A US projectile struck the perimeter area of Iran’s Bushehr nuclear power plant on July 9, while Iranian air defenses engaged American drones overhead. An official in Bushehr attributed local explosions to defensive fire against US MQ-9 Reaper drones and confirmed that a US-Israeli projectile hit a nearby military site.
No direct damage to the reactor core or immediate casualties have been reported.
What happened on the ground
The strikes targeted multiple locations in the Bushehr province, not just the nuclear plant’s perimeter. Iranian authorities indicated that military sites at Choghadak and a fishing pier in Asaluyeh county were also affected during the engagement.
The incident fits into a broader pattern of US-Israeli operations against Iranian military infrastructure that has intensified since the killing of Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei in February 2026. Tensions between Iran, Israel, and the US had already grown sharply following Israel’s bombing of Iranian nuclear and military facilities in mid-2025, which led to the “Twelve-Day War” from June 13 to June 24, 2025.
