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Israel on Thursday carried out strikes on Iran’s Arak heavy water reactor in its latest offensive against Tehran’s sprawling nuclear programme on the seventh day of escalating conflict in the Middle East.
The Israeli strikes came parallelly with an Iranian missile hitting a hospital in the southern part of the country, causing ‘extensive damage’, according to the Associated Press.
Israel had warned on Thursday morning that it would attack the facility and urged the public to flee the area. Iran Israel war live updates.
What is Iran’s Arak heavy water reactor?
The Arak Nuclear Complex, located in the Western part of the country, around 280 kilometres from the capital Tehran, comprises a heavy water experimental reactor and an adjacent heavy water production plant.
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The heavy water from the facility helps cool nuclear reactors. Though Iran insists that its nuclear programme is for peaceful purposes, the reactor produces weapons-grade plutonium as a byproduct, which can potentially be used in nuclear weapons, several websites, including Politico and Missile Defence Advocacy Alliance, reported.
If Iran decides to pursue a nuclear weapon, the plutonium would help it develop a nuclear bomb without enriching uranium.
The international community has remained concerned over the Arak reactor, as several other countries have used such a reactor to produce plutonium for nuclear weapons.
Moreover, the details regarding the development of the facility have been murky, with reports of foreign experts, including Russia, contributing to the construction.
How did Iran develop the facility?
Iran started secretly developing a Heavy Water Research Reactor in 2003 after several nuclear suppliers rejected its requests in the 1990s.
In 2015, Iran reached a landmark accord with several world powers, including the US, which is popularly known as the Iran nuclear agreement.
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Under the agreement, Iran agreed to redesign the facility and dismantle much of its nuclear programme to relieve proliferation concerns- a move which was agreed in exchange of several billions of dollars’ worth of sanctions, Politico reported.
In 2019, the country started the secondary circuit of the heavy water reactor. Though Iran didn’t violate 2015 nuclear deal, the move resulted in the country getting closer towards developing nuclear weapons.
During the crucial interphase, UK stepped in to help Iran redesign the Arak reactor to limit the amount of plutonium produced as the US unilaterally withdrew from the deal in 2018 after Trump came into power, according to the Associated Press.
As part of the 2015 deal, Tehran also agreed to sell off its heavy water to the West to comply with the terms of the accord.
Why did Israel attack the Arak reactor?
Several international agencies, including the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog, have been urging Israel not to attack Iranian nuclear sites.
The Israeli military said that the fighter jets targeted the Arak facility to halt Iran from producing plutonium.
“The strike targeted the component intended for plutonium production, in order to prevent the reactor from being restored and used for nuclear weapons development,” Israel said.
However, Iran has maintained that the water reactor facility is for peaceful purposes. Iran enriches uranium up to 60 per cent, which is slightly short of weapons-grade levels of 90 per cent.
