Israel hits the ‘heart’ of Iran’s nuclear program in Natanz facility strike

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Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel struck at the heart of Iran’s nuclear center

The Israeli prime minister announced operation ‘Rising Lion’ to roll back Iran’s threat to Israel’s survival. (IsraeliPM via YouTube)

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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed that one of Iran’s top nuclear facilities had been hit in Thursday night’s strike against the regime.

“Iran has produced enough highly enriched uranium for nine atom bombs, nine,” Netanyahu said. “In recent months, Iran is taking steps that it has never taken before, steps to weaponize this enriched uranium. And if not stopped, Iran could produce a nuclear weapon in a very short time.”

Hours later, officials confirmed that Iran launched approximately 100 retaliatory drones toward Israeli territory, which the IDF was working to intercept. 

The Natanz Nuclear Facility – one of Tehran’s key nuclear sites and which has been flagged by security experts that in coordination with the Fordow Fuel Enrichment Plant, could produce enough weapons-grade uranium to produce 11 nuclear weapons within a month – has been hit in the strikes, though the extent of the damage remains unknown. 

FILE – This satellite photo from Planet Labs PBC shows the Natanz nuclear facility in Iran on May 20, 2025. (Planet Labs PBC via AP, File)

ISRAEL LAUNCHES SWEEPING STRIKE ON IRAN WHILE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION SEEKS DIPLOMATIC SOLUTION

“We struck at the heart of Iran’s nuclear enrichment program. We struck at the heart Iran’s nuclear weaponization program,” Netanyahu said in live remarks. “We targeted Iran’s main enrichment facility in Natanz. 

“We targeted Iran’s leading nuclear scientists working on the Iranian bomb,” he added. 

The Nantaz Nuclear Facility was at least partially destroyed in 2020 following an explosion, and satellite imagery has suggested Iran began constructing deep underground tunnels to further secure and obscure their nuclear program, reported the Institute for Science and International Security earlier this year. 

Israel launches preemptive strike on Iran’s capital, Tehran and its nuclear facilities. 6/12/25 (Courtesy of Israeli MOD)

ISRAEL ANNOUNCES PREEMPTIVE STRIKE AGAINST IRAN

It is unclear at this time if any of the underground structures were hit in the Thursday night strikes. 

“We will not let the world’s most dangerous regime get the world’s most dangerous weapons, and Iran plans to give those weapons, nuclear weapons, to its terrorist proxies,” Netanyahu said. “That would make the nightmare of nuclear terrorism all too real. 

“The increasing range of Iran’s ballistic missiles would bring that nuclear nightmare to the cities of Europe, and eventually to America,” he added. 

Smoke rises up after an explosion in Tehran, Iran, Friday, June 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

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Reporting by The New York Times also said the Parchin military complex had been hit in the overnight strikes, though Fox News Digital could not independently confirm the hit.

The extent of the damage also remains unknown as it was reported in November that the Parchin military complex had been significantly damaged in Israel’s October strikes which housed a nuclear weapons research facility. 

Another five military bases surrounding Tehran were also reportedly hit. 

Caitlin McFall is a Reporter at Fox News Digital covering Politics, U.S. and World news.