Russia warns strike on Iran's Bushehr nuclear plant could cause 'Chernobyl-style catastrophe'
A
satellite image shows new reactors under construction at the Bushehr
site in Iran in this handout image dated January 1, 2025. Maxar
Technologies/Handout via REUTERS/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights
ST
PETERSBURG, June 19 (Reuters) - The head of Russia's nuclear energy
corporation warned on Thursday that an Israeli attack on Iran's Bushehr
nuclear power plant could lead to a "Chernobyl-style catastrophe".
An
Israeli military spokesperson said Israel had struck the site, but an
Israeli military official later called this statement "a mistake" and
said he could neither confirm nor deny that the Bushehr site on the cost
of the Gulf had been hit.
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Bushehr is Iran's only operating nuclear power plant and was built by Russia.
President
Vladimir Putin told journalists in the early hours of Thursday that
Israel had promised Russia that Moscow's workers - who are building more
nuclear facilities at the Bushehr site - would be safe, even as Israel
tries to degrade Iran's nuclear capabilities by force.
The
head of Russia's state nuclear corporation Rosatom warned on Thursday
that the situation around the plant was fraught with risk.
"If
there is a strike on the operational first power unit, it will be a
catastrophe comparable to Chernobyl," the state RIA news agency cited
Alexei Likhachev as saying.
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Likhachev was referring to the world's worst nuclear disaster in 1986, when a reactor exploded at Chernobyl in Soviet Ukraine.
An attack on Bushehr would be "beyond... evil," Likhachev added.
Russia
has evacuated some of its specialists from Bushehr, he said, but the
core workforce - which Putin said numbered hundreds of people - remained
on site.
"We are prepared for any scenario, including the rapid evacuation of all our employees," RIA cited Likhachev as saying.
'GOD FORBID'
Maria
Zakharova, a spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry, said Israeli
attacks on peaceful nuclear facilities were unacceptable and illegal.
"We
are especially concerned about the safety of the Bushehr nuclear power
plant, in whose operation Russian specialists are involved," she told
reporters.
"We
would like to especially warn Washington against military intervention
in the situation, which would be an extremely dangerous step with truly
unpredictable negative consequences," Zakharova added, underlining a
warning that Moscow first issued on Wednesday.
Putin, in his comments
early on Thursday, was defensive when asked what more Moscow would do
to help Tehran. He said it had not asked for military assistance, that
ties were strong, and that the continued presence of Russian workers
building more nuclear facilities at Bushehr showed Russia's support for
Iran.
But Putin also stressed the importance of Russia's ties with Israel - even though he later condemned
its behaviour in a phone call with Chinese President Xi Jinping - and
said he believed a diplomatic solution that would satisfy Israel's
concerns about its own security and Iran could be found.
Russia
signed a strategic partnership with Iran in January and also has a
relationship with Israel, although that has been strained by Moscow's
war in Ukraine. A Russian offer to mediate in the Israel-Iran conflict
has so far not been taken up.
Mikhail
Bogdanov, another Russian deputy foreign minister, recoiled on Thursday
when asked by Reuters about the possibility of the U.S. joining
Israel's war with Iran.
"God forbid, the consequences would be hard to predict,” he said.
Reporting by Vladimir Soldatkin in St Petersburg, Dmitry Antonov in Moscow and Andrew Osborn in London; Writing by Andrew Osborn; Editing by Mark Trevelyan
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
