Credit: IDF

Israel struck an Iranian reactor in the central city of Arak on Thursday in its latest efforts to destroy the regime’s nuclear programme.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said it targeted Iran’s heavy water nuclear reactor, striking what it described as “a key component in plutonium production”.

A black and white video, circulated online by the IDF, showed a missile crashing into the target, followed by a large explosion.

Both sides have been fighting for nearly a week since Israel launched attacks on Iranian nuclear sites and killed several top generals and nuclear scientists.

On Thursday, Israel said its warplanes also struck a facility at Natanz, a key Iranian nuclear site, which was being used to develop nuclear weapons, a military spokesman said.

The IDF said: “The site houses unique components and equipment used for the development of nuclear weapons, and hosts projects that enable the acceleration of the nuclear weapons programme.”

Earlier on Thursday, the IDF announced it had struck a nuclear site in Bushehr, which sits on the Gulf coast and is understood to be Iran’s only operating power plant.

The announcement caused concern among neighbouring Gulf states because of the contamination risk to the surrounding air and water.

But Israel was forced to retract i,t admitting it had been “a mistake”. When pushed, a spokesman said it could “neither confirm nor deny” whether the reactor was attacked.

Israel has said its goal for the war is to demolish Iran’s nuclear programme, which the West fears is close to building a bomb.

Some officials signalling that the attacks are also aimed at forcing the collapse of the Iranian regime, with possible US support in the near future.

The Arak nuclear reactor has been a key feature of Iran’s nuclear programme for decades, with Tehran insisting that it is only used for civilian purposes and not for the creation of nuclear bombs.

In 2016, Iran agreed to remove the core of the Arak reactor and fill it up with concrete under the now-defunct Iran nuclear deal, which eased sanctions on Tehran in exchange for curbing the nuclear programme. The first Trump administration withdrew from the nuclear pact in 2018.

In 2019, Ali Akbar Salehi, Iran’s nuclear programme chief, said Tehran had replaced a calandria, a key component in the reactor, so that work on the programme could resume.

The IDF said: “The reactor is designed to produce high-yield plutonium, which would enable the acquisition of nuclear weapons. The attack was carried out against the component intended for producing plutonium, thus preventing its ability to be reused to produce nuclear weapons.”

It added that it had also carried out overnight strikes, involving 40 aircraft and 100 munitions, against several Iranian military facilities.

Later on Thursday, Zohar Palti, a former senior Mossad officer, said he believed Israel “should declare victory” after successful attacks on most of Iran’s nuclear sites.

“Now that Israel has succeeded in striking most of its nuclear targets in Iran, Israel has a window of two or three days to declare the victory and end the war,” he told The New York Times.

Israel is rapidly burning through missile interceptors to counter Iranian attacks, and may have to make difficult decisions about which areas to prioritise for air defence if the war drags on at length, The New York Times report suggested.