New Delhi: The US military launched airstrikes on three key Iranian nuclear facilities — Fordow, Natanz, and Esfahan — early Sunday.
The strikes risk sparking a “dangerous escalation” in the Israel-Iran conflict, which the US has now entered into directly. They have also triggered fears of possible radiation exposure, as all the targets were nuclear sites.
But, Iran’s nuclear regulatory authority has pointed out that there is no danger to residents staying near these facilities. The nuclear sites attacked by the US did not contain materials that cause radiation, an official at the Iranian Broadcasting Corporation said.
Iranian state media quoted Iran’s National Nuclear Safety System Centre as saying that there were no signs of contamination recorded. “There is no danger to the residents living around the aforementioned sites,” the statement added.
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), UN nuclear watchdog, also said that no increase in radiation levels was found at the nuclear facilities.
Before the US launched the strikes on Sunday, Israeli strikes on some vital Iranian sites had also triggered fears of radiation. However, the International Atomic Energy Agency said that the Israeli strikes did not result in any release of radioactive material into the environment surrounding the sites.
The IAEA has been warning against attack on nuclear facilities due to potential threat it can pose to nuclear safety.
As Fordow, Natanz, and Esfahan enrichment plants were attacked by the US, an Iranian official said the sites had been evacuated.
Reuters quoted Hassan Abedini, deputy political head of Iran’s state broadcaster, as saying: “The enriched uranium reserves had been transferred from the nuclear centres and there are no materials left there that, if targeted, would cause radiation and be harmful to our compatriots.”
