Middle East War: IAEA Warns of Possible Serious Nuclear Risk

March 2, 2026 - Rafael Grossi, the director general of the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) UN nuclear inspectorate, has warned that if civil nuclear power stations are attacked during the ongoing war in West Asia it could lead to radiological release which would then require mass evacuation of cities across the Middle East. He described the “situation today is very concerning” and urged utmost restraint in all military operations.

Giving this ominous warning at the opening of the quarterly board meeting of the IAEA on Monday (March 2), Grossi said, “We cannot rule out a possible radiological release with serious consequences, including the necessity to evacuate areas as large or larger than major cities.”

According to the IAEA chief, the UAE has four operating nuclear reactors. Jordan and Syria have operational nuclear research reactors. Bahrain, Iraq, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar and Saudi Arabia all use nuclear applications of some sort or the other.

Meanwhile, Iran has claimed that its nuclear facility at Natanz was reportedly struck during US and Israeli military operations, according to Iran’s ambassador to the IAEA Reza Najafi who told this to reporters on Monday. 

Grossi shared that efforts to contact the Iranian nuclear regulatory authorities continue with no response so far. However, he said there was no indication of damage to any Iranian nuclear installations.

The IAEA held an extraordinary session on Iran on March 2 at the request of Russia following the same request by Iran earlier.

Source: Media Reports

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