JERUSALEM, April 7 (Xinhua) -- The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said on Tuesday that its air force, guided by intelligence, struck a petrochemical facility in Shiraz, southern Iran.
The Israeli military said in a statement that nitric acid was produced at the site for Iran's armed forces, which is a key material used in the production of explosives and components for ballistic missiles.
"In doing so, the IDF further degraded the regime's military capabilities, particularly its production of weapons relying on the components produced in the facility," the statement read.
It claimed the site was one of Iran's last remaining facilities producing critical chemical components for explosives and ballistic missile development, following Israeli strikes on Iran's largest petrochemical facility in Assaluyeh County in the southern Bushehr province and another facility in Mahshahr, southwestern Iran.
The statement added that, simultaneously, the Israeli air force struck a large ballistic missile array site in northwestern Iran.
"From this site, ballistic missile array operatives launched dozens of missiles toward Israel," it said. ■
