Key points
- Over 50 Israeli Air Force fighter jets carried out the strikes: IDF
- Iran responds with hypersonic missiles
ISLAMABAD: The UN nuclear watchdog said Israeli strikes on Wednesday destroyed two buildings making centrifuge components for Iran’s nuclear programme near Tehran, while Iran said it fired hypersonic missiles as the arch foes traded fire for a sixth day.
Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei vowed his country would show “no mercy” towards Israel’s leadership, according to Press TV.
We must give a strong response to the terrorist Zionist regime.
We will show the Zionists no mercy.— Khamenei.ir (@khamenei_ir) June 17, 2025
The strikes destroyed two buildings making centrifuge components for Iran’s nuclear programme in Karaj, a satellite city of Tehran, the International Atomic Energy Agency said Wednesday.
In another strike on a site in Tehran, “one building was hit where advanced centrifuge rotors were manufactured and tested”, the agency added in a post on X.
The IAEA has information that two centrifuge production facilities in Iran, the TESA Karaj workshop and the Tehran Research Center, were hit. Both sites were previously under IAEA monitoring and verification as part of the JCPOA.
— IAEA – International Atomic Energy Agency ⚛️ (@iaeaorg) June 18, 2025
Khamenei, in power since 1989, was to deliver a televised speech Wednesday.
Trump insists the United States has played no part in ally Israel’s bombing campaign, but also warned his patience was wearing thin.
Long-range blitz
The long-range blitz began Friday, when Israel launched a massive bombing campaign that prompted Iran to respond with missiles and drones.
After the Israeli military issued a warning for civilians to leave one district of Tehran for their safety, Israeli warplanes hit the capital early Wednesday, according to AFP.
“More than 50 Israeli Air Force fighter jets… carried out a series of air strikes in the Tehran area over the past few hours,” the Israeli military said, adding that several weapons manufacturing facilities were hit.
“As part of the broad effort to disrupt Iran’s nuclear weapons development programme, a centrifuge production facility in Tehran was targeted.”
Centrifuges are vital for uranium enrichment, the sensitive process that can produce fuel for reactors or, in highly extended form, the core of a nuclear warhead.
Iran’s response
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said they had launched hypersonic Fattah-1 missiles at Tel Aviv.
Hypersonic missiles travel at more than five times the speed of sound and can manoeuvre mid-flight, making them harder to track and intercept.
Iran also sent a “swarm of drones” towards Israel, while the Israeli military said it had intercepted a total of 10 drones launched from Iran.
It said one of its own drones had been shot down over Iran.
