IAEA chief calls for ‘restraint’ after reported strike on Iran’s Natanz nuclear facility

The head of the United Nations nuclear watchdog issued a fresh demand for restraint on Saturday after the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran announced that the Shahid Ahmadi-Roshan uranium enrichment complex in Natanz “was subjected to a renewed attack” as the United States and Israel continue to bomb the Middle Eastern country.

The Iranian agency said that “technical assessments indicate that no radioactive material leakage has occurred and there is no danger to residents of the surrounding areas,” but the attack was a “violation of international laws and commitments,” including the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty.

The International Atomic Energy Agency “has been informed by Iran that the Natanz nuclear site was attacked today,” the UN watchdog confirmed on social media. “No increase in off-site radiation levels reported. IAEA is looking into the report.”

“IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi reiterates call for military restraint to avoid any risk of a nuclear accident,” the agency added.

The Times of Israel reported that “in response to a query... the Israel Defense Forces said that it did not conduct any strikes in the area and that it could not comment on American activities.”

The Israeli newspaper also noted that “Israel’s Kan news reported that the US had indeed struck the facility, using ‘bunker buster’ bombs to target the site. It cited unspecified sources.”

Later Saturday, The Times of Israel reported that at least 20 people were wounded in an Iranian ballistic missile attack on the Israeli city of Dimona, home to Shimon Peres Negev Nuclear Research Center.

The United States previously bombed Iran’s Natanz facility last June. The Associated Press highlighted Saturday that satellite images also suggest the site was damaged during the first week of the current war, which President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu launched on February 28.

Condemning the Saturday strike on Iran’s complex, the Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson said that “this is a brazen violation of international law, the charters of the UN and the International Atomic Energy Agency, as well as relevant resolutions of the UN Security Council and the agency’s General Conference.”

Russia has notably also generated fears of a nuclear accident with its ongoing invasion of Ukraine, launched in February 2022.

Trump has sent mixed messages about the US-Israeli war on Iran, both sending thousands more troops to the region this week while also saying on his Truth Social platform Friday that “we are getting very close to meeting our objectives as we consider winding down our great Military efforts in the Middle East with respect to the Terrorist Regime of Iran.”

According to the AP: “Iran’s capital saw heavy airstrikes overnight and into the morning, residents said, as thousands of worshippers converged on Tehran’s grand mosque for prayers marking the end of the holy month of Ramadan. Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said attacks would ‘increase significantly’ next week.”