Israel strikes Iran's Arak water reactor after Ali Khamenei's refusal to ‘surrender’

AS the trade of attacks continues between Israel and Iran for the seventh straight day, Israel attacked Iran’s Arak heavy water reactor on Thursday, June 19, Iranian state television reported.

“The IDF attacked an inactive nuclear reactor in the Arak region of Iran,” Israel Ministry said on Thursday.

As per the report, the region was effectively evacuated before the missile strike struck the region which is 250 km (155 miles) southwest of Tehran.

According to the report, there was “no radiation danger whatsoever."

This latest Israeli attack comes despite warnings from the United Nations nuclear watchdog — International Atomic Energy Agency' (IAEA) against hitting Iranian nuclear sites.

Before the attack, Israel’s military issued a warning in a social media post on X about its targeted missile strike, urging people to evacuate the area around Iran’s Arak heavy water reactor. This warning included a satellite image of the plant in a red circle similar to other previous warnings issued before airstrikes.

The advisory posted by IDF's spokesman Col Avichay Adraee said,"Urgent warning of the direction of the Defence Forces to the residents, workers, and those present in the Iranian regions of Arak-Khondab in the areas specified on the map, with the need to evacuate immediately before the uprising of the Defense Forces to target the military infrastructure belonging to the Iranian regime."

The same message was posted by the Israel Defence Forces in Persian.

This comes a day after Iran’s supreme leader Ali Khamenei rejected US calls for surrender and ignored warnings from US President Donald Trump.

The heavy water reactor was partially built. Iran planned to make the facility functional next year, Reuters reported.

The Arak facility helps cool nuclear reactors and produces plutonium as a byproduct. This secondary product can potentially be used in nuclear weapons which would enable Iran to have access to another bomb beyond enriched uranium if it decides to pursue the weapon.

In the 2015 nuclear deal, Iran had agreed with world powers to redesign the facility to address proliferation concerns. Iran commenced work on the heavy water reactor’s secondary circuit in 2019 with the UK's help, conforming with the guidelines laid out in the 2015 nuclear deal.