Russia will demand a truce in Iran to evacuate its personnel from the Bushehr nuclear power plant

The Russian state nuclear agency Rosatom announced on Thursday that it will request a cease-fire in Iran in order to be able to evacuate almost all of its personnel serving the Bushehr nuclear power plant, whose perimeter was hit three times by projectiles during the American-Israeli bombings.

“Of course, we will communicate the evacuation routes to the relevant authorities in Israel and the United States through all channels. We will request full respect for the truce during the transit of the convoy,” said the director of Rosatom, Alexei Lihacev, at a forum in Saint Petersburg, EFE and Agerpres report.

“Our main task now is to prepare the final wave of evacuation. There will be more than 200 people. We estimate that this will happen next week,” the Russian official added, adding that the evacuation plan is being prepared jointly with the Defense Ministry in Moscow.

Bushehr is home to Iran's only nuclear power plant, which uses Russian nuclear fuel, the residues of which are taken back by Russia to reduce proliferation risks.

One unit of the plant is operational, and another is under construction, in collaboration with Russia. About 600 Russian specialists, of which 250 are permanent, have been deployed to Iran for activities related to the operation of this plant located on the coast of the Persian Gulf, but about 400 have already been evacuated after the US and Israel launched airstrikes against Iran on February 28.

Rosatom's director also said that Unit 1 of the plant is still operational and several dozen Russian employees are currently on site. “We have to maintain operations both on the construction site and in the residential area, and obviously help our Iranian partners in operating the first unit,” the Russian official explained.

Russia says it has already warned the United States and Israel that if any projectile hits the nuclear plant's operational reactor, “the humanitarian and ecological consequences will be irreversible.” However, the perimeter of the plant was hit three times during the American-Israeli bombings, the last time on Saturday, when a projectile exploded very close to the pumping station that supplies water to the reactor, according to the director of the Rosatom company.