Russia evacuates 198 workers from Iran nuclear plant amid airstrike

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Putin

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Russia started a planned evacuation of 198 workers from Iran’s Bushehr atomic plant shortly after a US-Israeli projectile hit near the facility, Russian state media said on Saturday.

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This was a third evacuation from the facility in southern Iran on the Gulf coast, which was built with Moscow’s help, with about 100 Russian staff remaining there by now.

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The area around Bushehr has been struck four times during this war. The latest attack on Saturday saw one person — a guard at the facility — killed, but did not damage the plant itself, according to Iranian state media.

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“As planned, we began the main phase of the evacuation today,” Russia’s nuclear agency Rosatom head Alexey Likhachev was quoted as saying by Russia’s TASS news agency.

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“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.

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Likhachev also said that Russia informed the US and Israel about the evacuation.

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“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 CEO said.

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The agency plans to keep only a skeleton staff at Bushehr amid the threat of further strikes.

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The Russian foreign ministry slammed the “evil” US-Israeli attack and urged a cessation of hostilities on Iranian nuclear facilities immediately.

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AFP

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