US forces struck Iran's Bushehr nuclear facility in broad daylight after hitting a strategic bridge • Iran fired five missiles at American base in Jordan, expanding strike range | Israel prepares for possible Iranian escalation (World News). Israeli security officials confirmed Thursday that the country is preparing for the possibility that Iran will expand its missile strikes to include Israeli territory, following a series of American strikes on Iranian infrastructure that appear to signal the collapse of the Lucerne ceasefire memorandum signed just weeks ago.
The preparations came as the United States conducted an unprecedented daytime strike on the area surrounding Iran's Bushehr nuclear power station Thursday afternoon, marking the second daylight attack in a matter of hours and the deepest penetration into Iranian territory since hostilities resumed this week. The strike followed an earlier American attack on a strategic bridge in northern Iran, in what appears to be a significant expansion of Washington's target set beyond the immediate vicinity of the Strait of Hormuz.
According to Iranian state media reports cited by CNN, residents of the city of Chaghdak near Bushehr "heard the sounds of multiple explosions" in the early afternoon hours local time. The semi-official Fars News Agency reported the strike, though it remained unclear at press time whether there was any risk of a radiation leak from the facility.
In what appears to be a direct response to the American strikes, Iran fired five ballistic missiles at a US military base in Jordan, significantly expanding the geographic range of its retaliation beyond the Gulf states that had been targeted in previous exchanges. The strike on Jordan marks the first time Tehran has directed fire at American positions outside the immediate Persian Gulf theater since the current round of fighting began. (Read More)
