Bushehr nuclear power plant – IAEA fears “radiological catastrophe”

News blog about the war in the Middle East

Iranian nuclear power plant – authorities fear “radiological catastrophe”

Trump justifies possible war crimes by the US army. Iran’s gas industry has come under attack again. All developments in the news blog.

Following US President Donald Trump’s recent threats against Iran, the Iranian army has rejected his “arrogant rhetoric”. “The crude and arrogant rhetoric and baseless threats of the confused US president, who is in a dead end and justifies the US army’s successive defeats, have no influence on the continuation of the offensive and devastating operations” of the Iranian army, a spokesman for the central operational command Chatam al-Anbija said on Monday in a statement carried by Iranian state media.

Trump had previously threatened that the US army could destroy Iranian bridges and power plants within four hours if Tehran did not open the Strait of Hormuz by 8 p.m. on Tuesday (local time, 2 a.m. CEST on Wednesday). Since the start of the Iran war at the end of February, the strait, through which around a fifth of the world’s oil and liquid gas transport passes, has de facto been largely closed by the Iranian military.

In light of the fourth attack on the site of Iran’s Bushehr nuclear power plant, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has warned of a “very real threat to nuclear security.” Air strikes on an operating nuclear power plant “could cause a serious radiological accident with harmful consequences for people and the environment in Iran and beyond,” said IAEA chief Rafael Grossi on Monday in the online service X. This “very real threat” must stop.

Russia warned the attacks could trigger a “radiological catastrophe” more “devastating” than Chernobyl. The Foreign Ministry in Moscow said it was “once again urgently calling for an immediate cessation of hostilities.”

According to the Iranian news agency Irna, a security guard was killed in an attack on the Bushehr compound on Saturday. However, no damage was caused to the nuclear installations. However, the attack struck only 75 meters from the nuclear power plant site, Grossi explained based on an IAEA analysis of satellite images. “A nuclear facility and its surroundings should never be attacked,” he warned.

Saudi Arabia says it intercepts seven ballistic missiles fired at the country’s eastern region. Debris from the intercepted projectiles fell near energy facilities, the Defense Ministry said
with. The authorities are checking possible damage. The ministry did not initially say who fired the rockets.

A World Health Organization (WHO) contractor is killed in a security incident in the Gaza Strip. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus announced this on the X platform. The WHO then suspended the medical evacuations of patients from Gaza via Rafah to Egypt planned for Monday. The evacuations will remain suspended until further notice, explains Tedros. Two WHO employees were present at the incident but were uninjured. The organization is not initially providing any further information about the incident.