Mobarakeh Steel Company in Isfahan, Iran's largest steel producer, has suspended all operations and told workers to stay home after a second US-Israeli strike caused what it described as "heavy damage" and "fundamental destruction" to production units, ILNA reported on April 2.

The company said in its fifth official communique since the war began that the attack on March 31 had knocked out all production lines. "Continuation of activity is not possible," the statement said.

"Given the assessments carried out so far on the heavy volume of attacks, the damage and fundamental destruction to units related to the production process has led to a complete halt of all lines," the company said.

Mobarakeh Steel told all employees not to report to the complex until further notice, citing the need to protect "human capital as the organisation's most important asset."

The plant is one of the Middle East's largest flat steel producers and a pillar of Iran's non-oil industrial base. It is the second time the facility has been hit since the war began on February 28.

The strike on Mobarakeh follows attacks on Khuzestan Steel Company, Foolad Atieh Persian Gulf and the Sefiddasht steel plant in Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari province. Together, the strikes have crippled a significant portion of Iran's steel sector, one of the country's biggest non-oil export earners and a major employer.

Officials in Khuzestan said they hoped to begin a gradual return to production at damaged plants next week, but the scale of destruction at Mobarakeh, described as "fundamental," suggests a longer recovery timeline.

On April 1, Mehram Ravanbakhsh, director general of industry for Khuzestan Steel Company and Foolad Atieh Persian Gulf, said those two were the worst-hit facilities.

He said operational plans to resume production were being drawn up and should be ready by early next week.

"We hope that from next week, a gradual move toward the production of steel products will begin," Ravanbakhsh said, as reported by Donya-e Eqtesad.

Khuzestan Steel alone employs more than 15,000 workers directly, with their families' livelihoods dependent on continued production. Ravanbakhsh said the social and employment consequences of a prolonged shutdown would be severe.