The Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) has suffered multiple drone attacks in recent weeks, causing power outages and further threatening its nuclear safety and security, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said Saturday in a post on X.
The IAEA has been informed that the attacks included strikes on Sept 19, 20 and 27 on the nearby Zaporizhzhia Thermal Power Plant (ZTPP), damaging transformers that are of vital importance for supplying off-site power to the ZNPP. The nuclear power plant, which is currently under Russian military control, has experienced frequent external power outages during the four-year conflict between Russia and Ukraine.
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Drone attacks threatening security of Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant: IAEA
Drone attacks threatening security of Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant: IAEA
Drone attacks threatening security of Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant: IAEA
Drone attacks threatening security of Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant: IAEA
Drone attacks threatening security of Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant: IAEA
To enable necessary repairs at the ZTPP, IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi is negotiating a new localized ceasefire with both sides, with the aim for it to take effect very soon. It would be the eighth such IAEA-brokered ceasefire to help secure off-site power for the ZNPP.
Attacks endangering nuclear safety and security remain completely unacceptable and must cease immediately, said Grossi.
In order to prevent the risk of a nuclear accident during the conflict, all sides must exercise maximum military restraint near such facilities and their power infrastructure installations, said Grossi.
Drone attacks threatening security of Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant: IAEA
Drone attacks threatening security of Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant: IAEA
Drone attacks threatening security of Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant: IAEA
Drone attacks threatening security of Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant: IAEA
Drone attacks threatening security of Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant: IAEA
A Pakistani scholar has stressed the importance of dialogue in resolving the conflict between the United States and Iran, as the two sides remain deadlocked over access to the Strait of Hormuz and Iran's nuclear program.
In recent months, Pakistan has emerged as a key mediator between Washington and Tehran, pushing diplomacy as a path to ending the conflict.
In a recent interview with China Global Television Network (CGTN), Rabia Akhtar, dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences at the University of Lahore, affirmed Pakistan's role as a mediator but stressed that whether an agreement is reached and implemented ultimately rests with the two countries.
"Pakistan's role is valuable because keeping a channel open gives the parties somewhere to take those agreements. A mediator can clarify a proposal, explore a sequence of reciprocal steps, and help each side understand what the other might accept. But a mediator cannot make the commitments on their behalf. Ultimately, Washington and Tehran have to decide that an agreement serves their interests and that they are prepared to implement it," she said.
Throughout the conflict, she noted, leaders have publicly deployed strong rhetoric against the other side. Akhtar called on both parties to withdraw from such practices, as they make reaching an agreement all the more difficult.
"There's also the domestic political problem. If you have told your public that anything short of the other side's surrender will be a defeat, you have made your own diplomacy much harder. Leaders need room to explain that a negotiated outcome can protect national interest. And quiet diplomacy helps because it allows options to be explored before every proposal becomes a public test of resolve," she said.
As the need for dialogue over conflict grows, Akhtar highlighted the potential role of China's Global Security Initiative (GSI), which focuses on addressing the world's growing security challenges through cooperation, dialogue, and shared responsibility, and offers a framework for managing crises.
"So for me, the GSI's emphasis on dialogue is relevant to what happens between crises as well as during them. So we need communication that survives political disagreements and commitments, that gives both sides a reason to exercise restraint. We cannot simply wait for trust to appear before we start talking. We have to use dialogue to establish whether commitments can be tested and whether restraint can be reciprocated," the scholar said.
Dialogue essential to resolving US-Iran deadlock: Pakistani scholar
