Forty Israeli Air Force fighter jets overnight Wednesday struck dozens of nuclear and military targets in Tehran and other locations across Iran, including the reactor near Arak, according to the Israeli military.
The reactor strike specifically targeted the core seal structure—a key element in plutonium production, said the Israel Defense Forces.
אילוסטרציה תלת-מימדית של הכור הגרעיני שאינו פעיל במרחב אראכ שבאיראן pic.twitter.com/596JYCm4YS
— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) June 19, 2025
Construction of the reactor began in 1997 but was halted due to international pressure. Originally designed to produce weapons-grade plutonium, Iran later agreed to convert it for the production of low-grade plutonium unsuitable for nuclear weapons. However, the regime reportedly chose not to complete the conversion—retaining the reactor’s potential for producing weapons.
The IAF raid aimed to destroy components essential for plutonium production, thereby preventing the reactor’s use for nuclear weapons development, the military said.
“We are progressing with the action much further than planned, as Iran’s airspace is open to us, which allows us to move more freely and deepen the attack on both the nuclear sites and the ballistic missiles,” Likud lawmaker Osher Shkalim told JNS on Thursday.
“In an amazing way, we have hit the military leadership, their scientists, and other strategic facilities—and they are in a very difficult situation and overwhelmed by the force of the attack—causing great chaos for them,” he continued. “Therefore, we need to increase the attack until they surrender completely. If the U.S. joins, it will greatly facilitate our effort, and this has widespread international implications. We are exactly on our way there.”
מצורף תיעוד מתקיפת צה״ל pic.twitter.com/TbQtG9G55w
— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) June 19, 2025
In a separate overnight strike, the IAF targeted a nuclear weapons development site near Natanz. The facility housed specialized equipment and hosted projects intended to accelerate Iran’s nuclear program, the IDF said.
Additional strikes were carried out against military production infrastructure, including factories producing raw materials and components for ballistic missile assembly, as well as sites involved in the development of air defense systems.
Israeli aircraft also neutralized air defense batteries, surface-to-surface missile storage facilities, radar detection systems, and other surveillance equipment operated by the Iranian regime.
Religious Zionism lawmaker Moshe Solomon told JNS on Thursday that Jerusalem has a clear goal: removing Iran’s capability to harm the Jewish state.
“The struggle against Iran is not just Israel’s struggle—it is a global battle against the axis of evil that threatens the stability of the region, the global economy and free nations,” he said. “This is an existential threat—not only to Israel, but to all countries in the Middle East and the West.”
Solomon continued, “Iran has deceived the world for decades about its nuclear program, and today it is clear that this is a project for mass destruction. Israel is fighting the war of all enlightened nations, and our expectation is that all countries of the world will join in.
“The United States—which is in close contact with us, supports us, and collaborates with us to damage the infrastructure and mitigate the threat—is also likely to take an active part in the attack against Iran.”
תקיפות חיל האוויר הלילה באיראן: 40 מטוסי קרב תקפו עשרות מטרות צבאיות עם יותר מ-100 חימושים
צה״ל תקף כור גרעיני שאינו פעיל במרחב אראכ שבאיראן
40 מטוסי קרב של חיל האוויר תקפו במהלך הלילה, בהכוונה מודיעינית מדויקת של אגף המודיעין, עם יותר מ-100 חימושים, עשרות מטרות צבאיות בטהראן… pic.twitter.com/llhYbkFXIF
— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) June 19, 2025
Earlier on Wednesday, the IDF carried out a series of strikes in Tehran, targeting more than 20 sites, including facilities linked to the Islamic Republic’s nuclear weapons development and missile production programs.
Sixty IAF fighter jets, guided by the IDF Intelligence Directorate, attacked the targets in and around the Iranian capital, the IDF said.
As part of the operation, the IAF struck weapons manufacturing facilities, centrifuge production sites and research and development centers associated with the regime’s nuclear efforts.
These sites were intended to support the expansion of Iran’s uranium enrichment capacity and accelerate its progress toward developing nuclear weapons, according to the military.
“The aim of the operation is to eliminate the existential threat to the State of Israel, significantly damage Iran’s nuclear program in all its components, and severely impact its missile array. We have additional targets, and we are determined to achieve them,” said IDF Spokesperson Brig. Gen. Effie Defrin.
For years, the IDF Intelligence Directorate has gathered intelligence on the regime’s production infrastructure, dispersed across Iran’s vast territory.
As part of the latest wave of strikes, Israeli forces targeted facilities involved in the development of Iran’s air defense systems.
IAF jets also struck a site used for the production of anti-tank missiles. The missiles were manufactured in Iran and transferred by the regime to its proxies across the region, intended for use in terrorist attacks against Israel, the military said.
In recent years, hundreds of Iranian-made missiles have been supplied to Hezbollah. Since Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, massacre, the Lebanon-based terror group has launched hundreds of anti-tank missiles at Israeli targets, resulting in numerous civilian and military casualties.
The Iranian regime has armed terrorist organizations surrounding the State of Israel, including Hezbollah, Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad in Gaza and Judea and Samaria and the Houthi terrorist regime in Yemen.
“After significantly weakening the regime’s proxies over the past 20 months, we are now dismantling [Iran’s] own core capabilities,” said Defrin.
According to the general, despite recent Israeli successes, the Iranian regime continues to retain significant capabilities. Although the number of missile launches has decreased, he emphasized that maintaining a high level of alertness remains critical.
He added that the Home Front Command is conducting regular situational assessments, with the goal of prioritizing civilian protection while easing daily life as much as possible amid ongoing hostilities.
Defrin delivered a clear message to Tehran and its proxies: “If you attempt to rebuild your terror capabilities in the region, you will be struck,” he said. “We launched this operation to remove an existential threat. We will act as long as necessary to accomplish the mission.”