Israel hits nuclear research facility again; kills 3 Iranian commanders

Israel's military said on Saturday it struck an Iranian nuclear research facility overnight and killed three senior Iranian commanders in targeted attacks as the war between the two nations continued into a second week.

Early on Saturday, smoke could be seen rising from an area near a mountain in Isfahan, 440 kilometres (270 miles) south of Tehran, where a local official said Israel had attacked the nuclear research facility in two waves.

The target was two centrifuge production sites, and the attacks came on top of strikes on other centrifuge production sites elsewhere in recent days, according to an Israeli military official speaking on condition of anonymity under army guidelines to brief reporters. It was the second attack on Isfahan, which was hit in the first 24 hours of the war as part of Israel's goal to destroy the Iranian nuclear programme.

Akbar Salehi, Isfahan province's deputy governor for security affairs, confirmed the Israeli strikes had caused damage to the facility but said there had been no human casualties.

Iran launched a new wave of drones and missiles at Israel but there were no immediate reports of significant damage, and the Israeli official called it a "small barrage” that was largely intercepted by Israel's defenses.

The official said part of the reason that Iran's overnight attack had been relatively small was that the military had been targeting its launchers, and estimates it has now taken out more than 50% of them.

"We've been able to take out a large amount of their launchers, creating a bottleneck - we're making it harder for them to fire toward Israel,” he said. "Having said all that, I want to say the Iranian regime obviously still has capabilities.”

A commander of Iran's drone force was also killed overnight, the Israeli official who briefed reporters said.

Earlier, Israel's Magen David Adom rescue service said Saturday an Iranian drone hit a two-story building in northern Israel, but there were no casualties.

The ongoing fighting comes after talks in Geneva on Friday failed to produce a diplomatic breakthrough.

The war between Israel and Iran erupted June 13, with Israeli airstrikes targeting nuclear and military sites, top generals and nuclear scientists. At least 657 people, including 263 civilians, have been killed in Iran and more than 2,000 wounded, according to a Washington-based Iranian human rights group.

Iran has retaliated by firing more than 450 missiles and 1,000 drones at Israel, according to Israeli army estimates. Most have been shot down by Israel’s multitiered air defences, but at least 24 people in Israel have been killed and hundreds wounded.

Associated Press