ISTANBUL/Anadolu Agency

Iran's Atomic Energy Organization announced Sunday that the United States launched an attack on the site of a nuclear power plant under construction in Darkhovein, Khuzestan province in southwestern Iran.

This came in a statement published by the organization on its account on the American platform "X".

The statement clarified that US forces targeted the nuclear power plant being built in the Darkhovein area.

The organization added that targeting a peaceful nuclear facility under the supervision of the International Atomic Energy Agency is a blatant crime against international law.

Construction work on the 300-megawatt nuclear power plant in the Darkhovein area began in December 2022.

Estimates indicate that the plant, which will operate with a pressurized water reactor system, will take about eight years to build, at an estimated cost of around $2 billion.

For about a week, the United States has been launching successive waves of strikes on sites inside Iran, while Tehran responds with attacks on sites and bases it says are American military in several regional countries.

On June 18, 2026, Washington and Tehran signed a memorandum of understanding that included a halt to military operations and the start of negotiations to reach a broader agreement.

But US President Donald Trump announced on July 8 of this month the end of the interim agreement after Iran targeted three ships in the Strait of Hormuz, prompting Washington to resume its strikes inside Iran, amid escalating Iranian responses.

Washington demands ensuring freedom of navigation and its security in the Strait of Hormuz, while Tehran insists on imposing a mechanism to regulate ship transit through the strategic waterway, exacerbating fears of a disruption in oil and gas exports from the region.