Israel issues evacuation warning for residents of part of western Iran’s Arak and Khondab

 

Israel issues evacuation warning for residents of part of western Iran’s Arak and Khondab

Satellite image showing the Arak heavy water reactor, located 155 miles southwest of Tehran on June 19, 2025. 

The Israel Defense Forces issued an evacuation warning to residents in western Iran’s Arak and Khondab early Thursday.

“The IDF continues to operate in the area, as it has in recent days across Iran, targeting the Iranian regime’s military infrastructure,” the statement from the IDF’s Farsi channel said.

The IDF warned residents to “evacuate immediately from the marked area in the vicinity of the Arak-Khondab cities.”

“Your presence in this area puts your life at risk,” the IDF said.

The section marked by a red circle on the IDF statement matches Google satellite imagery of the Arak nuclear facility, which comprises a heavy water reactor and a heavy water production plant.

The site has concerned the West because heavy water (or deuterium oxide) can be used to produce plutonium — a second pathway to a potential nuclear bomb.