Israel has attacked Iran’s biggest gas plant, the South Pars petrochemical complex, and Iranian media said several explosions had been heard at the plant at Assaluyeh in the south of the country.
Defence Minister Israel Katz said that Israel had conducted a “powerful strike” on South Pars, adding it accounted for about half of Iran’s petrochemical production. Israel said earlier it had also hit “regime targets” in Tehran.
The chief of the UN nuclear watchdog warned that attacks near Iran’s Bushehr atomic power plant “pose a very real danger to nuclear safety and must stop”.
Strikes near the plant risk “harmful consequences for people and the environment in Iran and beyond,” said Rafael Grossi, director of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). He said one recent strike hit just 75 metres from the Bushehr perimeter.
It comes after US President Donald Trump vowed in an expletive-laden social media post to strike Iran’s bridges and power plants. But he appeared to extend by 24 hours his deadline for a deal. “Tuesday, 8:00 P.M. Eastern Time!” he said on his Truth Social platform.
Citing US, Israeli and regional sources, US news website Axios said a deal mediated by Pakistan, Egypt and Turkey for a 45-day ceasefire was under discussion.
The Revolutionary Guards said they were completing preparations to enforce new operating conditions in the Strait of Hormuz. Iran’s central military command warned of “much more devastating” retaliation if enemies hit civilian targets.
