A shell struck the perimeter of Iran’s Bushehr nuclear power plant on Saturday morning, April 4, killing a security guard and damaging a building on the site, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
Iran informed the IAEA that the projectile hit the facility’s perimeter fence, with the resulting shockwave and shrapnel causing structural damage. While a member of the facility’s physical protection service was killed, the IAEA reported that no increase in radiation levels has been detected and the plant’s core components remain intact.
This marks the fourth such incident at the Bushehr site – Iran’s only operational nuclear power plant – in recent weeks. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi stated on X that the strikes, which he attributed to US and Israeli forces, pose a “significant threat” to both Iran and the wider Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region.
Araghchi criticized what he described as “indifference to the safety of nuclear plants,” drawing a comparison to the international attention given to attacks on Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant.
The escalation comes as the conflict, which began on Feb. 28 following US-Israeli strikes that killed Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, enters a major new phase. On Thursday, Iran threatened “crushing” retaliatory actions after US President Donald Trump vowed to bomb the Islamic Republic “back to the Stone Ages” if a negotiated settlement is not reached within the next two to three weeks.
The war has already sparked a series of retaliatory incidents globally. In the Netherlands, a blast hit a pro-Israeli center in Nijkerk late Friday, an attack police described as part of a “worrying pattern” targeting Jewish and pro-Israeli sites across Europe, including Belgium and Britain.
As the regional quagmire deepens, the Trump administration has requested a record $1.5 trillion defense budget for fiscal year 2027 – a 40 percent increase – to replenish ammunition and fund the Golden Dome missile defense system. Despite the rising risks to nuclear infrastructure, PresidentTrump stated earlier this week that the military campaign was “almost complete.”