Israel strikes Iranian nuclear enrichment and missile sites

Israel's Air Force attacked Iran's nuclear weapons programme and ballistic missile sites overnight.

Jerusalem

Source: Sharecast

The attack was conducted by some 200 fighter, including against Tehran's main uranium enrichment facility at Natanz, as well as Iranian commanders and nuclear scientists, the Wall Street Journal reported.

In response, as of 0740 BST front-dated Brent crude oil futures were jumping %6.86 to $74.12 per barrel.

Euro/dollar meanwhile was off by 0.46% to 1.1534 and gold futures for August delivery were ahead by 1.1% to $3,439/oz. on COMEX.

Bitcoin was down by 3.14% at $104,527.10.

Worth noting, market participants had been speculating about Israeli strikes for some time now.

Mossad agents were also hunting leadership targets, a person familiar with the operations told the WSJ.

An official in Tel Aviv said that Iran had been working in secret on a nuclear weapon during recent weeks.

Some reports indicated that Tehran had signalled before the attacks that it would not participate in the next scheduled round of talks.

Tel Aviv also declared a state of emergency in anticipation of an immediate retaliation.

The US Department of State said that Washington had not been involved in the strikes.

President Donald Trump said he remained committed to a diplomatic solution but that Tehran had to give up the capability of developing nuclear weapons.

"Axios reports Washington gave allies a quiet heads-up but made clear it would not participate in the strikes," commented Stephen Innes, managing partner at SPI Asset Management.

"[...] The only question now: Is this real, or just another round of symbolic sparring? If Iran holds back, we get a relief bounce. But if missiles start raining down on Tel Aviv or Tehran retaliates with real teeth, we're staring down a scenario that could redefine the macro narrative for the rest of 2025.

"And if Iran's nuclear facilities become rubble before the week’s out, this isn’t a tail risk anymore—it’s a live wire scenario with global implications."

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