Iranian missiles late Saturday hit two southern Israeli towns close to a nuclear facility in what Tehran said was retaliation for Israeli strikes on Iran's nuclear site at Natanz.
More than 160 people were injured in the strikes, which hit the towns of Dimona and Arad near Israel's Negev Nuclear Research Center, according to the Israeli health ministry.
The attack came as U.S. President Donald Trump warned that the United States will “obliterate” energy plants in Iran if the government in Tehran doesn't fully open the Strait of Hormuz, giving the country a 48-hour deadline to comply. Tehran warned in reply that any strike on its energy facilities would prompt retaliatory attacks on U.S. and Israeli energy and infrastructure facilities.
Iranian state TV said Saturday's strikes by Tehran were a response to an attack on Iran's Natanz nuclear facility earlier in the day, according to the BBC.
Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, speaker of Iran's parliament, said the fact that ballistic missiles evaded Israeli defenses and struck near the nuclear research site appears to signal "a new phase" in the war.
"If Israel is unable to intercept missiles in the heavily protected Dimona area, it is, operationally, a sign of entering a new phase of the conflict," he posted on social media network X. "Israel's skies are defenseless."
He added that the "time has come to implement the next pre-planned schemes," without providing further details.
Israeli military spokesman Effie Defrin said the strikes did not represent a new threat. "The air defense systems operated but did not intercept the missile. We will investigate the incident and learn from it," he wrote on X.
The International Atomic Energy Agency said it was aware of the strikes near the nuclear research center and has not received any indication of damage to the facility, nor any information from regional states indicating that abnormal radiation levels have been detected.
