Iran says nuclear facilities targeted after Israel says attacks will escalate

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Iran state media says its nuclear facilities were attacked Friday, just hours after Israel threatened to “escalate and expand” its campaign against Tehran. IRNA reports that a heavy-water plant and a yellowcake production plant were struck. Yellowcake is a concentrated form of uranium after impurities are removed from the raw ore. Heavy water is used as a moderator in nuclear reactors. Word of the attacks came after U.S. President Donald Trump claimed talks on ending the war were going well and gave Tehran more time to open the Strait of Hormuz. Iran has given no sign of backing down. With stock markets reeling and economic fallout from the war extending far beyond the Middle East, Trump is under growing pressure to end Iran's chokehold on the strait, a strategic waterway through which a fifth of the world's oil is usually shipped. Iran has rejected a 15-point U.S. proposal for a ceasefire that includes it relinquishing control of the strait, but at the same time has ordered thousands more troops to the region — possibly in preparation for a military

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