Advertisement 1

Israeli military warns people to evacuate area near Iran's Arak heavy water reactor

Article content

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Israel’s military warned people Thursday to evacuate the area around Iran’s Arak heavy water reactor.

Advertisement 2
Story continues below
Article content

The warning came in a social media post on X. It included a satellite image of the plant in a red circle like other warnings that proceeded strikes.

Article content
Article content

The Arak heavy water reactor is 250 km southwest of Tehran.

Heavy water helps cool nuclear reactors, but it produces plutonium as a byproduct that can potentially be used in nuclear weapons. That would provide Iran another path to the bomb beyond enriched uranium, should it choose to pursue the weapon.

Iran had agreed under its 2015 nuclear deal with world powers to redesign the facility to relieve proliferation concerns.

RECOMMENDED VIDEO

Loading...
We apologize, but this video has failed to load.
Try refreshing your browser, or
tap here to see other videos from our team.

In 2019, Iran started up the heavy water reactor’s secondary circuit, which at the time did not violate Tehran’s 2015 nuclear deal with world powers.

Advertisement 3
Story continues below
Article content

Britain at the time was helping Iran redesign the Arak reactor to limit the amount of plutonium it produces, stepping in for the U.S., which had withdrawn from the project after President Donald Trump’s decision in 2018 to unilaterally withdraw America from the nuclear deal.

The International Atomic Energy Agency, the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog, has been urging Israel not to strike Iranian nuclear sites. IAEA inspectors reportedly last visited Arak on May 14.

Due to restrictions Iran imposed on inspectors, the IAEA has said it lost “continuity of knowledge” about Iran’s heavy water production — meaning it could not absolutely verify Tehran’s production and stockpile.

Read More
  1. Beachgoers leave during a missile alert from Iran, in Tel Aviv, Israel, Wednesday, June 18, 2025.
    U.S. evacuates some diplomats from embassy in Israel as Iran conflict intensifies
  2. A handout picture provided by the Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's office shows him waving during a ceremony on the occasion of 36rd death anniversary of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, in Tehran on June 4, 2025.
    WARMINGTON: 'Hundreds' of the Ayatollah's people already in Canada -- and more hoping to sneak in
Article content
Comments
You must be logged in to join the discussion or read more comments.
Join the Conversation

Postmedia is committed to maintaining a lively but civil forum for discussion. Please keep comments relevant and respectful. Comments may take up to an hour to appear on the site. You will receive an email if there is a reply to your comment, an update to a thread you follow or if a user you follow comments. Visit our Community Guidelines for more information.

Page was generated in 3.1418831348419