Iran strikes Israeli, US sites as Israel claims attack on Iranian ‘nuclear weapons’ compound

ISTANBUL / JERUSALEM

Iran said Thursday it launched new attacks on Israeli military sites and US bases in the region, while Israel claimed to have struck an Iranian site it said was linked to Iran’s “nuclear weapons development program.”

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said in a statement that the attacks targeted military sites around Tel Aviv and Jerusalem as well as US military bases in the region.

It said the operation involved the use of Khorramshahr multi-warhead missiles and Kheibar Shekan missiles carrying a one-ton warhead, as well as Fattah and Qader missiles, in addition to suicide drones.

The Israeli army, for its part, said in a statement that it carried out a strike in Tehran on an additional site linked to Iran’s nuclear program, hitting the Taleghan compound allegedly used by Tehran “to advance critical capabilities for developing nuclear weapons.”

“The compound was utilized to develop advanced explosives and to conduct sensitive experiments as part of the ‘AMAD’ project, the covert nuclear weapon development program in the 2000s,” it claimed.

There was no immediate comment from Iran on the Israeli claim.

The attack comes as US and Israeli airstrikes on Iran, launched Feb. 28, have killed about 1,300 people and injured more than 10,000.

Iran has retaliated with drone and missile strikes targeting Israel, Iraq, and Gulf countries hosting US military assets.

The confrontation comes despite progress previously reported in indirect negotiations between Washington and Tehran over Iran’s nuclear program.

The US and Israel accuse Iran of pursuing nuclear weapons and advanced missile capabilities, a claim Tehran denies, saying its nuclear program is intended solely for peaceful purposes.