Iran distributes iodine tablets around nuclear sites – survival guidelines for a nuclear blast

Iranian authorities are distributing iodine tablets to residents living within a radius of two to three kilometres around sensitive nuclear facilities. The information was confirmed by an official of Iran’s Health Ministry in a report by The Times of London on the country’s preparations for a possible US strike on Pickaxe Mountain, the underground facility near Natanz.

Stable iodine tablets saturate the thyroid gland so that it does not absorb radioactive iodine in the event of a leak or a radioactive cloud. They do not, however, protect against other radioactive materials or against the radiation of an explosion, as Abbas Abedi, spokesman for pre-hospital emergency services in Isfahan, warned, asking that they not be taken without medical advice. The distribution around nuclear facilities suggests that Tehran is preparing for new strikes on its nuclear installations.

Instructions in case of a nuclear blast

On October 29, Iran’s state agency IRNA published instructions on what citizens should do in the event of a nuclear blast, together with an eight-minute training video. The video was prepared by the emergency services of Isfahan province, where Natanz is located. The instructions ask residents to take shelter in basements or in rooms at the centre of a building, away from windows, to close doors and windows, to switch off air conditioners that draw air from outside and to stay inside for at least 24 hours.

“A basement or a room in the central part of a building, away from windows, may be a suitable shelter, if access is safe,” Ebrahim Adelzadeh, deputy director of education and research of the Red Crescent in Isfahan, told IRNA. Anyone caught outside should not look at the flash, should drop to the ground behind an obstacle and, once the blast wave has passed, enter the nearest sturdy building. Cars are not considered shelter.

The instructions were given as part of Passive Defence Week, which Iran has organised for more than ten years. A nuclear-blast survival guide, however, does not appear to have been published before. In June 2025, when Israel and the US bombed Iran’s nuclear facilities, the authorities reassured the population that radiation had not spread outside the targets.

Pickaxe Mountain at the centre

At the centre is Pickaxe Mountain, a deep underground facility near Natanz whose exact use is not known. On October 16 Donald Trump said Washington may target it, explicitly ruling out the use of nuclear weapons. The American president, who said on November 2 that “at some point we will have to hit them hard”, is weighing whether to resume strikes on Iran and has said the decision will come “soon”.