It was a 'mistake': Israel walks back claim of strike on Iran's Bushehr nuclear plant; confirms hits on Natanz, Isfahan & Arak
An Israeli military official on Thursday said it was a 'mistake' for a spokesperson to claim earlier that Israel had struck the Bushehr nuclear facility in Iran, reported Reuters.
The official confirmed attacks on Iran's Natanz, Isfahan, and Arak nuclear sites but declined to confirm or deny any strike on Bushehr.
The clarification comes after an Israeli military spokesperson initially said that Israel had targeted Bushehr, along with other nuclear facilities. However, the scale of any potential attack on Bushehr remains unclear.
Bushehr, located on Iran's Gulf coast, is the country's only operational nuclear power plant.
It uses Russian fuel, which is returned to Russia once spent to limit proliferation risks. Due to its location and function, any strike on Bushehr carries potential environmental risks, including air and water contamination — a major concern for neighbouring Gulf states.
A source familiar with the matter told Reuters that Gulf nations, in coordination with the UN nuclear watchdog, have prepared contingency plans in case of an attack on any nuclear facility in the region.
Earlier Thursday, the Russian embassy in Iran stated that the Bushehr plant was operating normally and that no security threat had been observed.
Concerns about regional fallout from any strike on Iranian nuclear facilities have long been voiced. In March, Qatar's Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani warned that such an attack could 'entirely contaminate' Gulf waters, posing severe risks to Qatar, the UAE, and Kuwait.
'These countries have no water, no fish, nothing ... no life,' he warned, referencing their reliance on desalinated water from the Gulf for over 18 million people.
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