The UN’s nuclear agency reports that Israel’s recent military strikes targeted Iran’s Khondab (Arak) Heavy Water Research Reactor, a project still under construction that had not yet begun operations. The attack also damaged an adjacent plant responsible for producing heavy water.

Israel has carried out several strikes on Iranian nuclear sites in the past week. The Khondab reactor, designed to produce plutonium, could have been used for nuclear weapons, though Iran maintains it has no such ambitions.

Following a 2015 international agreement, Iran redesigned the plant to decrease proliferation risks, removing the core and filling it with concrete. Iran had informed the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) that the reactor was scheduled to begin operations in 2026.

The IAEA confirmed that the under-construction Khondab heavy water reactor was hit but had no nuclear material on site and was not operational, meaning no radiological danger. The agency also noted that damage to the nearby Heavy Water Production Plant, initially unseen, is now believed to include critical infrastructure such as the distillation units.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)