Russia urges Israel to stop strikes on Iran's Bushehr nuclear facility

Israel bombed nuclear targets in Iran on Thursday and Iranian missiles hit an Israeli hospital overnight, as the week-old air war escalated with no sign yet of an off-ramp. read more
This picture shows the heavily damaged building of the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB) after it was hit a few days earlier in an Israeli strike, in Tehran, on June 19, 2025. AFP Photo
Russia has called on Israel to immediately halt its airstrikes on Iran's Bushehr nuclear facility, citing the presence of Russian specialists at the site, according to a report.
The move came after Israel had reportedly struck nuclear sites in Bushehr, Isfahan and Natanz and was continuing to target additional facilities. However, the official later retracted the mention of Bushehr, stating that it had been 'a mistake' to include the facility in the list of confirmed targets.
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Moscow also issued its warning after Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping in a phone call condemned Israeli attacks on Iran and urged a diplomatic solution to the conflict.
Israel launched an unprecedented wave of strikes at Iran last week, to which Tehran responded with missile and drone attacks.
The IDF spokesperson confirmed that strikes had taken place on nuclear-related facilities in Natanz, Isfahan, and Arak but declined to confirm or deny any action against Bushehr, which houses Iran's only operational nuclear reactor.
Following the strike which damaged the Soroka hospital in Israel's southern city of Beersheba, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Tehran's 'tyrants' would pay the 'full price'.
His Defence Minister Israel Katz said the military had been instructed to intensify strikes on strategic-related targets in Tehran in order to eliminate the threat to Israel and destabilise the 'Ayatollah regime'.
Netanyahu has said that Israel's military attacks could result in the toppling of Iran's leaders, and Israel would do whatever is necessary to remove the 'existential threat' posed by Tehran.
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US President Donald Trump, meanwhile, has kept the world guessing about whether Israel's superpower ally would join it in airstrikes.
Israel said on Thursday it had struck Iran's Natanz and Isfahan nuclear sites. A military spokesperson initially said it had also hit Bushehr, site of Iran's only functioning nuclear power plant, but a spokesperson later said this was a mistake to have said this.
Earlier, Israel said it had hit another nuclear site near Arak overnight, where Iran was building a heavy-water reactor.
Trump has veered from proposing a swift diplomatic end to the war to suggesting the United States might join it. On Wednesday he said nobody knows what he will do. A day earlier he mused on social media about killing Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, then demanded Iran's unconditional surrender.
A week of Israeli air and missile strikes against its major rival has wiped out the top echelon of Iran's military command, damaged its nuclear capabilities and killed hundreds of people, while Iranian retaliatory strikes have killed at least two dozen civilians in Israel.
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With inputs from agencies

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