The head of the UN nuclear watchdog has warned that attacks near Iran’s Bushehr nuclear power plant pose a serious threat to safety and must cease immediately.
Gatekeepers News reports that Rafael Grossi, director of the International Atomic Energy Agency, said on Monday that repeated strikes near the facility present “a very real danger to nuclear safety”.
The Bushehr plant, located in southern Iran and housing a 1,000-megawatt reactor, has reportedly been targeted four times since the outbreak of the US-Israeli conflict with Iran. The latest strike was reported by Iranian state media on Saturday.
According to the IAEA, satellite imagery confirmed the impact of the most recent attack, though the plant itself was not damaged. Grossi noted that one strike landed just 75 metres from the facility’s perimeter.
Strikes in such close proximity, he warned, “could cause a severe radiological accident with harmful consequences for people and the environment in Iran and beyond.”
“A nuclear facility and surrounding areas should never be struck,” Grossi said.
Bushehr, constructed with assistance from Russia, remains Iran’s only operational nuclear power reactor, according to the IAEA.
Russian state media reported that 198 workers were evacuated from the plant following the latest strike, although around 100 Russian personnel are still on site.
