New York: The UN nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), on Friday, gave the most alarming update on the ongoing Israel’s attacks on Iran’s nuclear facilities.
IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi warned the UN Security Council that Israeli attacks on Iranian nuclear facilities were degrading critical safety systems and placing millions at potential radiological risk.
Grossi said that the destruction of electricity infrastructure and direct strikes on enrichment halls at Natanz had led to internal contamination.
While no radiological release had been detected outside the facility, Grossi warned that uranium compounds now posed significant health hazards within.
The UN nuclear watchdog boss said multiple buildings, including a uranium conversion plant and a metal processing facility, were hit in Isfahan.
He said that damage was sustained at Arak’s Khondab reactor site, though the facility was not operational.
However, he said, the most significant risk is the Bushehr
Nuclear Power Plant, which remains operational.
Grossi warned that a direct strike “could result in a high release of radioactivity to the environment.” He stressed that disrupting its external power supply could lead to a core meltdown.
He warned that in the worst-case scenario, radiation would affect populations hundreds of kilometres away and require mass evacuations.
Grossi also warned against any attack on the Tehran Nuclear Research Reactor, which could endanger millions in the capital.
“The fog of war must not shroud nuclear facilities and material,” he said.
“We must maintain communication, transparency and restraint,” the IAEA chief stressed.
Grossi pledged that the IAEA would continue to monitor and report on nuclear safety conditions in Iran and reiterated his readiness to mediate.
He stressed that the agency “can guarantee, through a watertight inspections system,” that nuclear weapons will not be developed in Iran, urging dialogue.
“The alternative is a protracted conflict and a looming nuclear threat that would erode the global non-proliferation regime,” he stressed.
