US-Iran talks over Tehran's nuclear program won't take place after Israel's surprise attack
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The latest U.S.-Iran talks on Tehran's rapidly advancing nuclear program will not take place Sunday, mediator Oman said Saturday, as Israel and Iran traded blows a day after Israel's blistering attack on Iranian nuclear and military sites.
Israel's ongoing 'widespread strikes' in Tehran and elsewhere have left Iran's surviving leadership with the difficult decision of whether to plunge deeper into conflict with Israel's more powerful forces or seek a diplomatic route.
Oman's foreign minister, Badr al-Busaidi, said on social media the sixth round of indirect nuclear talks on Sunday 'will not now take place," adding that 'diplomacy and dialogue remain the only pathway to lasting peace.'
Although the talks are off for now, 'we remain committed to talks and hope the Iranians will come to the table soon," said a senior U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss diplomacy.
Israel and Iran signaled more attacks are coming, despite urgent calls from world leaders to deescalate and avoid all-out war. The attack on nuclear sites set a 'dangerous precedent,' China's foreign minister said.
The region is already on edge as Israel makes a new push to eliminate the Iranian-backed militant group Hamas in Gaza after 20 months of fighting.
Israel — widely believed to be the only nuclear-armed state in the Middle East — said its hundreds of strikes on Iran over the past two days killed a number of top generals, nine senior scientists and experts involved in Iran's nuclear program. Iran's U.N. ambassador has said 78 people were killed and more than 320 wounded.
Iran retaliated by launching waves of drones and ballistic missiles at Israel, where explosions lit the night skies over Jerusalem and Tel Aviv and shook buildings. Israel said three people were killed and over 170 wounded.
"If (Iranian Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali) Khamenei continues to fire missiles at the Israeli home front — Tehran will burn,' Defense Minister Israel Katz said.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has made the destruction of Iran's nuclear program his top priority, said Israel's strikes so far are "nothing compared to what they will feel under the sway of our forces in the coming days.'
In what could be another escalation if confirmed, semiofficial Iranian news agencies reported an Israeli drone struck and caused a 'strong explosion' at an Iranian natural-gas processing plant. It would be the first Israeli attack on Iran's oil and natural gas industry. Israel's military did not immediately comment.
The extent of damage at the South Pars natural gas field was not immediately clear. Such sites have air defense systems around them, which Israel has been targeting.
Iran calls nuclear talks 'unjustifiable'
Iran says its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes only, and U.S. intelligence agencies have assessed that Tehran was not actively pursuing the bomb. But its uranium enrichment has reached near weapons-grade levels, and on Thursday, the U.N.'s atomic watchdog censured Iran for not complying with obligations meant to prevent it from developing a nuclear weapon.
Iran's top diplomat said Saturday the nuclear talks were 'unjustifiable' after Israel's strikes. Abbas Araghchi's comments came during a call with Kaja Kallas, the European Union's top diplomat.
The Israeli airstrikes were the 'result of the direct support by Washington,' Araghchi said in a statement carried by the state-run IRNA news agency. The U.S. has said it isn't part of the strikes.
On Friday, U.S. President Donald Trump urged Iran to reach a deal with the U.S. on its nuclear program, adding that "Iran must make a deal, before there is nothing left.'
US helps to shoot down Iranian missiles
Iran launched waves of missiles at Israel late Friday and early Saturday. Iranians awoke to state television airing repeated clips of the strikes, as well as videos of people cheering and handing out sweets.
The Iranian attacks killed at least three people and wounded 174, two of them seriously, Israel said. The military said seven soldiers were lightly wounded when a missile hit central Israel, without specifying where — the first report of Israeli military casualties since the initial Israeli strikes.
U.S. ground-based air defense systems in the region were helping to shoot down Iranian missiles, said a U.S. official who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the measures.
In Ramat Gan, east of Tel Aviv, an Associated Press journalist saw burned-out cars and at least three damaged houses, including one whose front was nearly entirely torn away.
Residents of a central Israeli city hit Friday night, Rishon Lezion, said the explosion was so powerful it shook their shelter door open. 'We thought, that's it, the house is gone, and in fact half of the house was gone,' said Moshe Shani.
Israel's main international airport said it will remain closed until further notice.
Indications of a new Israeli attack
Israel's army spokesman, Brig. Gen. Effie Defrin, said Israel had attacked more than 400 targets across Iran, including 40 in Tehran, where dozens of fighter jets were 'operating freely.' He said it was the deepest point Israel's air force had operated.
Defrin said fighter jets struck over 40 'missile-related targets and advanced air defense array systems' across Iran.
A governor of Eastern Azerbaijan province in northwestern Iran said 30 troops and a rescuer had been killed there, with 55 others wounded. Gov. Bahram Sarmast's remarks were the latest acknowledgment of mass casualties.
Iranian state television reported online that air defenses were firing in the cities of Khorramabad, Kermanshah and Tabriz. Footage from Tabriz showed black smoke rising.
The sound of explosions and Iranian air defense systems firing at targets echoed across central Tehran. Iran's semiofficial Tasnim news agency reported a fire at Tehran's Mehrabad International Airport.
'More than a few weeks' to repair nuclear facilities
Israel attacked Iran's main nuclear enrichment facility in Natanz. Satellite photos analyzed by AP show extensive damage there. The images shot Saturday by Planet Labs PBC show multiple buildings damaged or destroyed. The structures hit include buildings identified by experts as supplying power to the facility.
U.N. nuclear chief Rafael Grossi told the Security Council that the above-ground section of the Natanz facility was destroyed. The main centrifuge facility underground did not appear to have been hit, but the loss of power could have damaged infrastructure there, he said.
Israel said it also struck a nuclear research facility in Isfahan, including 'infrastructure for enriched uranium conversion,' and said it destroyed dozens of radar installations and surface-to-air missile launchers in western Iran. Iran confirmed the strike at Isfahan.
The International Atomic Energy Agency said four 'critical buildings' at the Isfahan site were damaged, including its uranium conversion facility. 'As in Natanz, no increase in off-site radiation expected,' it added.
An Israeli military official, speaking on condition of anonymity in line with official procedures, said that according to the army's initial assessment 'it will take much more than a few weeks' for Iran to repair the damage to the Natanz and Isfahan nuclear sites. The official said the army had 'concrete intelligence that production in Isfahan was for military purposes.'
Israel denied it had struck the nuclear enrichment facility in Fordo, about 100 kilometers (60 miles) southeast of Tehran, after an Iranian news outlet close to the government reported the sound of explosions nearby.
Netanyahu said the attack had been months in the making and was planned for April before being postponed.
Among those killed were three of Iran's top military leaders: one who oversaw the entire armed forces, Gen. Mohammad Bagheri; one who led the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, Gen. Hossein Salami; and the head of the Guard's aerospace division, which oversees its arsenal of ballistic missile program, Gen. Amir Ali Hajizadeh. On Saturday, Khamenei named a new leader for the Revolutionary Guard's aerospace division: Gen. Majid Mousavi.
___
Lidman and Frankel reported from Jerusalem. Associated Press writers Natalie Melzer in Nahariya, Israel, and Nasser Karimi in Tehran, Iran, contributed to this report.
Jon Gambrell, Melanie Lidman And Julia Frankel, The Associated Press
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