MOSCOW, June 17. /TASS/. Israel and Iran have continued to exchange strikes for five consecutive days, each saying they demolished strategically important enemy targets, nuclear ones included, and used cutting-edge weapons and interception systems.
TASS has compiled the main targets reported as eliminated and destroyed by the two parties.
Israeli strikes on nuclear facilities
- Israeli strikes on June 13 partially damaged Iran’s Natanz nuclear facility, IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi said: "The above-ground part of the pilot fuel enrichment plant, where Iran was producing uranium enriched up to 60% U-235, has been destroyed."
- Behrouz Kamalvandi, spokesman for the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, confirmed minor radioactive leaks but said no contamination has spread to the outside environment: "The damage at Natanz is primarily superficial because the core section of this facility is underground. A minor containment breach occurred within the complex, but no radioactive contamination has escaped into the external environment."
- On June 14, the Israeli armed forces continued to attack nuclear facilities: Iran intercepted an Israeli drone near the nuclear plant in Natanz, the Tasnim news agency reported. Israel also expanded strikes to Isfahan and Fordow nuclear sites.
- On June 16, Iranian air defenses destroyed more Israeli projectiles headed for targets including Natanz, where a nuclear facility is located.
- Due to the International Atomic Energy Agency’s failure to condemn Israel’s strike on Iranian nuclear facilities, Iran said it would no longer notify the IAEA about its activities for nuclear program implementation.
Oil refinery strikes
- On June 14, Israel attacked the territory near an oil refinery in Tabriz in the northwest of Iran, the Mehr news agency reported.
- That same night, fires erupted at Fajr Jam gas facility in the Bushehr province where the South Pars gas field is located.
- On June 17, Haifa’s Bazan Group refinery halted operations after an Iranian missile damaged its power plant.
Strikes on military targets
- In the early hours of June 13, more than 200 Israeli jets hit more than 100 Iranian targets, including senior Iranian leadership bunkers, the IDF reported.
- In retaliation, Iran launched a large-scale massive attack against Israel with the use of ballistic missiles and drones, the IRNA news agency said. More than 150 Israeli targets were hit, including air bases hosting F-35, F-16 and F-15 fighter jets.
- On June 15, the IDF reported conducting strikes against ballistic missile production facilities, radar stations, and missile launch sites in Tehran.
- That same day, Iran attacked Israeli "facilities producing fuel for fighter jets and adversary’s power supply centers were attacked with the use of a large number of drones and missiles".
- On June 16, Israeli forces reported having destroyed one-third of Iran's ground-to-ground missile launchers. "Since the beginning of the operation, more than 120 missile launchers — constituting one-third of the Iranian regime’s total launchers — have been destroyed," the army reported.
- On June 17, Iran launched attacks against Tel Aviv, Haifa, and other Israeli military targets using "novel weapons" along with hundreds of combat drones, Iran’s Army Ground Force Commander Brigadier General Kiumars Heidari announced. Iranian state media outlets. The strikes successfully hit the Israeli military’s Glilot base and a Mossad headquarters near Tel Aviv, SNN television and Tasnim news agency reported.
Civilian impact
- At least 1,800 people have received wounds and injuries after Israel’s attacks on Iran, Iranian Health Minister Mohammad-Reza Zafarghandi stated on June 17. "At least 1,800 civilians have been wounded and injured as a result of the Zionist regime’s (Israeli — TASS) attacks," he said.
- On June 13, Iranian media had claimed Israel targeted and killed several of the country’s nuclear scientists.
- On June 16, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said it had struck "a communications center" in Tehran - the headquarters of Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB). The attack occurred during a live broadcast, with Mehr news agency reporting three fatalities.
- In Israel hospitals admitted 287 patients with various injuries following overnight Iranian missile strikes on June 16, health authorities reported.
Missile strike tally
- Iran has conducted "550 operations using drones and continuously attacked Israeli territory" since the start of the direct conflict, Fars news agency reported, citing a source.
- Iran has launched "about 400 missiles and hundreds of drones" at Israel during the recent escalation, Dmitry Gendelman, an adviser to the Israeli prime minister, said in a bulletin published June 17.
Cutting-edge weapons
- Israel used the Iron Ray laser air defense system to intercept Iranian missiles and drones for the first time in combat conditions, a representative of the Israeli embassy in Moscow told TASS. It is designed to intercept ultra-short-range missiles, as well as mortar and artillery shells with a laser beam. It is assumed that the system can destroy ultra-short-range missiles, mortar and artillery shells, as well as small drones.
- The Iranian Defense Ministry reported hitting Israel with a cutting-edge missile, which the Israeli military "did not notice at all before it hit."
Unproven claims of Iranian nuclear weapons
- US intelligence has concluded that Tehran was "not actively pursuing a nuclear weapon", CNN reported on June 17, citing sources. Israel justified its strikes against Iran by citing concerns over the potential development of Iranian nuclear weapons.
- Grossi also said that he cannot confirm Israeli intelligence data on Iran’s nuclear program. "Well, I would not judge Israel’s intelligence readings. This is their evaluation of the situation, and I’m not familiar with the internal reports or information that they may have," Grossi pointed out.
- Former UK Ambassador to Tehran (2003-2006) Richard Dalton told Sky News that there is no reliable evidence indicating that Iran is on the brink of nuclear weaponization like Israel suggests: "There is no evidence to that effect in the public domain. <...> We are entitled to disbelieve [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu’s claims that there was some recent change in Iranian policy and behavior."