VIENNA, March 18, 2026 (BSS/AFP) - The UN nuclear watchdog said Wednesday that Iranian authorities had reported a projectile impact at the country's only operational nuclear power plant but that it caused no damage.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) "has been informed by Iran that a projectile hit the premises of the Bushehr NPP on Tuesday evening", the Vienna-based agency posted on social media.

"No damage to the plant or injuries to staff reported."

Agency head Rafael Grossi "reiterates his call for restraint during the conflict to avoid any risk of a nuclear accident", the statement said.

Russia, which helped build the plant and has staff on site, said it had received a report of a missile strike on the plant's inner perimeter and called the attack "completely unacceptable".

Israel and the United States "must refrain from reckless attacks on nuclear infrastructure, which pose a real risk of a regional-scale radiological and environmental disaster," Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in a weekly briefing.

Moscow has repeatedly warned both countries against "threatening the lives" of Russian personnel still working at the plant, she added.

The Bushehr plant in southwestern Iran has the Islamic republic's only operational nuclear power reactor and was first connected to the grid in 2011, according to the IAEA.

Tehran has been under biting US sanctions since 2018, when Washington withdrew from a deal that granted Iran sanctions relief in return for curbs on its nuclear activities designed to prevent it from developing an atomic warhead.

Iran had repeatedly denied any ambition to develop nuclear weapons, insisting that its activities are entirely peaceful.