Israel admits ‘Bushehr hit’ mistake, as Russia says stop attacks instantly

DUBAI/JERUSALEM/ST PETERSBURG: An Israeli military official said on Thursday “it was a mistake” for a military spokesperson to have said earlier in the day that Israel had struck the Bushehr nuclear power plant in Iran.

The statement came after Russia urged Israel to halt air attacks immediately on the Bushehr nuclear plant in Iran where Russian specialists work.

Earlier on Wednesday, President Vladimir Putin said Russia has no intention of abandoning its project to build the Bushehr nuclear power plant, TASS reported.

“I’ve already said that: our specialists are working in Bushehr. Their total number may reach 600 [people]. We are not leaving,” Putin said at a meeting with heads of the world’s leading news agencies, organized by TASS.

Meanwhile, Reuters says the Israeli official would only confirm that Israel had hit the Natanz, Isfahan and Arak nuclear sites in Iran.

Pressed further on Bushehr, the official said he could neither confirm nor deny that Israel had struck the location, where Iran has a reactor.

Read more: Israelis asked to avoid military sites, as Iran fires more missiles

CHERNOBYL-STYLE CATASTROPHE

Talking about the issue, Reuters says, the head of Russia’s nuclear energy corporation warned an Israeli attack on Iran’s Bushehr nuclear power plant could lead to a “Chernobyl-style catastrophe”.

It was Russia’s state nuclear corporation Rosatom head, who said that the situation around the plant was fraught with risk.

“If there is a strike on the operational first power unit, it will be a catastrophe comparable to Chernobyl,” the state RIA news agency cited Alexei Likhachev as saying.

An attack on Bushehr would be “beyond… evil,” Likhachev added.

Russia has evacuated some of its specialists from Bushehr, he said, but the core workforce – which Putin said numbered hundreds of people – remained on site.

“We are prepared for any scenario, including the rapid evacuation of all our employees,” RIA cited Likhachev as saying.

‘GOD FORBID’

Maria Zakharova, a spokesperson for the Russian Foreign Ministry, said Israeli attacks on peaceful nuclear facilities were unacceptable and illegal.

“We are especially concerned about the safety of the Bushehr nuclear power plant, in whose operation Russian specialists are involved,” she told reporters.

“We would like to especially warn Washington against military intervention in the situation, which would be an extremely dangerous step with truly unpredictable negative consequences,” Zakharova added, underlining a warning that Moscow first issued on Wednesday.

Mikhail Bogdanov, another Russian deputy foreign minister, recoiled on Thursday when asked by Reuters about the possibility of the US joining Israel’s war with Iran.

“God forbid, the consequences would be hard to predict,” he said.

CONSEQUENCES FOR GULF STATES

The potential consequences of an attack on the plant – contaminating the air and water – have long been a concern in the Gulf States.

Qatar’s prime minister, in March, warned that an attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities would “entirely contaminate” the waters of the Gulf and threaten life in Qatar, the UAE and Kuwait.

Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani warned that an attack on Iran’s nuclear sites would leave the Gulf with “no water, no fish, nothing … no life”.

Qatar, the UAE and Kuwait, facing Iran on the opposite side of the Gulf, have minimal natural water reserves and are home to more than 18 million people whose only supply of potable water is desalinated water drawn from the Gulf.

Read more: US support to Israel divides Trump coalition

Bushehr nuclear power plant is Iran’s only operating facility, which sits on the Gulf coast, and uses Russian fuel that Russia then takes back when it is spent to reduce proliferation risk.

IT’S OPERATING NORMALLY

The Russian embassy in Iran said in a statement earlier on Thursday that Bushehr nuclear power plant was operating normally and that it did not see any security threats.

A source familiar with the matter told Reuters that contamination from any attack on Bushehr was the worst case Gulf countries were preparing for. The source stated that Gulf countries, in cooperation with the UN nuclear watchdog, had prepared a contingency plan for any attack on any nuclear plant in the region.