In a historic and extremely dangerous escalation on day 35 of the 2026 US-Iran war, Iran has successfully struck Israel’s most sensitive nuclear facility — the Dimona nuclear research center in the Negev Desert.
Iranian forces launched a barrage of advanced ballistic missiles, including Fattah-2 hypersonic variants, which penetrated Israeli air defenses and scored direct hits on the heavily guarded Dimona complex. Mᴀssive explosions and fires were reported at the site, which serves as the cornerstone of Israel’s nuclear program. Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps officials stated the attack was a precise retaliatory operation to avenge Israel’s earlier strike on Iran’s Bushehr nuclear power zone.
This marks the first time in the conflict that Iran has directly targeted Israel’s nuclear infrastructure, crossing a major threshold. Israeli authorities have imposed a strict media blackout, but satellite imagery and local reports show significant damage, with large plumes of smoke rising from the desert facility. Emergency teams were rushed to the area amid fears of radiological contamination.
The strike comes just 24 hours after Iran pounded Tel Aviv with a mᴀssive barrage of Khorramshahr-4, Qadr, Emad, and Kheybar missiles, and follows the dramatic elimination of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu by Iran’s 23-ton monster missile.
Iran continues to demonstrate overwhelming offensive capability: destruction of Israel’s largest weapons factory, the Al-Qadr missile hit on a U.S. carrier strike group in the Strait of Hormuz, downing of three F-22 Raptors, destruction of five U.S. KC-135 tankers, and repeated heavy blows against America’s largest bases in the region.
U.S. Central Command reports nearly 200 American troops injured across the theater with 13 confirmed deaths. President Donald Trump strongly condemned the attack on Dimona, calling it “a reckless and dangerous act that threatens the entire region,” and promised unwavering support to Israel.
The USS Tripoli remains positioned off Iran’s coast as part of efforts to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. Brent crude prices have now surged past $122 per barrel as global markets react with panic to the nuclear dimension of the conflict.
The strike on Dimona has pushed the war into an extremely perilous new phase, raising the specter of uncontrollable escalation between the two nuclear-armed adversaries.
The situation is extremely tense and developing by the hour.
