Russia Ferries 175 Russian Nuclear Scientists Out Of Iran Via Land Border With Armenia

Russia has announced that it has successfully evacuated a last main group of Russian workers from Iran’s Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant (NPP), which has been hit several times by US-Israeli strikes throughout the over one-month long war.

A group of 175 Russian employees of Rosatom Atomic Energy Corporation were evacuated via land route through northern Iran, before taking a flight out of the Armenian capital of Yerevan to Moscow.

Anadolu Agency

According to TASS, “Earlier, Alexey Likhachev, director general of Russia’s Rosatom Atomic Energy Corporation, said that evacuation buses left the Bushehr facility about 20 minutes after a US strike hit the area on Saturday, and headed for the Iran-Armenia border.”

Moscow had requested that the US impose a ceasefire for the site while the Russian staff were evacuated. They were then driven to the Norduz-Agarak border crossing (a very long overland route). Already several rounds of Russians at Iran’s nuclear facilities were taken out of the country.

Russia’s foreign ministry thanked Armenian authorities “for their kind attitude and quick handling of exit procedures” for Rosatom personnel.

Apparently some key Russian personnel have agreed to stay at the facility. “Some of Rosatom’s personnel expressed readiness to continue working in Iran, Rosatom’s Likhachev had said on Sunday. The first power unit of the Bushehr NPP remains operational, Rosatom has also said.

As for the requested local ceasefire for the site, it’s unclear whether or not that was ever enacted. Israel has shown more of a penchant for hitting nuclear facilities in Iran of late.

Meanwhile, IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi has also urged “maximum restraint” during the conflict in order to prevent the risk of a nuclear accident. 

Just like war in Ukraine has threatened nuclear power sites, so has the Iran conflict raised concerns over nuclear fallout and radiation – in the instance of a strike leading to major accident.