Alexey Likhachev, chief of Russia's Rosatom nuclear company, said a strike on Iran's Russian-built Bushehr nuclear power plant could cause a "regional-scale catastrophe," noting that Rosatom had lost contact with Iran's nuclear authorities, Interfax reported on March 3. He added that work at the site had been fully halted and that the reactor contained 72 tons of fuel, with 210 tons of spent fuel stored on site.

U.S. and Israeli strikes began on Feb. 28 and have included reported attacks in the city of Bushehr. The plant accounts for roughly 1.7% of Iran's electricity generation and operates a single 1,000-megawatt reactor, while additional units are under construction by Russia. Rosatom earlier evacuated 94 nonessential staff and employees' children, though 639 personnel remain in the area.