Did US Israeli strikes hit Iranian nuclear facilities? Conflicting reports emerge

The United States and Israel launched coordinated military strikes on Iran on Saturday, during which Donald Trump appealed directly to the Iranian public to take control of their future and rise up against the Islamic leadership that has governed the country since 1979. Iranian state media confirmed early Sunday that Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei was killed in the joint attack.

The US president said the operation would eliminate a security threat to the United States and give Iranians an opportunity to overthrow their leaders. The Pentagon revealed that the military action against Iran has been named “OPERATION EPIC FURY".

Iran’s nuclear program has been cited by Israel and the United States as a key justification for the attacks, with both countries alleging that Tehran was moving closer to eventually developing a nuclear weapon.

Iran’s envoy to the UN nuclear watchdog claimed on Monday that joint US-Israeli airstrikes had targeted the country’s Natanz Nuclear Facility.

Iran’s ambassador to the International Atomic Energy Agency, Reza Najafi, told reporters that he denounced what he described as “unlawful, criminal and brutal” attacks carried out by the US and Israel against Iran.

“Again they attacked Iran's peaceful safeguarded nuclear facilities yesterday. Their justification that Iran wants to develop nuclear weapons is simply a big lie,” he mentioned.

When asked to clarify which location he meant, Reza Najafi replied: “Natanz”.

Whereas, the head of the UN’s nuclear monitoring agency said Monday that there is no evidence so far that Israeli and US strikes on Iran have hit any nuclear sites, even though Iran’s envoy claimed the previous day that one facility had been targeted.

"We have no indication that any of the nuclear installations ... have been damaged or hit," Reuters quoted International Atomic Energy Agency chief Rafael Grossi as saying in a statement to a meeting of his agency's 35-nation Board of Governors.

One of the initial strikes landed near the offices of the 86-year-old Ali Khamenei. Israel also said it had eliminated dozens of senior Iranian military officials and that follow-up strikes in Lebanon killed a Hezbollah intelligence official. Strikes in Tehran reportedly knocked Iran’s state television off the air.

Meanwhile, the Iranian Red Crescent Society on Monday stated that attacks across 131 cities have resulted in at least 555 deaths so far in the Islamic Republic.