Russia has issued a stern warning to Israel, protesting an airstrike carried out by Israeli aircraft that targeted an area near the residences of Russian experts working inside the Iranian Bushehr nuclear facility, which is dedicated to electricity production for civilian purposes, in a move that Moscow described as involving serious risks.
According to political sources in Tel Aviv, as reported by the Maariv newspaper, the Russian warning came through an official protest letter delivered by the Russian embassy to the Israeli side, in which it expressed Moscow's deep concern about the bombing that affected the vicinity of its experts' presence. The sources clarified that Russia protested the attacks carried out near the residences of the Russian experts, without confirming whether the strike directly hit the residences or caused material damage to them, but Moscow stressed that the bombing occurred in an area known to Israel, and that it is fully aware of the presence of Russian experts and their accommodation locations. The targeted site is the Bushehr nuclear power plant, which is the only civilian nuclear facility of its kind in Iran, located about 17 kilometers southeast of the city of Bushehr. It was opened in 2011 during an official ceremony attended by former Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi, along with then-Russian Energy Minister Sergey Shmatko. The plant's production capacity is about a thousand megawatts, and Moscow considers it a strategic Russian supplier, not just a facility that serves only Iranian interests. The newspaper pointed out that any military action near Bushehr is viewed in Russia as a direct infringement on its vital interests. Since the outbreak of the war on Iran, the issue of the safety of Russian experts has become a very sensitive file, given the great dangers that may result from targeting a nuclear facility. Moscow warned that any potential radioactive leakage could cause a large-scale environmental and regional disaster. Russia had previously announced the evacuation of some of the workers and their families from Iran, but in return, it confirmed that hundreds of Russian experts are still continuing their work in Bushehr. Moscow also slowed down the pace of work inside the plant and suspended some activities, while maintaining a basic technical presence at the site. With the knowledge of the Iranian authorities, Russia had previously informed the Israeli side about the locations of its experts, in order to avoid any unintended targeting during military operations. However, the strike carried out at the end of last week affected this site, despite it being a civilian facility for electricity generation, and not a military nuclear facility. Russia confirmed that the Bushehr plant operates with Russian fuel and is subject to international supervision, warning that its direct targeting could lead to serious environmental and regional repercussions, which makes it, in the view of Moscow and the international community, a very sensitive facility. The Israeli newspaper concluded by confirming that this is not the first time that Bushehr has turned into a point of tension between Russia and Israel, as Moscow had previously stressed on previous occasions the need to protect its experts, following reports of Israeli military operations inside Iranian territory.
