Iranian media: Strikes target the Bushehr nuclear plant and petrochemical factories

The official Iranian Tasnim News Agency said that a missile targeted the vicinity of the Bushehr nuclear plant on Saturday morning, killing one person. Tasnim added that the shell damaged a building adjacent to the station, killing a security personnel.

While the International Atomic Energy Agency of the United Nations confirmed that no increase in radiation levels had been announced, it warned against targeting nuclear plants, and called for "the maximum degree of military restraint to avoid the risk of a nuclear accident." This is the fourth time the site has been targeted since the start of the war.

The Iranian authorities had previously announced that shells targeted the area surrounding the Bushehr nuclear plant several times this month. The Bushehr plant is the only operating nuclear plant in Iran.

Meanwhile, official Iranian media reported that facilities belonging to several petrochemical companies in Khuzestan Province, southwestern Iran, were damaged by air strikes on Saturday morning. Tasnim Agency reported that fighter jets targeted the Bu Ali Petrochemical Complex, in addition to the Bandar Imam Petrochemical Complex, causing damage to parts of the facilities.

The Mahshahr Special Petrochemical Zone was also targeted by a series of strikes, according to Tasnim Agency. These companies are subsidiaries of the Gulf Petrochemical Industries Group (PGPIC), a large petrochemical holding group in Iran, which the United States classifies as an engineering conglomerate affiliated with the Iranian Revolutionary Guard.

The US Treasury Department imposed sanctions on these subsidiaries in 2019. Waliullah Hayati, a law enforcement official in Khuzestan Province, said there was a “high possibility of casualties” following the attacks launched by the US and Israel, according to Tasnim.

The announcement of these attacks comes after one of the largest steel factories in Iran was bombed in the city of Isfahan, on Wednesday, according to government media, which led to further losses in vital infrastructure. The petrochemical industry is considered essential in Iran, as it supports many other sectors of the industrial economy, including plastics, fertilizers, and other daily consumer products.