What happened
An unnamed medical official from Iran's Ministry of Health told the Times of London that iodine tablets are being distributed to communities within a two-to-three-kilometer radius of nuclear facilities in Isfahan Province. The official said distribution occurs during every war.
Iranian state-linked media reported that anti-radiation pills were also being handed out and stockpiled at hospitals in Bushehr, home to Iran's only operational nuclear power plant. The Young Journalists Club said 180,000 tablets were distributed before fighting between the U.S., Israel and Iran began in June 2025, starting around the power plant and later expanding citywide.
Reports last week indicated President Donald Trump was considering the use of nuclear weapons against Iran's Natanz enrichment complex and the nearby Pickaxe Mountain underground site. Trump said Sunday on CBS's 60 Minutes that he had no immediate plans to intensify the fighting in Iran.
Iodine tablets are intended to protect the thyroid gland by filling it with safe, non-radioactive iodine, reducing absorption of radioactive iodine that could be released if nuclear sites are struck or damaged. The tablets can lower the risk of thyroid cancer, particularly in children.
Iran has denied that the fallout pills were being handed out, despite the state-linked media reports. The distribution follows similar stockpiling efforts in Ukraine and Poland in 2022 amid fighting near the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant.
