The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has officially confirmed that Israeli airstrikes carried out on Friday caused damage to key structures at Iran's Khondab Heavy Water Production Plant—previously known as the Arak facility. Among the affected areas was the plant's critical distillation unit, the nuclear watchdog revealed in its latest post on X. This acknowledgement marks a shift from the IAEA's earlier statement, issued just a day earlier, in which it reported that no visible damage had been initially detected. "While damage to the nearby Heavy Water Production Plant was initially not visible, it is now assessed that key buildings at the facility were damaged, including the distillation unit,” the IEAE’s latest statement on ‘Updates on developments in Iran’ said. No damage has been observed at Iran’s other nuclear sites so far, it added.
Despite the structural damage, IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi reassured the international community that there were no radiological consequences resulting from the strike. He clarified that the reactor was not yet operational and did not contain any nuclear material, thereby eliminating any immediate nuclear threat.
Israel, Iran launch strikes
Notably, Israel and Iran exchanged strikes a week into their war Friday as US President Donald Trump weighed US military involvement and new diplomatic efforts appeared to be underway. Trump has been weighing whether to attack Iran by striking its well-defended Fordo uranium enrichment facility, which is buried under a mountain and widely considered to be out of reach of all but America's “bunker-buster” bombs.
He said he'll decide within two weeks whether the US military will get directly involved in the war given the “substantial chance” for renewed negotiations over Tehran's nuclear programme.
