Power cut halts Mahshahr petrochemicals after strikes, state media say

No increase in radiation levels was reported after a projectile struck close to Iran’s Bushehr nuclear power plant on Saturday, the International Atomic Energy Agency said.

The UN nuclear watchdog said Iran had informed it that the incident was the fourth such case involving the plant in recent weeks.

Iran also told the agency that a member of the site’s physical protection staff was killed by a projectile fragment and that a building on the site was affected by shockwaves and fragments.

IAEA chief Rafael Grossi said nuclear power plant sites and nearby areas must never be attacked and warned that auxiliary buildings could contain vital safety equipment.

A border crossing between Iran and Iraq near Khorramshahr in southwest Iran was targeted at 11 a.m. on Saturday, a provincial official said.

Khuzestan’s deputy governor for security and law enforcement affairs said the attack hit the Shalamcheh terminal.

Earlier reports had also described explosions in Mehran, another crossing on Iran’s western border with Iraq.

Iran’s nationwide internet blackout entered its 36th day on Saturday, surpassing 840 hours since access to the global internet was cut on February 28, NetBlocks said.

“The measure remains in place, entering day 36 after 840 hours, isolating the general public as authorities explore ways to give chosen users access via a tiered whitelisting system,” said the internet monitoring group.

A strike hit near the perimeter of Iran’s Bushehr nuclear power plant on Saturday morning, damaging an auxiliary building but not affecting operations, IRGC-affiliated Tasnim News Agency reported.

The report said the strike hit near the plant’s fence at about 8:30 a.m. local time and a member of the security staff was killed.

Initial assessments showed no damage to the plant’s main sections and operations were not affected, according to the report.

It added that this was the fourth attack on the Bushehr plant during the ongoing war.

100%

A key border terminal in western Iran was targeted on Saturday morning, a provincial security official said, as reports of multiple blasts near frontier crossings emerged.

The deputy governor for security in Khuzestan said the Shalamcheh crossing in Khorramshahr was hit, while earlier reports pointed to explosions in Mehran, another major crossing linking Iran to Iraq.

Shalamcheh and Mehran are among Iran’s main transit routes with Iraq, widely used for trade and cross-border movement.

In recent days, the presence of Iraqi Popular Mobilization Forces inside Iran had drawn attention among citizens, with the groups previously involved in suppressing nationwide protests in January.