A “very difficult evening” for Israel. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu promised on Saturday evening that Israel would “continue to strike” Iran “on all fronts” after Iranian missile strikes on two cities in the southern part of the country left around a hundred injured. The Israeli army confirmed “a direct missile impact” from Iran on a building in the city of Dimona, which houses a nuclear research facility in the south of the country. This missile strike on Dimona was a “response” to the strike on the Iranian nuclear site of Natanz earlier that day, according to Iranian state television. On the same evening, Iran also struck Arad, another city in southern Israel.
France is “ready to contribute” to unblocking the Strait of Hormuz. Twenty countries have stated that they are “ready to contribute to the efforts” necessary to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, which has been effectively blocked by Iran since the beginning of the war, in a joint statement. The signatories include the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Denmark, Latvia, Slovenia, Estonia, Norway, Sweden, Finland, the Czech Republic, Romania, Lithuania, South Korea, New Zealand, Australia, and Bahrain.
The Iranian threat in the Strait of Hormuz is “reduced.” The U.S. military has declared that they have “reduced” Iran’s ability to threaten navigation in the Strait of Hormuz by bombing an underground facility housing cruise missiles this week. “We have also targeted intelligence sites and missile radar relays used to monitor ship movements,” said Admiral Brad Cooper, head of the U.S. Central Command for the Middle East.
The Iranian nuclear site at Natanz targeted. The United States and Israel conducted strikes on the Natanz nuclear complex in central Iran, according to the Iranian Atomic Energy Organization. “Following the criminal attacks carried out by the United States and the usurping Zionist regime against our country, the Natanz enrichment complex was targeted this morning,” the organization stated, adding that “no leakage of radioactive materials has been reported” in the area. The Israeli army has stated they were “not aware” of such a strike, with public television Kan reporting it was an American action.
The crisis in the Middle East to be discussed next Wednesday. According to information from Le Monde, a debate on the conflict in the Middle East will be held on Wednesday, March 25, at the National Assembly. Several political parties, with La France Insoumise in the lead, had requested this debate following the outbreak of the war in Iran. During a meeting at Matignon on March 11, Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu responded favorably.
In Europe, a call to reduce gas stock fill rates. The European Commission has called on European states to reduce their gas storage fill rates for next winter – from 90% to 80% – in order to alleviate pressure on prices, which are soaring due to the war in the Middle East.
