The Bushehr nuclear power plant in Iran has been attacked for the fourth time during the ongoing conflict, according to Iranian officials, as the US and Israel continue to strike energy and industrial sites. One of the plant’s employees was killed in the attack, the Iranian Atomic Energy Organisation reported — the organisation blamed the US and Israel for the attack, but neither country has confirmed involvement.

Bushehr Plant and International Reaction

Bushehr is Iran’s only operational nuclear power plant and was completed with Russian assistance; the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the UN’s nuclear watchdog, said it had been informed of the strike and expressed ‘deep concern’ over the incident. The agency noted that no increase in radiation levels was reported, but stressed that nuclear power plant sites and surrounding areas ‘must never be attacked’ and called for ‘maximum military restraint’ to prevent a nuclear accident.

The IAEA’s comments come amid rising tensions in the region, with both sides accusing each other of escalating hostilities. On 27 March. US President Donald Trump announced a 10-day pause on attacks on energy plants in Iran, giving them an opportunity to ‘make a deal’. Trump reiterated this threat on Truth Social, stating that ‘all Hell will reign down on them’ if Iran failed to comply within 48 hours or to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

Escalating Attacks and Casualties

Meanwhile, Iran has continued to launch missile strikes on Gulf states, Iraq, and Israel, and Debris from intercepted missiles has caused damage in various locations; Both Iranian and US forces are currently searching for a missing American crew member after an F-15 fighter jet was shot down on Friday. A pilot who was on board has been rescued, according to US media.

The Iranian statement on the Bushehr attack indicated that the main parts of the plant were not damaged and that its operation was ‘not affected’ — However, Moscow has evacuated many of its staff from the plant. The head of Russia’s state nuclear corporation, Rosatom, Alexei Likhachev, said on Saturday that the evacuation of 198 people remaining in the plant had started that morning.

Regional Tensions and Civilian Impact

Iran’s nuclear programme has long been a source of international concern, leading to extensive sanctions — the current US-Israeli war with Iran began on 28 February, two days after a third round of indirect US-Iran nuclear talks in Geneva. Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi warned against precipitating a major accident, which he said would ‘end life’ in Gulf Arab states allied to the US.

Araghchi referenced Western outrage over hostilities near the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine, stating that Israel and the US have bombed Iran’s Bushehr plant four times now. A local Iranian official also reported that the Mahshahr petrochemical complex and the Bandar Imam petrochemical company in south-western Iran had been targeted, with five people injured in the attacks.

Iran’s Science Minister Hossein Simai Sarraf stated that more than 30 universities across Iran had been hit by strikes since the war began — Visiting Tehran’s Shahid Beheshti University, which was attacked on Friday, Sarraf criticized the US and Israel, calling them part of the ‘stone age’. He said that a ‘civilised country, a civilised government never targets institutions of knowledge, laboratories or research centres.’