The Natanz nuclear facility was hit: Tehran calls it a "criminal attack"

The United States and Israel have struck the Iranian nuclear facility in Natanz, stated the Atomic Energy Organization of the Islamic Republic. "Following the criminal attacks perpetrated by the United States and the usurping Zionist regime against our country, the Natanz enrichment complex was targeted this morning," the organization said in a statement released by the Tasnim news agency, adding that "no loss of radioactive material has been reported and that there is no risk to those living near the facility."

At the same time, however, the organization condemned that the attack on the Natanz site represents a violation of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

The Natanz facility is considered the beating heart of the Islamic Republic's nuclear program. This site, located in Isfahan province on a plain adjacent to the mountains south of Qom, a holy city for Shiites, houses a Fuel Enrichment Plant (FEP) and a Pilot Fuel Enrichment Plant (PFEP). According to the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, the attack on the site violates the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

Natanz consists of three underground buildings, two of which are designed to hold up to 50,000 centrifuges for uranium enrichment, and six above-ground buildings. Two of these are 2,500 square meter warehouses used for gas centrifuge assemblies. In this super-protected facility and in the Fordow site (another key site for enrichment), Iran has produced the vast majority of its nuclear fuel.