Middle East war at ‘perilous stage’ with strikes around nuclear sites: WHO
An Iranian ballistic missile tore through residential buildings in the southern Israeli town of Dimona late Saturday, causing dozens of injuries.
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Dimona is home to what is widely believed to be the Middle East’s only nuclear arsenal, but Israel has never admitted to possessing nuclear weapons and insists it is for research purposes.
Iran said the attack was in response to an earlier attack on its nuclear facility at Natanz, which houses underground centrifuges used to enrich uranium for Iran’s controversial nuclear program and was damaged in the June 2025 war.
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“The war in the Middle East has reached a dangerous stage,” WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a statement to X. “Attacks targeting nuclear sites pose an increasing threat to public health and environmental safety.”
“I urgently call on all parties to show maximum military restraint and avoid any actions that could trigger nuclear incidents. Leaders must prioritize de-escalation and protect civilians.”
Tedros said the International Atomic Energy Agency was investigating the attacks and “no indication of abnormal or increased levels of off-site radiation has been reported.”
The war broke out on February 28, when the United States and Israel began attacking Iran and Tehran struck targets in Israel and the Gulf countries.
When Iran-backed Hezbollah attacked Israel, Lebanon was drawn into the conflict.
Since the start of the war, WHO has provided training to its own staff and other United Nations staff in 13 countries to help them respond to public health threats in the event of a nuclear incident, Tedros said.
