Bushehr nuclear facility targeted IAEA chief

Bushehr nuclear facility targeted: IAEA chief

TEHRAN - Rafael Grossi, the director of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), said on Wednesday that the Agency has received information from Iran and Russia that the Bushehr nuclear power plant had been hit by a drone.

The Bushehr nuclear power plant, built by Russia, lies near the Persian Gulf waters.

"The reactors have not been affected and there are no casualties," Grossi told reporters.

"We are looking at images but it doesn’t seem to be very significant," he said, adding that attacks on nuclear facilities should always be avoided.

In a post on X, Grossi also wrote, “Following information from Iran of a projectile incident on Tuesday evening, the IAEA can confirm that a structure 350 meters from the Bushehr NPP reactor was hit and destroyed.”

“Although there was no damage to the reactor itself nor injuries to staff, any attack at or near nuclear power plants violates the seven indispensable pillars related to ensuring nuclear safety and security during an armed conflict and should never take place,” he added.

Grossi has so refused to condemn the Israeli and U.S. airstrikes on Iran’s nuclear sites in June 2025.

Russia on Wednesday condemned the strike on the inner perimeter of the Bushehr nuclear plant a day earlier which it said was just meters away from its reactor and called on the United States and Israel to stop attacking the Islamic Republic's nuclear facilities.

Maria Zakharova, a spokeswoman for the Foreign Ministry, made the comments at a news briefing.

"We strongly condemn the irresponsible and utterly unacceptable missile strike on the inner perimeter of the Bushehr nuclear power plant, just a few meters from an operational reactor," Zakharova said.

Such strikes created unacceptable radiological risks for the Middle East, she said, and were fraught with unpredictable consequences.

source: tehrantimes.com