CAIRO (AP) \u2014 Iranian missiles struck two communities in southern Israel late Saturday, leaving buildings shattered and dozens injured in dual attacks not far from Israel\u2019s main nuclear research center, while President Donald Trump warned the U.S. will \u201cobliterate\u201d Iranian power plants if it doesn\u2019t fully open the Strait of Hormuz within 48 hours.<\/p>\n
The developments signaled the war<\/a> was moving in a dangerous new direction at the start of its fourth week.<\/p>\n Trump \u2014 who is facing increasing pressure at home to secure the strait as oil prices soar \u2014 issued the ultimatum in a social media post while he spent the weekend at his Florida home.<\/p>\n Trump said he\u2019s giving Iran 48 hours to open the vital waterway or face a new round of attacks. He said the U.S. would destroy \u201cvarious POWER PLANTS, STARTING WITH THE BIGGEST ONE FIRST!\u201d<\/p>\n The Iranian strikes in Israel came after Tehran\u2019s main nuclear enrichment site at Natanz was hit earlier in the day.<\/p>\n Israel\u2019s military said it was not able to intercept missiles that hit the southern cities of Dimona and Arad, the largest near the center in Israel\u2019s sparsely populated Negev desert. It was the first time Iranian missiles penetrated Israel\u2019s air defense systems in the area around the nuclear site.<\/p>\n \u201cIf the Israeli regime is unable to intercept missiles in the heavily protected Dimona area, it is, operationally, a sign of entering a new phase of the battle,\u201d Iran\u2019s Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said on X before word of the Arad strike spread.<\/p>\n Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said more emergency crews were being sent to the scene.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is a very difficult evening,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Rescue workers said the direct hit in Arad caused widespread damage across at least 10 apartment buildings, three of them badly damaged and in danger of collapsing. At least 64 people were taken to hospitals.<\/p>\n Dimona is about 20 kilometers (12 miles) west of the nuclear research center and Arad around 35 kilometers (22 miles) north.<\/p>\n Israel is believed to be the only Middle East nation with nuclear weapons<\/a>, though its leaders refuse to confirm or deny their existence. The U.N. nuclear watchdog said on X it had not received reports of damage to the Israeli center or abnormal radiation levels.<\/p>\n A dangerous new direction in the war<\/p>\n \u201cThe war is not close to ending,\u201d Israel\u2019s army chief, Gen. Eyal Zamir, said earlier in the day.<\/p>\n Iran also targeted the joint U.K.-U.S. Diego Garcia<\/a> military base in the Indian Ocean about 2,500 miles (4,000 kilometers) away, suggesting that Tehran has missiles that can go farther than previously acknowledged \u2014 or that it had used its space program for an improvised launch.<\/p>\n The U.S. and Israel have offered shifting rationales<\/a> for the war, from hoping to foment an uprising<\/a> that topples Iran\u2019s leadership to eliminating its nuclear and missile programs<\/a> and its support for armed proxies. There have been no signs of an uprising, while internet restrictions limit information from Iran.<\/p>\n The war\u2019s effects are felt far beyond the Middle East, raising food and fuel prices<\/a>.<\/p>\n It is not clear how much damage Iran has sustained in the U.S. and Israeli strikes that began Feb. 28 \u2014 or even who is truly in charge<\/a>. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei<\/a> has not been seen in public since being named to the role.<\/p>\n Israel had denied responsibility for attack on Natanz<\/p>\n Israel earlier Saturday denied responsibility for the strike on the Natanz nuclear facility<\/a>, nearly 220 kilometers (135 miles) southeast of Tehran. The Iranian judiciary\u2019s official news agency, Mizan, said there was no leakage.<\/p>\n The International Atomic Energy Agency has said the bulk of Iran\u2019s estimated 970 pounds (440 kilograms) of enriched uranium is elsewhere, beneath the rubble at its Isfahan facility. It said on X it was looking into the strike.<\/p>\n The Pentagon declined to comment on the strike on Natanz, which was also hit in the first week of the war and in the 12-day war<\/a> last June. Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said such strikes posed a \u201creal risk of catastrophic disaster throughout the Middle East.\u201d<\/p>\n Iran retaliated hours later.<\/p>\n US can use Diego Garcia base to protect Strait of Hormuz<\/p>\n U.K. officials did not give details of the strike that targeted the Diego Garcia base Friday, which was unsuccessful. Britain\u2019s Ministry of Defense described Iran as \u201clashing out across the region.\u201d<\/p>\n It\u2019s unclear how close the missiles came to the island. Iran previously asserted that it has limited its missile range to below 2,000 kilometers (over 1,200 miles).<\/p>\n But military experts said Iran may have used its space launch vehicle for an improvised firing. \u201cIf you\u2019ve got a space program, you\u2019ve got a ballistic missile program,\u201d said Steve Prest, a retired Royal Navy commodore.<\/p>\n Israel\u2019s army chief, however, said Iran had fired \u201ca two-stage intercontinental ballistic missile<\/a>.\u201d There was no statement from Iran.<\/p>\n Britain has not participated in U.S.-Israeli attacks but has allowed U.S. bombers to use its bases to attack Iran\u2019s missile sites. On Friday, the U.K. government said bombers could use Diego Garcia to attack sites used to target ships in the Strait of Hormuz.<\/p>\n Global pressure increases to get shipping back on track<\/p>\n As Iran threatens shipping on the Strait of Hormuz, the United Arab Emirates joined 21 other countries including the U.K., Germany, France and Japan in expressing “readiness to contribute to appropriate efforts to ensure safe passage.\u201d<\/p>\n The Trump administration announced it was temporarily lifting sanctions on Iranian oil that was already loaded on ships as of Friday, but that does not increase oil production, a central factor in surging prices<\/a>. The oil ministry of Iran, which has evaded sanctions for years, replied that it \u201cessentially has no crude oil left in floating storage.\u201d<\/p>\n The head of U.S. Central Command, Adm. Brad Cooper, asserted that Iran\u2019s ability to attack vessels on the strait had been \u201cdegraded.” He said 5,000-pound (2,270-kilogram) bombs were dropped earlier in the week on an underground facility along Iran\u2019s coast used to store anti-ship cruise missiles and mobile missile launchers.<\/p>\n The U.S. is deploying three more amphibious assault ships and roughly 2,500 additional Marines to the Middle East, an official told The Associated Press. Two other U.S. officials confirmed that ships were deploying, without saying where they were headed. All three spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the operations.<\/p>\n Gulf countries reported more attacks. A missile alert sounded Saturday night in Dubai. Saudi Arabia said it downed 20 drones in its east, home to major oil installations.<\/p>\n Iran\u2019s death toll in the war has surpassed 1,500, the state broadcaster reported, citing the health ministry. In Israel, 15 people have been killed by Iranian missiles and four others have died in the occupied West Bank. At least 13 U.S. military members have been killed, along with well over a dozen civilians in Gulf nations.<\/p>\n Israeli troops and Hezbollah militants clash in Lebanon<\/p>\n Israel’s military said it was conducting a \u201ctargeted ground operation\u201d in southern Lebanon and at least four militants were killed. Hezbollah said its fighters clashed with troops in the southern village of Khiam.<\/p>\n Israeli strikes targeting Hezbollah<\/a> have killed more than 1,000 people and displaced more than 1 million, according to the Lebanese government. Hezbollah’s civilian assets<\/a> also have been targeted.<\/p>\n ___<\/p>\n Lawless reported from London and Lidman from Jerusalem. Sam Mednick in Tel Aviv, Israel, contributed to this report.<\/p>\n Samy Magdy, Melanie Lidman And Jill Lawless, The Associated Press<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"CAIRO (AP) \u2014 Iranian missiles struck two communities in southern Israel late Saturday, leaving buildings shattered and dozens…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":30273,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[13802,38,34,1933,37,5382,14179,101,69],"class_list":{"0":"post-30272","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tehran","8":"tag-diego-garcia","9":"tag-donald-trump","10":"tag-iran","11":"tag-iranian-missiles","12":"tag-israel","13":"tag-israeli-prime-minister-benjamin-netanyahu","14":"tag-nuclear-research-center","15":"tag-strait-of-hormuz","16":"tag-tehran"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@iran\/116270031356866572","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30272","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=30272"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30272\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/30273"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30272"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30272"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30272"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}