eye,’ just wait."

The warning included advice for employees of U.S. and Israeli-linked companies to leave their workplaces.

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The strikes come as US President Donald Trump claimed that talks on ending the war were progressing well and gave Tehran additional time to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. Iran, however, has shown no signs of backing down.

Meanwhile, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that Iran had not yet responded to a proposed plan to end the conflict but had sent "messages" indicating a willingness to engage in diplomacy. "We haven't gotten it yet," Rubio told reporters in Paris after G7 talks. "We've had an exchange of messages and indications from the Iranian system -- whatever's left of it -- about a willingness to talk about certain things."