Iran Reportedly Distributes Iodine Tablets Near Nuclear Facilities

An Iranian health official has described efforts to supply communities within two to three kilometers of nuclear facilities with iodine tablets during wartime, The Times reported.

The official said distribution was taking place, according to the newspaper. The account does not establish when the latest deliveries began or identify each facility covered.

A Wartime Precaution

“Yes, we are distributing iodine,” The Times quoted the official as saying, according to a reproduction of the report by Israel Hayom.

“During every war, we have tried to distribute it within a two-to-three-kilometre radius of nuclear facilities,” the official added.

That wording points to an existing preparedness practice rather than establishing the launch of a new nationwide program. The radius remains an attributed claim, not an independently verified map of deliveries.

There is earlier public evidence of distribution in Bushehr. In April, Fars carried a statement from the deputy for health at Bushehr University of Medical Sciences saying the local rollout had begun before the 12-day war in June 2025, prioritizing areas around the nuclear power plant.

Iran International, citing the state-run Young Journalists Club, reported in April that 180,000 tablets had been distributed in Bushehr. That earlier program does not establish which sites are covered by the latest report. The latest two-to-three-kilometer claim rests on The Times’s account of an unnamed source.

Nuclear Sites Under Pressure

The Times account comes as Washington weighs whether to resume major military operations against Iran. Trump has convened his national security team to consider renewed strikes, economic pressure or a deal.

Reuters reported in September that Trump had warned Tehran over activity at Pickaxe Mountain, a fortified site near the damaged Natanz enrichment facility with two deeply buried tunnel complexes.

Diplomacy is continuing alongside military planning. Iran is reviewing proposals on its nuclear program through Qatar-led mediation, according to officials cited by The New York Times.

The reported distribution is a precaution. It does not establish that a radioactive release has occurred or that a nuclear attack has been ordered.

What Iodine Tablets Can Protect

Potassium iodide can reduce the thyroid gland’s uptake of radioactive iodine when taken at the appropriate time and dose, according to the World Health Organization.

Iranian officials have previously distinguished enrichment facilities from reactors. In remarks reported on June 23, 2025, Health Ministry official Mohsen Farhadi said sites including Natanz, Fordow and Isfahan were enrichment facilities, not operating fission reactors, and that the public did not need to take potassium iodide. Those remarks concerned the 2025 strikes, not a current assessment.

An Isfahan emergency-services spokesperson, Abbas Abedi, also warned against taking iodine without medical guidance in a civil-preparedness advisory reported on Nov. 3.

Potassium iodide does not protect against other radioactive substances or external radiation. The WHO says tablets should be taken only when public-health authorities explicitly instruct people to do so, not as a general precaution in anticipation of an incident.