Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant

Bushehr is Iran's only operating nuclear power reactor, built and operated under a Russian contract with Rosatom and, by Iran's own account, under full IAEA safeguards. Since 24 March the plant has taken at least four reported strikes, each said to have caused no radiation release, prompting Rosatom to suspend construction of the planned Units 2 and 3 and to evacuate roughly 180 of its 200-plus engineers by 16 April, leaving about 20 staff on site.

Verification has been the recurring problem. IAEA director-general Rafael Grossi has declined to confirm Iran's own strike claims, most recently on 10 July, and Iran's Parliament barred inspectors from all nuclear sites in April, leaving the watchdog with no independent access. Satellite analysis by Al Jazeera's open-source unit on 17 July was the first outside evidence a strike reached inside Bushehr's boundary; Tehran's own deputy governor has since walked back an earlier claim of a perimeter hit.

Russia has separately offered to take custody of Iran's 440.9 kg stockpile of 60%-enriched uranium, an offer reaffirmed by Vladimir Putin on 6 June, but Bushehr's Rosatom evacuation leaves the technicians needed to execute any transfer outside the country, and Iran's Supreme Leader has ordered the material stay in Iran.