Russia is seeking approval from the US and Israel for a ceasefire for the Bushehr nuclear power plant in Iran, RIA news agency reported Thursday. Airstrikes across the country have reportedly been on the uptick in the past some 48 hours.
"The travel routes will be communicated to the relevant authorities in Israel and the United States, and we will use all channels to request strict adherence to the ceasefire during the convoy’s movement," the head of Russia’s state nuclear corporation Rosatom, Alexei Likhachev, stated.
Well over 500 Russian personnel were at the site prior to the US launching Operation Epic Fury, and the Bushehr complex has been hit at least three times by airstrikes, putting the complex and area at severe risk.
Likhachev said that a "final wave of evacuation" of some 200 people is tentatively scheduled for next week. There's been a lot of Russian technicians and personnel there given the plant was undergoing expansion, and it's Russia which first constructed Busherh - and so has technical expertise.
The Kremlin has accused Washington and Israel of putting the whole region in danger, and further of harming the cause of nuclear non-proliferation globally.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova days ago issued statement saying, "The drama of the situation is aggravated by the fact that countries attacking peaceful nuclear facilities in Iran are effectively undermining the NPT, the IAEA's verification mechanisms, nuclear and physical security conventions, as well as the agency's relevant regulations," according to the ministry's website.
"Carefully crafted and internationally agreed solutions are not taken seriously by these states and can be discarded at any moment in favor of their selfish interests and geopolitical considerations," the spokeswoman added.
Zakharova further communicated that atrocities in Iran must cease, and nuclear sites must be safeguarded, referencing the latest attacks in the past days on the complex in Khondab, the factory in Ardakan, and the strikes near the Bushehr nuclear power plant.
"The aggressors continue to raise the stakes in their war in the Middle East, ignoring all associated risks, including the danger of widespread radioactive contamination," Zakharova had said last week.
She further chastised UN and international bodies for not stepping up to loudly condemn the US-Israeli operation. The IAEA has meanwhile urged de-escalation, also as Trump is said to be mulling a possible high risk special forces operation to seize Iran's enriched uranium.