TEHRAN – US-Israeli strikes yesterday hit one of the largest pharmaceutical companies in Iran which produces anaesthetic and cancer drugs, the Iranian government said.
“During the US and Zionist regime attacks on civilian centres, on the morning of Tuesday, one of the largest companies producing anti-cancer, anaesthetic and specialised medicines was damaged and the drug production line was damaged,” the government said in a post on X.
The pharmaceutical company is owned by the Social Security Investment Company, a state-run holding firm managing pension funds.

The Israeli military yesterday said it was prepared for weeks more fighting, after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that the war with Iran was beyond the halfway point.

Netanyahu told the conservative US broadcaster Newsmax on Monday that the war was “definitely beyond the halfway point,” but declined to give a timeframe.
He added that the halfway point referred to missions, “not necessarily in terms of time.”

When asked for the military’s stance at an online media briefing, spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Nadav Shoshani said decisions on timing belonged to the political echelon.
“We are prepared to keep operating for weeks to come,” he told journalists.

“We have the targets for that, the munition for that, the manpower for that. And it’s up to… the leadership to decide that,” he added.
The Middle East war started on February 28, when joint US and Israeli strikes on Iran sparked retaliatory attacks across the region.

US President Donald Trump initially said the operation would last for four to six weeks.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Monday that the war would last “weeks” further instead of months, amid growing US public opposition to a conflict that has sent oil prices soaring.

Iranian media reported yesterday that initial investigations indicated strikes in central Iran had hit some “military sites”, without specifying the locations.

“Initial investigations indicate that some military locations in Isfahan were targeted,” the Fars news agency quoted Akbar Salehi, a security official at the governor’s office in Isfahan province, as saying.
The official also said the extent of the damage and any casualties were not immediately clear.

Isfahan province is a key hub for Iran’s defence industry and hosts major nuclear facilities, including Natanz.
The nuclear sites were targeted during a 12-day conflict with Israel last June, as well as in the current war that began on February 28, according to Iranian officials.

The province is home to several major military bases, including the Badr airbase, the 8th Shekari airbase, and the 4th Air Force base.
Strikes during the conflict have also hit civilian and historical infrastructure, including the Isfahan University of Technology.

Several heritage sites listed by UNESCO have been reported damaged in Isfahan’s Naqsh-e Jahan Square, including the Safavid-era Abbasi Jameh Mosque and Ali Qapu Palace.
yesterday, Hassan Fartousi, secretary-general of the Iranian National Commission for UNESCO, said in a press conference that damage in the province was “huge”.

Industrial facilities were also affected, with strikes hitting the Mobarakeh Steel Company complex. 

– Nampa/AFP