A general view of the Bushehr nuclear power plant, 1,200 kilometers (746 miles) south of Tehran, Aug. 21, 2010. Photo: Reuters / Raheb Homavandi.

JNS.org – Iran’s only civilian nuclear power plant unexpectedly shut down on Saturday for “three or four days,” an official from the state electric company, Tavanir, said on Sunday.

Gholamali Rakhshanimehr told regime-controlled State TV that the emergency shutdown at the Bushehr nuclear facility could cause power outages in the country, multiple media outlets reported.

No mention was made by authorities in Tehran regarding the cause of the shutdown.

This is the first time that Tehran has announced an emergency shutdown at the facility, AP reported, adding that the International Atomic Energy Agency “acknowledged being aware of reports about the plant, but declined to comment.”

The incident virtually coincided with the final meeting of the sixth round of talks between senior diplomats from Iran, China, Germany, France, Russia and Britain about a return to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, the 2015 nuclear deal from which the administration of former US President Trump withdrew in 2018.

The meeting on Sunday took place at a hotel in Vienna two days after the June 18 election of hardliner Ebrahim Raisi as the next president of Iran.