TEHRAN, Iran (AP) – Iran on Saturday named a suspect in the attack on its nuclear facility in Natanz that damaged centrifuges there and said he had fled the country before the sabotage took place.
While the extent of the damage from the April 11 sabotage remains unclear, it emerges as Iran tries to negotiate with world powers to allow the US to rejoin the ragged nuclear deal with world powers and the economic sanctions on to lift.
Iran has already started enriching uranium to 60% purity in response – three times higher than ever before, albeit in small quantities. The sabotage and Iran’s response to it have also further fueled tensions in the Middle East, where a shadow war between Tehran and Israel, the prime suspect in the sabotage, is still raging.
State television called the suspect 43-year-old Reza Karimi. It showed a passport-like photo of a man he identified as Karimi and said he was born in the nearby city of Kashan, Iran.
The report did not elaborate on how Karimi would have gained access to one of the most secure facilities in the Islamic Republic.
The report also aired what appeared to be a “red notice” from Interpol asking for his arrest. The arrest notice was not immediately accessible in Interpol’s public database. Interpol, based in Lyon, France, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The TV report said “necessary actions” are being taken to bring Karimi back to Iran through legal channels, without elaborating further. Interpol’s alleged “red notice” mentioned its travel history including Spain, the United Arab Emirates, Kenya, Ethiopia, Qatar, Turkey, Uganda, Romania and another country illegible in the broadcast.
The report also showed centrifuges in a hall, as well as what appeared to be a warning tape at the Natanz facility.
In Vienna, negotiations on the deal continued on Saturday. The 2015 accord, from which former President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew the US in 2018, prevented Iran from building enough highly enriched uranium to use a nuclear weapon if it chose to lift economic sanctions.
Iran maintains that its nuclear program is peaceful, although the West and the IAEA say Tehran had an organized military nuclear program until the end of 2003. An annual US intelligence report released Tuesday upheld the lengthy US assessment that Iran is not currently trying to build an atomic bomb.
Iran had previously said it could use up to 60% enriched uranium for nuclear-powered ships. However, the Islamic Republic does not currently have such ships in its navy.
The attack on Natanz was initially described only as a power grid blackout, but later Iranian officials began calling it an attack.
An Iranian official referred in a state television interview to “several thousand centrifuges damaged and destroyed”. However, no other official has offered that figure, and no images of the aftermath have been released.
Jon Gambrell, Associated Press writer in Dubai, UAE, contributed to this report.