Iran denies report claiming iodine tablets were distributed near nuclear sites

• Head of the ministry’s Public Relations and Information Centre, stated that no ministry official spoke to the publication and termed the attributed quotes false
• Kermanpour maintained that while Iran's healthcare network prepares for contingencies and external threats

Iran’s Ministry of Health on Friday rejected claims published by The Times of London that Iranian authorities have begun handing out anti-radiation iodine tablets to residents near domestic nuclear sites amid fears of potential military strikes.

هیچ مقام وزارت بهداشت با تایمز مصاحبه نکرده و نقل‌قول منتسب به این وزارتخانه کذب است. نظام سلامت برای سناریوهای مختلف و تهدیدهای دشمنی که به کودکان نیز رحم نمی‌کند آماده است.البته اعلام وضعیت جنگی در صلاحیت وزارت بهداشت نیست و انتشار اخبار تأییدنشده در این شرایط غیرمسئولانه است.

— حسین کرمانپور Hossein.Kermanpour (@HKermanpour) November 6, 2026

The report by The Times had cited an unnamed Iranian health official who alleged that tablets were being supplied within a two-to-three-kilometer radius of sensitive nuclear facilities, claiming such measures were standard procedure during past periods of heightened threat.

Hossein Kermanpour, the head of the Public Relations and Information Centre at the Ministry of Health refuted the report.

"No Ministry of Health official has spoken to The Times, and the quote attributed to the ministry is false," Kermanpour stated. "The health system is prepared for various scenarios and threats from an enemy that does not even spare children".

Kermanpour added that authority over civil defense alerts and wartime declarations rests elsewhere within the state apparatus, writing: "Declaring a state of war is not within the Ministry of Health’s authority, and publishing unverified reports under these circumstances is irresponsible".

Iodine tablets, specifically potassium iodide (KI), are emergency medical treatments that protect the thyroid gland from radiation exposure, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the World Health Organization (WHO).

Because the thyroid absorbs any iodine it encounters, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) explains that taking KI floods the gland with safe, non-radioactive iodine, blocking it from taking in harmful radioactive iodine-131 and significantly lowering the risk of thyroid cancer.

Medical guidelines from both the CDC and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) emphasize that KI does not protect against external radiation or other radioactive elements like cesium or strontium, and health authorities advise taking it solely under direct instructions from emergency officials.