WHO warns of ‘worst-case’ nuclear scenario in Iran

The UN agency says it is preparing for an incident “in its broader sense,” including strikes on key sites or use of atomic weapons

The World Health Organization (WHO) is preparing for a potential “nuclear incident” in Iran, a senior regional official has told Politico.

The US and Israel claim their attacks are aimed at destroying the Islamic Republic’s uranium enrichment program, which Tehran maintains is peaceful.

WHO Eastern Mediterranean Regional Director Hanan Balkhy reportedly warned the “worst-case scenario” could involve an attack on a nuclear facility in Iran or the use of nuclear weapons by one of the belligerents, according to Politico. No amount of preparation could shield the region from consequences that could “last for decades,” she warned.

READ MORE: Israel has just set off a chain reaction that will set the Gulf on fire

Since the start of the US-Israeli military campaign against Iran on February 28, nuclear sites across the country have come under attack. No radioactive contamination has been reported in the region to date.

Israel is widely believed to possess undeclared nuclear weapons. Last week, David Sacks, US President Donald Trump’s artificial intelligence and crypto tsar, said Israel’s “air defenses could become exhausted… and then you have to worry about Israel escalating the war by contemplating using a nuclear weapon.” Trump dismissed the concerns, telling reporters on Monday that “Israel wouldn’t do that.” 

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Meanwhile, Iranian authorities said on Tuesday that a US or Israeli munition had struck adjacent to the Bushehr nuclear power plant, the first such reported incident since the war started. Aleksey Likhachev, director general of Russia’s state nuclear corporation Rosatom, described the attack as a “flagrant disregard for the key rules and principles of international security.” 

No casualties were reported and radiation levels remain normal, according to Rosatom.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Moscow condemned the “irresponsible and absolutely unacceptable missile strike carried out on the inner perimeter of the Bushehr NPP just meters from the operating power unit.” 

“Tel Aviv and Washington must abandon reckless attacks on nuclear infrastructure facilities that create real risks of a radiological and environmental catastrophe on the scale of the entire region,” the diplomat added.