President Donald Trump mentioned Iran’s predominant nuclear websites had been “obliterated” in navy strikes in a single day, together with on the deeply buried Fordow facility, as the U.S. joined attacks launched by Israel on June 13.
Experts have mentioned navy strikes on Iran’s uranium enrichment services pose restricted risks of contamination, and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) mentioned on Sunday (June 22, 2025) no elevated off-site radiation ranges had been reported following the U.S. attacks.
U.S. strikes Iranian nuclear services LIVE updates
Which Iranian nuclear websites have been hit to date?
The U.S. navy struck websites at Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan. Trump mentioned Iran’s key nuclear enrichment services had been “completely and totally obliterated”. The attacks comply with beforehand introduced Israeli attacks on nuclear websites in Natanz, Isfahan, Arak and Tehran itself.
Israel says it goals to cease Iran constructing a nuclear bomb and the U.S. says Tehran wouldn’t be allowed to get such weapons. Iran denies ever looking for nuclear arms.
The worldwide nuclear watchdog IAEA has beforehand reported harm to the uranium enrichment plant at Natanz, the nuclear complicated at Isfahan that features the Uranium Conversion Facility and to centrifuge manufacturing services in Karaj and Tehran.
Israel has additionally attacked Arak, also referred to as Khondab. The IAEA mentioned Israeli navy strikes hit the Khondab Heavy Water Research Reactor, which was beneath development and had not begun working, and broken the close by plant that makes heavy water.
The IAEA mentioned it was not operational and contained no nuclear materials, so there have been no radiological results. Heavy-water reactors can be utilized to supply plutonium which, like enriched uranium, can be utilized to make an atom bomb.
What risks do these strikes pose?
Speaking to Reuters earlier than the U.S. strikes befell, consultants mentioned Israel’s attacks had posed restricted contamination risks to date.
Darya Dolzikova, a senior analysis fellow at London think-tank RUSI, mentioned attacks on services at the entrance finish of the nuclear gas cycle – the levels the place uranium is ready to be used in a reactor – pose primarily chemical, not radiological risks.
At enrichment services, UF6, or uranium hexafluoride, is the concern.
“When UF6 interacts with water vapour in the air, it produces harmful chemicals,” she mentioned. “In low winds, much of the material can be expected to settle in the vicinity of the facility; in high winds, the material will travel farther, but is also likely to disperse more widely. The risk of harmful chemicals being dispersed is lower for underground facilities.”
Simon Bennett, who leads the civil security and safety unit at the University of Leicester in Britain, mentioned risks to the atmosphere have been minimal when subterranean services are hit since you are “burying nuclear material in possibly thousands of tonnes of concrete, earth and rock”.
James Acton, co-director of the Nuclear Policy Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, mentioned that earlier than uranium goes right into a nuclear reactor it’s barely radioactive. “The chemical form uranium hexafluoride is toxic … but it actually doesn’t tend to travel large distances and it’s barely radioactive,” he added.
Attacks on enrichment services have been “unlikely to cause significant off-site consequences”, he mentioned, whereas stating his opposition to Israel’s marketing campaign.
What about nuclear reactors?
The main concern could be a strike on Iran’s nuclear reactor at Bushehr on the Gulf coast.
Fears of disaster rippled by means of the Gulf on June 19 when the Israeli navy mentioned it had struck a website in Bushehr, solely to say later that the announcement was a mistake.
Israel says it needs to keep away from any nuclear catastrophe.
Richard Wakeford, honorary professor of epidemiology at the University of Manchester, mentioned that whereas contamination from attacks on enrichment services could be “mainly a chemical problem” for the surrounding areas, intensive harm to massive energy reactors “is a different story”.
Radioactive components could be launched both by means of a plume of risky supplies or into the sea, he added.
Acton of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace mentioned an assault on Bushehr “could cause an absolute radiological catastrophe”.
Why are Gulf states particularly fearful?
For Gulf states, the impression of any strike on Bushehr could be worsened by the potential contamination of Gulf waters, jeopardising a essential supply of desalinated potable water.
The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) is on excessive alert to observe for any potential environmental contamination after the attacks, mentioned a supply with data of the matter. There have been no indicators of radiological contamination to date, the supply mentioned, including that the GCC had emergency plans in place in case of a menace to water and meals safety in the Gulf.
In the United Arab Emirates, desalinated water accounts for greater than 80% of ingesting water, whereas Bahrain grew to become absolutely reliant on desalinated water in 2016, with 100% of groundwater reserved for contingency plans, authorities say.
Qatar can also be 100% dependent on desalinated water.
In Saudi Arabia, a a lot bigger nation with a larger reserve of pure groundwater, about 50% of the water provide got here from desalinated water as of 2023, in keeping with the General Authority for Statistics.
While some Gulf states akin to Saudi Arabia, Oman and the UAE have entry to multiple sea to attract water from, Qatar, Bahrain and Kuwait are crowded alongside the shoreline of the Gulf with no different shoreline.
“If a natural disaster, oil spill, or even a targeted attack were to disrupt a desalination plant, hundreds of thousands could lose access to freshwater almost instantly,” mentioned Nidal Hilal, professor of engineering and director of New York University Abu Dhabi’s Water Research Center.
“Coastal desalination plants are especially vulnerable to regional hazards like oil spills and potential nuclear contamination,” he mentioned.
