UN Atomic Agency Looking Into Reported Attack on Iranian Nuclear Site

The logo of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is seen at the agency’s headquarters in Vienna, Austria, on March 2, 2026. Helmut Fohringer/APA/AFP via Getty ImagesThe United Nations’ atomic agency on Sunday said it is investigating reports of an attack on an Iranian nuclear power plant that is under construction as the conflict between Tehran and the United States escalated over the weekend.The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said that the attack occurred overnight and targeted “the construction site of a planned nuclear power plant in Darkhovin.”“The facility is in the very early stages of construction and contained no nuclear material when last visited by the IAEA,” the agency wrote on X, adding that the attack “is not believed to pose any radiological risk.”IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi urged both sides to exercise restraint on attacks near nuclear sites and said his agency has contacted Iran about the reports of the strike.Iranian officials said through the state-run Mehr News Agency on Sunday that the U.S. military struck the nuclear site hours earlier. It said that several projectiles hit the site, which Iran described as “one of the symbols of the Iranian nation’s dignity and scientific self-sufficiency.”The U.S. military said that its latest strikes targeted Iran’s paramilitary Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in retaliation for its killing of troops in Jordan. The campaign, now in its second week, has included the targeting of bridges, water plants, and power facilities in Iran.Tehran has subsequently launched attacks on U.S.-allied countries throughout the Middle East. The recent round of U.S. strikes was triggered by Iran attacking commercial ships transiting through the Strait of Hormuz earlier this month.The U.S. military’s Central Command (CENTCOM) stated that it hit “Iranian military coastal surveillance and air defense facilities, maritime capabilities, and missile and drone storage sites.”The U.S. military said the attack was designed to knock out Iran’s ability to control the waterway and “swiftly punish Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps forces.”On Saturday, Iran’s top leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, said through state-run outlet PressTV that an agreement signed between the United States and Iran to end hostilities is “utterly worthless and invalid.”“The enemy must not sense any sign of weakness from us,” Khamenei also said in the statement. “Whenever we fully observe these precautions, he will inevitably be forced into retreat and defeat.”The war, which began when the United States and ⁠Israel launched strikes on Iran on Feb. 28 in a bid to disable the country’s nuclear and missile programs, has triggered a disruption in worldwide energy supplies.Smoke rises from an explosion at an unknown location, during U.S. strikes on Iran, in this screen grab taken from a handout video released July 17, 2026. U.S. Central Command/Handout via ReutersIran, in response, has launched attacks and threatened ships in the Strait of Hormuz, a key waterway that allows for the transit around 20 percent of the world’s oil in peacetime.After the memorandum was signed, Iran also said that ships can only follow routes the Iranian regime approve of, and that ships following ones setup by the United States are invalid. U.S. officials have said Tehran cannot impose fees or tolls on commercial shipping in the strait.The U.S. military is again enforcing a blockade of Iran’s ports. So far, one ship has been disabled and five have been redirected, according to CENTCOM.