West Asia crisis | Israeli strikes hit Iranian nuclear facility in Arak hours after warning

Iranian nuclear facilities were attacked on Friday, according to state media. This comes only hours Israel threatened to "escalate and expand" its offensive in Tehran.

According to an IRNA report, a heavy-water plant and a yellowcake production plant were struck in the strikes.

Yellowcake is a concentrated form of uranium after impurities are removed from the raw ore, while heavy water is used as a moderator in nuclear reactors.

Israeli military confirmed it struck a heavy water plant in Arak, central Iran, strikes had hit the Khondab complex.

"A short while ago, the Israeli Air Force... struck the heavy water plant in Arak, central Iran," the military said in a statement, adding that the site as a "key plutonium production site for nuclear weapons"

The fresh attacks on nuclear facilities come just a day after US President Donald Trump said talks with Iran were going well and claimed to have given more time to open the Strat of Hormuz.

Meanwhile, Iran is expected to put forward a counter-proposal to the 15-point peace plan devised by the US later in the day. On Thursday, an Iranian official had told Reuters that the deal was "one-sided", favouring Washington and Israel. However, the official said that the diplomacy door was still open.

Trump has warned of destroying Iran's energy plants if the nation does not open the Strait of Hormuz by April 6.

Further, Israel's military said it attacked sites in the "heart of Tehran", where ballistic missiles and other weapons are produced. It said it also hit missile launchers and storage sites in Western Iran.