The Israeli Air Force, acting on IDF intelligence, on Friday struck the heavy water plant in Arak, central Iran, the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit confirmed.
The IDF noted that heavy water is a unique material used to operate nuclear reactors, such as the inactive Arak reactor, which was originally designed to have weapons-grade plutonium production capabilities. These materials can also be used as a neutron source for nuclear weapons.
Additionally, the IDF statement said, the plant was a significant economic asset for the terror regime and served as a source of income for the Iranian Atomic Energy Organization, generating tens of millions of dollars for the regime each year.
“Despite explicit international commitments, foremost among them the nuclear agreement, the Iranian terror regime has systematically avoided converting the reactor so that it would not enable the production of weapons-grade plutonium, and even deliberately ordered that the conversion not be completed," said the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit.
The plant was struck during Operation Rising Lion last June, and since then, the IDF said, “repeated reconstruction attempts by the Iranian terror regime have been identified. Therefore, the IDF has now struck the facility once again."
“The IDF will not allow the Iranian terror regime to continue its efforts to advance its nuclear weapons program, which poses an existential threat to the State of Israel and the entire world," the statement stressed.
In a subsequent strike, the Israeli Air Force, acting on IDF intelligence, struck a uranium extraction plant located in Yazd, central Iran.
“This plant is the only one of its kind in Iran, where raw materials mined from the earth undergo mechanical and chemical processing so that they can later be used as raw materials for uranium enrichment," said the IDF.
It noted, “This is a highly significant process for the nuclear weapons program advanced by the regime and constitutes the beginning of the value chain required for producing nuclear weapons."
The strikes targeted the main infrastructure used for the unique production processes, said the IDF, which noted that enriched uranium is a central and critical component in the development of nuclear weapons. Striking the site deprives the Iranian terror regime of the raw material needed for these processes and further undermines the Iranian nuclear weapons program.
“The IDF will not allow the Iranian terror regime to continue its efforts to advance its nuclear weapons program, which poses an existential threat to the State of Israel and the entire world," it clarified.
(Arutz Sheva-Israel National News' North American desk is keeping you updated until the start of Shabbat in New York. The time posted automatically on all Israel National News articles, however, is Israeli time.)