Iran Claims Its Nuclear Facility Hit By US-Israel, Watchdog Says Not True

No nuclear sites in Iran were hit in the airstrikes by the US and Israel, the UN's nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, has said. Tehran, however, has claimed one site suffered damage. The head of the IAEA has said there is no indication that nuclear installations in Iran were damaged in the airstrikes. Iran's ambassador to the IAEA, however, said the country's key nuclear site, Natanz, was attacked.

During an extraordinary session of the agency's board of governors on Iran, IAEA head Rafael Grossi urged "all parties to exercise maximum restraint to avoid further escalation". "Regarding the status of the nuclear installations in Iran, up to now, we have no indication that any of the nuclear installations, including the Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant, the Tehran Research Reactor, or other nuclear fuel cycle facilities have been damaged or hit," he said.

Grossi said the agency was trying to contact the Iranian nuclear regulatory authorities "with no response so far".

Reza Najafi, Iran's ambassador to the IAEA, said the Natanz nuclear site was attacked, and added that the US's allegation that Iran was trying to have a nuclear bomb was "just the pretext to attack and invade".

"The head of the Atomic Energy Organisation of Iran yesterday sent a letter to the Director General and informed him that the Natanz nuclear facility, which is a safeguarded facility, has been attacked during this aggression," he told news agency AFP.

Grossi has said the conflict situation in the Middle East is "very concerning". "Iran and many other countries in the region that have been subjected to military attacks have operational nuclear power plants and nuclear research reactors, as well as associated fuel storage sites, increasing the threat to nuclear safety," he said, adding that diplomatic negotiations must resume "as quickly as possible".