Iran Ballistic Missile Strikes Dimona for First Time, Wounding 40 Near Israel's Nuclear Research Center
In the most symbolically charged escalation of day 22, an Iranian missile penetrated Israeli air defenses and struck the southern Negev city home to Israel's secret nuclear research complex — injuring 40 people including a 12-year-old in serious condition — while the IDF opened an investigation into why its interceptors failed to engage the threat.
An Iranian ballistic missile breached Israeli air defenses on Saturday evening and struck the southern Negev desert city of Dimona — the site hosting Israel's top-secret Negev Nuclear Research Center — in the most symbolically charged escalation since Operation Epic Fury began 22 days ago. The Israel Defense Forces confirmed a "direct missile hit on a building" in the city and said they had opened an investigation into why interceptors launched in response failed to engage the incoming threat, a failure that will reverberate through Israel's defense establishment for months.
The attack wounded at least 40 people, including a 12-year-old boy left in serious condition with shrapnel wounds. Magen David Adom, Israel's national emergency service, transported 33 wounded to Soroka Medical Center in Beersheba, with four in serious condition, 12 in moderate condition, and 17 with minor injuries. A woman suffered moderate wounds from shattered glass. Video published by The Times of Israel showed the missile impact on a residential block, with a structure reduced to rubble and emergency crews working under floodlights. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called an emergency cabinet session Saturday night.
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps claimed responsibility in a statement on Iranian state television, calling the strike a "direct response" to U.S.-Israeli attacks on Iran's Natanz uranium enrichment facility, which was hit for a second time earlier Saturday. Tehran's message was unmistakable: for every attack on Iranian nuclear infrastructure, Iran would target Israeli nuclear sites. The United Nations' International Atomic Energy Agency said it "has not received any indication of damage to the nuclear research center Negev" and detected no elevated radiation levels in the surrounding area — a critical reassurance given the global anxiety about potential radiological contamination.
Dimona, a city of roughly 35,000 people in the Negev desert, sits approximately 13 kilometers from the Shimon Peres Negev Nuclear Research Center, a facility Israel has never officially confirmed but which Western intelligence agencies and independent analysts have long identified as the country's primary nuclear weapons research and production site. Israeli law prohibits domestic media from reporting on the facility's activities. The fact that Iran successfully penetrated Israeli air defenses and struck a city so close to this facility sent shockwaves through both the Israeli public and international capitals. It was the first time in the 22-day conflict that Iran had successfully hit a target in direct proximity to any Israeli nuclear-related infrastructure.
Saturday's strike arrived as the war entered its most complex diplomatic phase. President Trump posted on Truth Social that the United States was "getting very close to meeting our objectives" and floated the possibility of "winding down" operations against Iran. Yet simultaneously, the Pentagon announced the deployment of an additional 2,500 Marines and three more warships to the Gulf, underscoring the gap between Trump's public statements and on-the-ground military posture. U.S. Admiral Brad Cooper told reporters that Iran's ability to threaten the Strait of Hormuz was "significantly degraded" after American strikes destroyed underground missile storage and radar relay systems — but Iran's successful strike on Dimona demonstrated it retained enough capability to deliver a psychologically devastating blow.
The Dimona hit was the second major escalation of the day. Earlier Saturday, Iranian state media announced strikes on the Al-Minhad Air Base in the UAE — used by American and Royal Air Force aircraft — and the Ali Al-Salem airbase in Kuwait, where the U.S. 386th Air Expeditionary Wing operates. Bahrain's defense forces said they had now intercepted 143 missiles and 242 drones since Iranian attacks on Gulf bases began on February 28. The UK Maritime Trade Operations maintained a "critical" threat level across the Persian Gulf and Gulf of Oman, with 21 confirmed attacks on commercial vessels since March 1, as oil prices hovered above $110 per barrel and shipping insurers raised war-risk premiums to record levels.
Originally reported by CBS News.