Israel launches strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities amid US efforts to bring conflict to a close

On March 19, 2026, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed the media during a press conference in Jerusalem, as US-Israeli strikes targeted two Iranian nuclear facilities.

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US Secretary of State Rubio departed a meeting with his G7 counterparts to announce that Washington anticipates its military operation to be victorious within a couple of weeks, prompting Iran to threaten retaliation against industrial sites in the region.

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Rubio stated, "When we are done with them here in the next couple weeks, they will be weaker than they’ve been in recent history," after discussing the situation with reporters in Paris following G7 talks.

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Rubio also mentioned that he had gained support from his G7 colleagues to oppose Iran's attempts to impose a toll on ships crossing the Strait of Hormuz, a key sea lane for oil and gas shipments from the Gulf.

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In a joint statement, the G7 foreign ministers "reiterated the absolute necessity to permanently restore safe and toll-free freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz" and called for "an immediate cessation of attacks against civilians and civilian infrastructure".

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Rubio noted that Iran had sent "messages" to the American side but had not responded to a US-proposed peace plan, as the conflict continued to escalate.

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Iranian media reported a US-Israeli attack on the Khondab heavy water complex in central Iran, citing a local official, while the country's atomic energy agency said a uranium processing plant 600 kilometres away in Ardakan was also hit.

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Israel's army confirmed that it struck the two facilities, while Iranian sources stated that there was no release of radioactive material at either site, as the situation remained tense.

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Two steel plants, Khuzestan in southwest Iran and Mobarakeh in the country's centre, were also hit, prompting Tehran's foreign minister Abbas Araghchi to warn that Iran "will exact (a) HEAVY price for Israeli crimes".

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Araghchi added that the attack "contradicts (Donald Trump's) extended deadline for diplomacy", as Trump had insisted the Islamic republic wants to "make a deal" and extended a deadline for Tehran to open the Strait of Hormuz or face the destruction of its energy assets from Friday to April 6.

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Iran's Revolutionary Guards warned that they would strike industrial sites in the region in response to the attacks, and advised civilians working in such plants to "leave their workplaces immediately".

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Rubio mentioned that weapons earmarked for Ukraine's defence against Russian invasion could be diverted to the fight against Iran, as the conflict continued to spread.

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With war engulfing the region four weeks after the United States and Israel first attacked Iran on February 28, Tehran resident Ensieh expressed her concerns, stating that every day she was "losing more hope".

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Ensieh, a 46-year-old dentist, told AFP journalists outside Iran, "We're caught between three mad powers, and war is terrifying," adding, "I know I'll never be the same person again".

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A month of US and Israeli attacks have damaged at least 120 museums and cultural and historic sites nationwide, according to a top Tehran official, as the humanitarian crisis deepened.

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Global markets have been upended by Iranian attacks on trade and energy targets in the Gulf, with Kuwait saying Friday its main commercial port was damaged in a drone attack at dawn, further exacerbating the situation.

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Iran's Vice President Esmael Saghab Esfahani threatened on X to attack Saudi Arabia's Red Sea port of Yanbu, home to the Samref oil refinery, as well as the coastal Fujairah oil complex in the United Arab Emirates, should a ground invasion take place.

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The Guards stated that the Strait of Hormuz was "closed" to vessels travelling to and from enemy ports, and that they had turned back three ships seeking to cross, as oil prices rose more than four percent on Friday.

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Tehran called for an end to US and Israeli attacks on its territory and on aligned regional groups, such as Lebanon's Hezbollah, as the conflict continued to escalate.

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Lebanon was drawn into the war after Hezbollah fired rockets at Israel, resulting in blasts rocking Beirut's largely deserted south Beirut early on Friday morning and again in the afternoon, with the government reporting two people killed.

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More than one million people are displaced in a "deepening humanitarian crisis", the UNHCR refugee agency's local representative Karolina Lindholm Billing warned, adding that "the risk of a humanitarian catastrophe… is real".

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Israel has shown no sign of wavering, with Defence Minister Israel Katz vowing to "intensify and expand" strikes on Iran in response to missile attacks on its soil, despite opposition leader Yair Lapid warning its military was "stretched to the limit and beyond".