Israeli Military Claims Attack Iran Nuclear Facilities In Bushehr, Isfahan And Natanz

Bushehr nuclear facility, Iran/PHOTO Hossein Ostovar via Wikimedia Commons

JAKARTA - The Israeli military claims to have attacked the locations of Iran's Bushehr, Isfahan, and Natanz nuclear facilities. But the scale of the Israeli attack on Bushehr is unclear.

Bushehr is the only Iranian nuclear power plant (PLTN) operating on the Gulf Coast using Russian fuel.

Potential consequences of the attack on the plant -- polluting the air and water -- have long been a concern in Gulf countries.

Sources familiar with the matter told Reuters the contamination was the worst case currently being prepared by Gulf states.

The source said Gulf countries, in collaboration with the United Nations nuclear watchdog, had prepared contingency plans for any attack on any nuclear plant in the region.

The Russian Embassy in Iran said Bushehr was operating normally and did not see any security threats.

The Prime Minister of Qatar in March warned that an attack on Iran's nuclear facilities would contaminate" the Gulf waters and threaten life in Qatar, UAE, and Kuwait.

Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani warned the attack on Iran's nuclear site would leave the Gulf "without water, without fish, nothing, nothing lifeless," he said.

Qatar, UAE, and Kuwait, which deal with Iran on the opposite sides of the Gulf, have very few natural water reserves and are home to more than 18 million people whose only supply of drinking water is desalination water taken from the Gulf.