Warning of nuclear threat as war escalates

TT

Published 18.27

            

            

           The Bushehr nuclear power plant in southern Iran. Archive photo.
           1 / 2Photo: Majid Asgaripour/AP/TT

The war in the Middle East has entered a new "dangerous phase" with attacks around nuclear energy facilities in Iran and Israel, warns the World Health Organization (WHO).

- Even attacks on surrounding infrastructure can risk triggering an accident, nuclear energy expert Mark Hibbs tells TT.

Since Israel escalated its war against Iran this week with an attack on a gas field, important energy infrastructure around the region has been in the crosshairs. Iran has responded with attacks on oil and gas facilities in several neighboring countries allied with the US.

On Saturday, an Iranian missile also got past Israel's air defenses and hit the city of Dimona - where the country has a large nuclear facility that is also believed to house nuclear weapons.

The missile landed about five kilometers from the facility.

According to Iran, the attack was in response to an attack on the country's nuclear facility in Natanz. The United States and Israel have also previously carried out a series of attacks on Iran's nuclear energy program, both during the ongoing war and the 12-day war in June.

"Escalating threat"

The new attacks on nuclear energy facilities pose an escalating threat, warns WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

"I urge all parties to exercise maximum military restraint and avoid any actions that could trigger nuclear incidents," he writes on X.

However, the most dangerous scenario - a direct attack on a nuclear power plant - is highly unlikely, according to Mark Hibbs, senior advisor at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

The parties are aware that in that case they would have virtually all world opinion against them, Hibbs argues.

– A direct attack on an active nuclear power plant with the intention of knocking it out or destroying it has never happened before, he says.

Awareness of the risks

However, there are significant risks even with attacks that are not intended to damage nuclear power plants but that target surrounding infrastructure. If, for example, a reactor's electricity supply is knocked out, it could, in the worst case, trigger a serious accident at the power plant.

During the night to Sunday, US President Donald Trump threatened to "destroy" Iranian energy facilities if Tehran does not open the Strait of Hormuz to oil and gas transport within two days.

However, Hibbs believes that Trump, in the event of such an escalation, would also exercise caution around nuclear power plants.

– People at high levels in his administration are well aware of these risks and would make them very clear to him, in a way that he can understand, says Hibbs.