Middle East war at ‘perilous stage’ with strikes around nuclear sites: WHO

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GENEVA – The Middle East war has reached a “perilous stage” with strikes around nuclear sites in Iran and Israel, the World Health Organization (WHO) warned on March 22, as it called for maximum restraint.

An Iranian ballistic missile ripped open residential buildings and left dozens wounded late on March 21 in the southern Israeli town of Dimona.

Dimona hosts what is widely believed to be the Middle East’s only nuclear arsenal, although Israel has never admitted to possessing nuclear weapons, insisting the site is for research.

Iran said the strike was in response to an earlier attack on its nuclear site at Natanz, which hosts underground centrifuges used to enrich uranium for Iran’s disputed nuclear programme, and was damaged in the June 2025 war.

“The war in the Middle East has reached a perilous stage” with the strikes on Natanz and Dimona, WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on social media platform X.

“Attacks targeting nuclear sites create an escalating threat to public health and environmental safety,” he added.

“I urgently call on all parties to exercise maximum military restraint and avoid any actions that could trigger nuclear incidents. Leaders must prioritise de-escalation and protect civilians.”

Mr Tedros said the International Atomic Energy Agency was looking into the strikes, and “no indications of abnormal or increased off-site radiation levels have been reported”.

The war erupted on Feb 28, when the US and Israel began their attacks on Iran, with Tehran in turn striking targets in Israel and Gulf nations.

Lebanon was drawn into the conflict when Iran-backed Hezbollah attacked Israel.

Since the war began, the WHO has provided training to its own staff and to other UN personnel across 13 countries to help them respond to public health threats in the event of a nuclear incident, Mr Tedros said. AFP