The United Nations is preparing for a nuclear catastrophe if the Middle East war escalates further.

World Health Organization officials are monitoring the consequences of joint US-Israeli strikes on Iranian atomic sites and are remaining ‘vigilant’ for nuclear threats in the region.

WHO director Hanan Balkhy said: ‘The worst-case scenario is a nuclear incident, and that’s something that worries us the most.’

‘As much as we prepare, there’s nothing that can prevent the harm that will come … the region’s way – and globally if this eventually happens – and the consequences are going to last for decades,’ she told POLITICO.

It comes as in recent days, Donald Trump‘s AI adviser David Sacks warned that Israel could be on a path to ‘escalate the war by contemplating using a nuclear weapon.’

The UN nuclear watchdog said Wednesday that Iranian authorities had reported projectile impact at the country’s only operational nuclear power plant that caused no damage.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) ‘has been informed by Iran that a projectile hit the premises of the Bushehr NPP on Tuesday evening’, the Vienna-based agency posted on social media. 

‘No damage to the plant or injuries to staff reported.’

Agency head Rafael Grossi ‘reiterates his call for restraint during the conflict to avoid any risk of a nuclear accident’, the statement said.

The Bushehr plant in southwestern Iran has the Islamic republic’s only operational nuclear power reactor and was first connected to the grid in 2011, according to the IAEA.

Tehran has been under biting US sanctions since 2018, when Washington withdrew from a deal that granted Iran sanctions relief in return for curbs on its nuclear activities designed to prevent it from developing an atomic warhead.

The US and Israel say that destroying whatever remains of Iran’s nuclear program is one of the central aims of the war. 

They have long suspected Iran seeks nuclear weapons, while the Islamic Republic says its nuclear program is peaceful.  

In June of last year, the US and Israel targeted shadowy nuclear infrastructure in Iran, hitting sites in Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan.

Balkhy explained that although there have not yet been any signs of radioactive contamination in the region,  a nuclear incident could cause extreme health problems to those affected.

Referring to the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear accident and Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945, Balkhy warned: ‘I think those who read the history of previous incidents, whether intentional or accidental, are very aware of what we’re talking about.’

Chernobyl officially caused 30 deaths in the first few months following the accident, but people have felt the effects for years, with a surge in cancer and high anxiety amongst those in the area.

And an estimated 110,000 to 210,000 people died from US nuclear attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. 

Donald Trump has said there would have been a ‘nuclear holocaust’ if the US had not taken the step at the end of last month to strike Iran.

‘If I didn’t terminate Obama’s horrible deal that he made – the Iran Nuclear Deal – you would have had a nuclear war, four years ago. You would have had [a] nuclear holocaust. 

‘And you would have had it again if we didn’t bomb the site,’ he said to press gathered in the Oval Office on Tuesday.

He said those who claim Iran didn’t pose a threat are ‘not smart’ and ‘not savvy,’ adding, ‘We don’t want those people.’ 

His comments came after America’s top counterterrorism official resigned over the war with Iran.

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