Israel’s military hits at Iran’s nuclear research facility in Isfahan, Tehran warns against US involvement

Israel's military said on Saturday it struck a nuclear research facility in Iran’s Isfahan province overnight and emphasized that it was preparing for the possibility of a “prolonged campaign”.

The target of the Israeli airstrikes was two centrifuge production sites, reported news agency AP citing an Israeli military official.

Three senior Iranian commanders were killed in the targeted attacks, said the Israeli military.

Smoke was seen rising from an area near a mountain in Isfahan on early Saturday, where a local official said Israel had attacked the nuclear research facility in two waves, reported AP.

“We've been able to take out a large amount of their launchers, creating a bottleneck — we're making it harder for them to fire toward Israel,” the Israeli military official said. “Having said all that, I want to say the Iranian regime obviously still has capabilities.”

In response to the Israeli airstrikes, Iran launched a new wave of drones and missiles at its arch foe.

Isfahan province's deputy governor for security affairs, Akbar Salehi, said the Israeli strikes had caused damage to the nuclear facility, but said there had been no casualties, as per the report.

According to media reports, Israeli military’s chief spokesman, Brig. Gen. Effie Defrin, said the army had been told by Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir to be prepared for a “prolonged campaign” to destroy its targets, including nuclear sites, enrichment facilities and missile infrastructure.

“We are deepening our strikes night after night and we have amazing achievements,” Defrin said. “We will continue until the threat is removed.”

According to Israeli Army estimates, Iran has retaliated by firing more than 450 missiles and 1,000 drones at Israel so far.

Iran warns against US military involvement

As President Donald Trump is weighing active US military involvement in the Israel-Iran conflict, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on Saturday it “would be very unfortunate.”

“I think that it would be very, very dangerous for everyone,” he said in Istanbul, while speaking on the sidelines of a meeting of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation.

Trump recently said that he would put off deciding whether to join Israel’s air campaign against Iran for up to two weeks.

The war between the arch foes began on June 13, after Israel carried out airstrikes targeting Iran’s nuclear and military sites, top generals and nuclear scientists.

At least 722 people, including 285 civilians, have been killed in Iran and more than 2,500 wounded, according to a Washington-based Iranian human rights group, as per the AP report.