Iran
Posted: 21st June 2025
Strikes on Iranian nuclear sites risk radioactive fallout across the Middle East. Gulf states including the UAE and Oman could be forced to issue evacuation orders were Israel to strike Iran’s only nuclear power plant of Bushehr. The Israeli military announced a new wave of strikes on Thursday morning, including uranium enrichment facilities at Isfahan and Natanz, and the country’s only nuclear power plant Bushehr, which houses two reactors. An Israel Defence Forces spokesperson later said the announcement on Bushehr was a “mistake” but refused to confirm or deny whether it had taken place. An Israeli government spokesperson also declined to comment. “The danger is if the cooling system gets damaged and stops working – either as a result of a direct hit or because of damage to the electricity supply, which is what happened in Fukushima,” he said, referring to the 2011 radiation leak at the Japanese plant that forced 150,000 people to evacuate the area. Rafael Grossi, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), said on Wednesday that he was receiving calls from top officials of neighbouring Gulf states “who are very concerned” about Israeli strikes on Iranian nuclear sites. “What is at stake is very serious,” he said.