Russia has begun a planned evacuation of 198 workers from Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant following a US-Israeli projectile strike near the facility, according to Russian state media on Saturday.
This marks the third evacuation from the plant in southern Iran, located along the Gulf coast and constructed with Moscow’s support. Around 100 Russian personnel are said to remain at the site. The surrounding area has been hit four times during the ongoing conflict.
The most recent strike on Saturday reportedly killed one person — a guard at the facility — but did not damage the plant itself, Iranian state media said.
“As planned, we began the main phase of the evacuation today,” said Alexey Likhachev, head of Rosatom, in remarks carried by TASS.
“About 20 minutes after that ill-fated strike, buses set off from Bushehr station towards the Iranian-Armenian border (with) 198 people, to be precise — this is the largest evacuation,” he added.
Likhachev also noted that Russia had informed both the United States and Israel about the evacuation.
“The likelihood of a risk of damage or a potential nuclear incident is, unfortunately, only increasing, as has been confirmed by this morning’s events,” the Rosatom chief said.
The agency indicated that only a minimal workforce would remain at the Bushehr facility amid concerns over further strikes.
Meanwhile, Russian Foreign Ministry condemned the US-Israeli attack as “evil” and called for an immediate halt to hostilities targeting Iranian nuclear installations.