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IAEA calls for ‘restraint’ as Iran reports strike near Bushehr nuclear plant

by Sarah Davis - 03/24/26 6:56 PM ET

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The head of an intergovernmental nuclear safety agency is raising the alarm after Iran reported a strike near its Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant on Tuesday.

International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Grossi called for “maximum restraint to avoid nuclear safety risks during conflict” in a post on the social platform X.

The IAEA is headquartered in Vienna, Austria, and seeks to promote the safe operation of nuclear technology around the world.

Iran’s nuclear power plant was not damaged during the attack, nor were any of the plant’s employees, according to Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization. The country said the U.S. and Israel launched the strikes around Bushehr.

“Targeting peaceful nuclear facilities is a blatant violation of international rights and regulations and a serious threat to regional security,” the Atomic Energy Organization wrote in a Tuesday post on X.

The reported strikes follow President Trump’s statement Monday that there have been “good and productive” peace talks with Iran, and a senior Iranian official said Iran’s leaders were reviewing a U.S. proposal.

The U.S. and Israel initiated joint military operations against Iran after negotiations on a nuclear deal failed.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth reiterated the Trump administration’s commitment to preventing Tehran from obtaining a nuclear weapon, saying he sees the Pentagon as “part of this negotiation as well.”

“We negotiate with bombs,” he said during an Oval Office press conference with Trump on Tuesday.

“You have a choice, as we loiter over the top of Tehran, as the president talked about, about your future,” Hegseth continued. “The president has made it clear that you will not have a nuclear weapon, the War Department agrees, our job is to ensure that, and so we’re keeping our hand on that throttle as long, as hard as is necessary to ensure the interests of the United States of America are achieved on that battlefield.”

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