War drags on: Key nuclear facility in Iran hit; US sends more troops

DUBAI, March 21: Iran’s Natanz nuclear enrichment facility was hit in an airstrike Saturday, an official Iranian news agency reported, saying there was no radiation leakage, as Israeli defence minister warned of an upcoming surge in attacks on Iran as the war in the Middle East entered its fourth week.
Israel Katz, the defense minister, said in a video statement that next week, “the intensity of the attacks” by Israel and the United States against Iran’s ruling theocracy will “increase significantly”.
He spoke shortly after fragments from an Iranian missile slammed into an empty kindergarten near Tel Aviv. Israeli army spokesman Nadav Shoshani posted a video on X of the kindergarten building; no casualties were reported as the place was empty at the time.
Overnight and into the morning, Tehran, Iran’s capital, saw heavy airstrikes, residents said. In Iraq, a drone struck the intelligence service headquarters in Baghdad, killing an officer. No group immediately claimed responsibility for that attack.
US President Donald Trump said on Friday he was considering “winding down” military operations in the Mideast even as the United States was sending three more amphibious assault ships and roughly 2,500 additional Marines to the region.
Trump’s post on social media followed an Iranian threat to attack recreational and tourist sites worldwide.
Iran’s official news agency Mizan said there was no leakage after Saturday’s strike on the Natanz nuclear facility, nearly 220 kilometres southeast of Tehran.
The facility, Iran’s main uranium enrichment site, was hit in the first week of the war and several buildings appeared damaged, according to satellite images.
The UN nuclear watchdog – the International Atomic Energy Agency – had said “no radiological consequence” were expected from that earlier strike.
Natanz had also been targeted in the 12-day war last June.
On Saturday, the IAEA said on X it was informed by Iran about the Natanz strike and about there being no increase in off-site radiation levels. The agency said it was looking into the incident.
The US and Israel have offered shifting rationales for the war, from hoping to foment an uprising that topples Iran’s leadership to eliminating its nuclear and missile programmes. There have been no public signs of any such uprising and no end to the war in sight.
On social media, Trump said, “We are getting very close to meeting our objectives as we consider winding down our great Military efforts in the Middle East”.
That seemed at odds with his administration’s move to bolster its firepower in the region and request another USD 200 billion from Congress to fund the war.
The US is deploying three more amphibious assault ships and roughly 2,500 additional Marines to the Mideast, an official told The Associated Press. Two other US officials confirmed that ships were deploying, without saying where they were headed. All three spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the military operations.
Days earlier, the US redirected another group of amphibious assault ships carrying another 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 also has asserted that he retains all options. (AP)