Printed On 22 Mar 2026
Iranian missiles struck two communities in southern Israel, leaving buildings shattered and dozens injured in twin assaults not removed from Israel’s major nuclear analysis centre.
The Iranian strikes late on Saturday got here after Tehran’s major nuclear enrichment facility at Natanz was hit earlier within the day. Israel denied accountability for the strike on Natanz, almost 220km (135 miles) southeast of Tehran.
The Pentagon declined to touch upon the strike on Natanz, which was additionally hit through the first week of the conflict and the 12-day conflict final June. Russian Ministry of International Affairs spokesperson Maria Zakharova stated such strikes posed a “actual danger of catastrophic catastrophe all through the Center East”.
Iran retaliated hours later.
Israel’s army stated it was not in a position to intercept missiles that hit the southern cities of Dimona and Arad, the biggest close to the centre in Israel’s sparsely populated Negev desert. It was the primary time Iranian missiles had penetrated Israel’s air defence programs within the space across the nuclear website.
The Israeli Ministry of Well being stated at the very least 180 individuals had been wounded within the missile assaults on the southern metropolis of Dimona and close by Arad.
Dimona is about 20km (12 miles) west of the nuclear analysis centre, and Arad is round 35km (22 miles) to the north.
Israel is believed to be the one Center East nation with nuclear weapons, although its leaders refuse to verify or deny their existence. The UN nuclear watchdog stated on X it had not acquired stories of injury to the Israeli centre or irregular radiation ranges.
