No increase in Iran radiation following Israel strike to ‘eliminate the threat'

News24

2 days ago

There is no increase in radiation levels in Iran following an Israeli strike on nuclear sites.
At least six nuclear scientists were killed in the strikes.
Israel insists Iran was heading toward the production of a nuclear bomb.
The International Atomic Energy Agency on Friday said there was no increase in radiation levels at the Natanz nuclear site that was targeted during an Israeli attack, citing information given to them by Iranian authorities.
The international atomic energy watchdog also added that the Bushehr nuclear power plant was not targeted during the attack.
AFP reported that at least six nuclear scientists were killed on Friday in Israel's attacks on Iran, according to local media.
'Abdolhamid Minouchehr, Ahmadreza Zolfaghari, Amirhossein Feqhi, Motalleblizadeh, Mohammad Mehdi Tehranchi, and Fereydoun Abbasi were the nuclear scientists martyred' in Israel's attack, Tasnim news agency said.
The Israeli military said on Friday that the intelligence it had gathered showed Iran was approaching the 'point of no return' on its nuclear programme.
'In recent months, accumulated intelligence information has provided evidence that the Iranian regime is approaching the point of no return,' it said in a statement.
'The convergence of the Iranian regime's efforts to produce thousands of kilogrammes of enriched uranium, alongside decentralised and fortified enrichment compounds in underground facilities, enables the Iranian regime to enrich uranium to military-grade levels, enabling the regime to obtain a nuclear weapon within a short period of time,' it added.
In a separate briefing to journalists, Israeli army spokesperson Brigadier General Effie Defrin said that Israeli jets had also 'attacked and damaged' Iranian air defence systems.
Defrin said Israel saw a three-pronged threat from Iran.
Firstly, Iran was 'rushing toward a nuclear bomb', he said.
'We are now revealing for the first time, based on intelligence, that the Iranian regime has established a secret programme.
'As part of this programme, senior nuclear scientists in Iran secretly conducted experiments to advance all the necessary components for building a nuclear weapon,' said Defrin.
'This is unequivocal proof that the Iranian regime is working to acquire nuclear weapons in the near future,' he said.
Defrin said the second part of the threat involved Iran building thousands of ballistic missiles 'with plans to double and triple them'.
'The third component: The Iranian regime continues to arm, fund and direct its proxies across the Middle East against the State of Israel,' he added.
Our operation's goal is to eliminate the threat.
Effie Defrin
In another statement the military said it had gathered materials showing the 'Iranian regime had a concrete plan to destroy the state of Israel'.
The plan was named 'The Destruction of Israel Plan', the military said.
'The State of Israel was left with no choice. The IDF is obligated to act in order to defend the citizens of the State of Israel and will continue to do so,' it added.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said on Friday that Israel's strikes on Iran are concerning and that all parties need to step back and reduce tensions, reported Reuters.
Israel did not warn France ahead of its attack on Iran because it is no longer as close an ally as it was before, its ambassador to France said on Friday, adding that the strikes on Iran would last days and aimed to stop its nuclear programme.
Ufuk Celal Guzel/Anadolu via Getty Images
'The French state for a certain period is not as close as it was before,' Joshua Zarka, who was previously in charge of the Iran dossier at the Israeli foreign ministry, told RTL radio. 'It's an ally but not to the point to be pre-warned of such an operation.'
Pakistan, the only Islamic country with nuclear weapons, 'strongly condemned' on Friday a wave of Israeli strikes on its neighbour Iran, AFP reported.
The strikes stoked fears of a full-blown war in the region and jeopardised US-Iran nuclear talks set for Sunday in Oman.
'Strongly condemn unjustified Israeli attacks on Islamic republic of Iran,' Pakistan's Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar wrote on X.
He said Pakistan, which does not recognise Israel, 'stands in solidarity with the Government & the people of Iran'.
Israel's military said Iran launched about 100 drones toward Israel on Friday and that it was making an effort to shoot them down, following a wave of Israeli air strikes across the Islamic republic, according to AFP.
'Iran launched approximately 100 UAVs toward Israeli territory, which we are working to intercept,' Defrin told journalists.
He added that Israel's strikes on Iran involved 200 fighter jets striking about 100 targets across Iran.