Russia has denounced reported attacks on Iran’s Natanz nuclear site, saying they could spell “catastrophe” for the region.
Russian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson, Maria Zakharova said in a statement that the international community “… must immediately provide an objective and hardline assessment of these irresponsible actions, which pose a real risk of a catastrophe across the Middle East.”
According to Iran’s atomic energy organisation, the United States and Israel have struck Iran’s Natanz nuclear facility. “Following the criminal attacks by the United States and the usurping Zionist regime against our country, the … Natanz enrichment complex was targeted this morning,” the organisation said in a statement carried by an Iranian news agency.
It added that there was “no leakage of radioactive materials reported” at the Shahid Ahmadi Roshan enrichment facility in Natanz in central Iran, one of the country’s most important uranium enrichment sites, about 220km (135 miles) southeast of Tehran.
Quoting Iranian officials, the news agency said that no radioactive material was released, adding that there is no danger to the population living near the facility. The Natanz nuclear facility was also targeted by Israel in the 12-day war between Iran and Israel in June 2025.
In a post on X, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said Iran has informed it about the US-Israeli attack on the Natanz site.
No increase in off-site radiation levels was reported, the United Nations nuclear watchdog said, adding that it was looking into the report. IAEA head Rafael Grossi repeated his “call for military restraint to avoid any risk of a nuclear accident” during the war on Iran.
Israel Vows To Intensify Attacks On Iran
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz warned the US and Israel would intensify their strikes on Iran in the week starting tomorrow Sunday. “This week, the intensity of the strikes to be carried out by the IDF [Israeli army] and the US military against the Iranian terror regime and the infrastructure on which it relies will rise significantly,” Katz said in a statement on Saturday.
Meanwhile, United States President Donald Trump said that he is considering “winding down” the military operations in Iran even as his administration deploys 2,500 additional marines to the region and asks Congress for more money to fund the war.
In a social media post on Friday, Trump said the US was “getting very close to meeting our objectives as we consider winding down our great Military efforts in the Middle East.”
White House Press Secretary, Karoline Leavitt, in a post on X shortly after Trump’s message, said “the President and the Pentagon predicted it would take approximately 4-6 weeks to achieve this mission.”
“Tomorrow [Saturday] marks week 3 – and the US Armed Forces are doing an exceptional job. Day by day, the Iranian Regime is being crippled, and their ability to threaten the United States and our allies is being significantly weakened.”
Karoline Leavitt
The US and Israel have offered shifting rationales for the war at different times, from hoping to foment an uprising that topples Iran’s leadership to eliminating its nuclear and missile programmes.
While Trump claimed the US is “very close” to meeting the war’s objectives, his administration is moving to bolster its firepower in the region and request another $200bn from Congress to fund the war.
Earlier this week, the US redirected another group of amphibious assault ships carrying 2,500 marines from the Pacific to the Middle East. The marines will join more than 50,000 US troops already in the region. Trump has said he has no plans to send ground forces into Iran, but has also asserted that he retains all options.
Meanwhile, the three-week-old war has shown no signs of abating, with the US-Israeli forces attacking the Iranian capital, Tehran, and nearby areas as the country welcomed the first day of the Persian new year, Nowruz.
At least two people were killed by shelling on a residential area in the village of Dastak in northern Iran’s Kiashahr, Gilan province’s governor said. Meanwhile, Iran fired two ballistic missiles at the Diego Garcia military base in the Indian Ocean, run jointly by the US and the United Kingdom, the semi-official Mehr news agency reported on Saturday.
Israel said Iranian forces continued to fire missiles at it early on Saturday, while Saudi Arabia said it downed 20 drones in just a couple of hours in the country’s eastern region – home to major oil installations.
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