[Anchor]
Amid escalating tensions surrounding the Red Sea, the United States has launched airstrikes against Iran for the 11th consecutive day. After U.S. President Trump warned that the U.S. would also strike the so-called Pickaxe Mountain, suspected to be a secret Iranian nuclear facility, Iran retaliated by threatening to attack all U.S. assets in the Middle East.
Reporter Kim Yongtae has the details.
[Reporter]
The U.S. Central Command announced that it began airstrikes on Iran at around this morning (July 22), Korean time.
Marking the 11th day of strikes, the military also released footage showing the destruction of military facilities and equipment.
Notably this time, explosions were heard and air defense systems were activated not only around the Strait of Hormuz, but also near the capital city of Tehran.
Essentially, the strikes hit virtually all of Iran.
President Trump threatened that the U.S. would soon launch a powerful strike against the so-called Iranian Pickaxe Mountain, which is suspected of being an underground nuclear facility.
[Donald Trump / U.S. President : We will strike that facility. Anywhere Iran even slightly considers regarding nuclear weapons, we will strike very powerfully.]
Named Pickaxe Mountain because its shape resembles a pickaxe, this area is located about 2 kilometers away from Iran's central Natanz nuclear facility.
Recent satellite imagery shows that tunnels appearing to be entrances have been drilled. The United States, the International Atomic Energy Agency, and others suspect it to be an underground secret Iranian nuclear facility, specifically a centrifuge manufacturing plant.
The mountain stands 1,600 meters high, and analyses suggest that if the nuclear facility is built 80 to 100 meters beneath the granite bedrock, it might not even be destroyable with bunker busters.
In response, Iran counterattacked by warning that if the U.S. attacks its nuclear facilities, it will strike all U.S. assets and allies' assets within the Middle East.
This is a warning that retaliatory attacks, which have been concentrated on U.S. military bases, could be expanded to energy facilities or financial institutions, much like in the early days of the war.
Today, Iranian state television broadcasted the funeral procession of elementary school students who were killed by a misdirected strike in late February, the first day of the war, heightening anti-American sentiment.
[Video Editing: Jung Sunghun, Design: Park Chunwoong, Video Source: Vantor]
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