The Arak facility did not sustain any serious damage as a result of the Israeli attack.
On the morning of June 19, Israel attacked Iran's Arak heavy-water nuclear reactor. The nuclear facility is located approximately 250 km southwest of Tehran.
CNN reports this, citing the state news agency IRIB.
At around 06:00 local time, two shells were fired at the facility. It is noted that the Iranian facility did not receive serious damage, there is no radiation.
An Israeli military official confirmed that IDF fighter jets hit the facility during a series of overnight raids across the country, saying components used to produce plutonium were targeted.
“A nuclear reactor in the Arak region of Iran was attacked, including the structure that seals the reactor and is a key component in the production of plutonium,” an IDF spokesman said.
It should be noted that on the eve of the attack, the Israeli army issued an evacuation warning for residents near the Arak facility. The military said that the presence of people “in this area puts your life in danger.”
Incidentally, the heavy water reactor at Arak was the focus of the 2015 nuclear deal with the United States and other countries. Heavy water, or deuterium oxide, can be used to produce plutonium, giving Iran a second route to a potential nuclear bomb other than enriched uranium.
Under the agreement, Iran was supposed to convert Arak into a peaceful research facility that could no longer produce weapons-grade plutonium. But in the years since the U.S. pulled out of the deal, Tehran has violated several aspects of the treaty. In fact, the country now refuses to allow U.N. inspectors to monitor its production or its heavy water stockpiles.
Recall that the IDF reported that Israel carried out three waves of strikes on Iran in the past 24 hours . Israel deployed dozens of warplanes to strike more than 60 targets in Tehran and western Iran, including missile launchers and missile production facilities.
However, on the morning of June 19, Iran launched dozens of ballistic missiles at Israel . “Several of them hit” civilian areas in four cities: Beersheba, Tel Aviv, Ramat Gan and Holon, causing significant damage. In particular, the ballistic missiles hit the Soroka hospital.
