Russia said coordinating with IDF on evacuation of workers from Iran nuclear plant

Russian state nuclear company announces that it’s evacuating 198 more people from Bushehr after Israeli-US strikes in the area, which reportedly killed a guard at the facility

US-Israeli strikes hit an area near Iran’s Bushehr nuclear power plant on Saturday, as Russia evacuated more of its technicians after reportedly coordinating with the Israel Defense Forces.

The strike near the Bushehr nuclear plant, which Russia partly constructed and helps operate, killed a guard. Russia’s state nuclear company Rosatom, which identified the guard as an Iranian national, has been evacuating staff from the plant since the Iran war broke out at the end of February.

Quoting a diplomatic official, the Kan public broadcaster reported that senior IDF officials coordinated with senior Russian figures on Saturday’s evacuation of 198 workers, without further elaborating.

Russian news agencies cited Rosatom chief Alexei Likhachev as saying that developments near the plant were unfolding in line with the worst-case scenario.

Rosatom said it had informed Russian President Vladimir Putin on the situation surrounding the plant, the TASS news agency cited Likhachev as saying.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi meanwhile warned that continued attacks on the plant on Iran’s southern coast could eventually lead to radioactive fallout that would “end life in GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) capitals, not Tehran.”

Bushehr is considerably closer to Kuwait, Bahrain and Qatar than it is to the Iranian capital.

Rafael Grossi, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency wrote on X that no increase in radiation levels had been reported at the site, but nonetheless voiced “deep concern” at the strike, which he said was the fourth such incident in recent weeks.

“NPP [nuclear power plant] sites or nearby areas must never be attacked,” he said.

Saturday’s strike marked the fourth time that Bushehr has been targeted during the ongoing war.

Its pressurized-water reactor can power hundreds of thousands of homes and other businesses and industries. But it contributes only 1% to 2% of Iran’s total power needs.

Iran has been trying to expand the facility to multiple reactors. In 2019, it began a project that ultimately plans to add two additional reactors to the site, each adding another 1,000 megawatts apiece.