The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on Saturday confirmed that an Israeli attack in the most recent wave of strikes targeted a workshop producing centrifuges at Iran’s Isfahan nuclear complex, news agency AFP reported.
Iran’s Centrifuge Production Factory Hit
IAEA Chief Rafael Grossi reportedly said that the third such facility has been struck in the Israeli military campaign against Iran’s nuclear facilities, which entered its ninth day on Saturday.
“A centrifuge production workshop has been struck in Esfahan, the third one to have been hit in Israel’s recent bombardment of Iranian nuclear-related facilities,” Grossi said, per AFP.
The UN nuclear agency further clarified that the plant had no nuclear material on site, meaning “the attack on it will have no radiological consequences.”
Over 400 Fatalities Reported in Iran as Conflict Intensifies
The Israeli-Iran conflict, which was reignited on June 13 following the Israeli attacks on Iranian territory, has resulted in massive casualties. More than 400 have been reported killed in Iran, with thousands more injured.
“Up to this morning, the hands of the Israeli regime are also covered with the blood of 400 defenseless Iranians, and it has injured 3,056 people with its drones and missiles,” Iran’s Health Ministry said on Saturday in the first official confirmation since June 15 when reported fatalities stood at 224, with more than 1,200 believed to have been wounded, as reported by AFP.
ALSO READ: B-2 Bombers Take Flight as Trump Considers US Response to Iran: Report
Most Victims Are Civilians
The Health Ministry also pointed out that most of the casualties and fatalities were civilians. At least 54 children and women were among the fatalities, state-affiliated news agency Tasnim quoted spokesperson Fatemeh Mohajerani as saying. Five medical staffers were also listed as victims.
Iran Mourns Tenth Nuclear Scientist Isar Tabatabei Ghomsheh Killed in Israeli Attacks
Meanwhile, Iranian nuclear scientist, Isar Tabatabei Ghomsheh, was confirmed dead by Iranian media after being killed during the latest wave of Israeli attacks on Saturday, the BBC reported. His death was initially reported by Tehran’s Sharif University, which he graduated from.
The university newsletter reported that Ghomsheh was killed “late last week in his home” with his wife, Mansoureh Hajisalem.
Reports suggest this is the tenth Iranian nuclear scientist who has been killed during the conflict. Other deaths involved prominent individuals including Fereydoon Abbasi, ex-chief of Iran’s Atomic Energy Organisation, and Mohammad Mehdi Tehranchi, president of Islamic Azad University in Tehran. Other victims such as Abdolhamid Minouchehr, Ahmad Reza Zolfaghari, and Amirhossein Feghhi, were academics at the Shahid Beheshti University in Tehran.
Israel’s Channel 12 reported that “Operation Narnia” struck and targetted nine nuclear scientists “at the same time” before killing Ghomsheh.
Iran’s Foreign Minister Denounces Israeli Aggression at UN
In Geneva, Iran’s foreign minister Abbas Araqchi criticised Israel’s strikes against Iranian soil as “an unprovoked aggression” and a “grave injustice.” Speaking at the UN Human Rights Council on Saturday, Araqchi stressed that the war was an “unjust war imposed on my people.”
Araqchi strongly condemned the targeting of what he called Iran’s “peaceful” nuclear installations, claiming those are placed under “full monitoring” by the IAEA.
“Israel’s strikes against nuclear sites are serious war crimes, especially considering also the threat of environmental and health disaster due to radiological spillage,” Araqchi reportely said, calling on the international community to remain “committed to justice and humanitarian values”.
Stressing Iran’s right to protect its sovereignty, Araqchi added, “We are entitled, mandated, and resolute to defend our territorial integrity, national sovereignty, and security by all means necessary. This is our inherent right, as also evidently acknowledged under Article 51 of the Charter.”
ALSO READ: More than 400 Killed, Thousands Injured During Israel-Iran Conflict, Tehran Says
