Iran’s Tasnim News Agency reported on March 21 an attack on the Natanz enrichment facility. “This action is contrary to international laws and obligations, including the NPT Treaty and other regulations related to nuclear safety and security,” the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran said in a statement. The AEOI added, however, that no radiation leakage was detected following the attack. The IDF denied that it was involved in the strike and refused to comment on U.S. combat activities.
The Wall Street Journal reported last night that Iran fired two ballistic missiles at Diego Garcia on March 20, the island in the Indian Ocean with the U.K. military base used by the U.S., neither of which reached their target, but, said the Journal, the move marked Iran’s first operational use of IRBMs and a significant attempt to reach far beyond the Middle East and threaten U.S. interests. The distance from southeastern Iran is roughly 4,000 km, about twice the distance that Iran has claimed as the maximum range of its longest-range missiles. While Diego Garcia has a long history of hosting U.S. long-range bombers, it is not clear if there are any there now.
The IRGC announced that early Friday, March 20, it had carried out a large-scale overnight military operation targetting sites in Israel and U.S. bases in the region. The IRGC stated that the retaliatory assault employed a combination of solid- and liquid-fuel systems, including heavy, precision-guided, and multi-warhead missiles, such as Ghadr, Khorramshahr, Kheibar Shekan, and medium-range Qiam and Zolfaghar, alongside loitering attack drones.
Israel’s military said early on March 21 that it launched strikes on “regime targets” in Tehran, after reporting several rounds of Iranian missile fire at Israel, The National newspaper of the U.A.E. reported this morning. Israel also launched a wave of strikes on Beirut, claiming to target Hezbollah. It came after the military’s Arabic-language spokesman issued eviction orders for parts of the Lebanese capital’s southern suburbs.
Kuwait’s military stated that its air defenses responded to incoming missiles and drones, while Saudi Arabia’s Defense Ministry reported that at least 50 drones were intercepted over the country’s eastern region in the early morning hours.
