Iranian officials on Sunday confirmed an “incident” at Natanz, an underground facility where uranium enrichment takes place. “Fortunately, the incident caused no human injuries or leaks,” said Behrouz Kamalvand, a spokesman for the Iranian Atomic Energy Organization (AEOI). “The causes of the accident are being investigated and further information will be announced later.”
AEOI condemned the incident, calling it a “terrorist act,” said Iran’s Revolution Guard Corps telegram channel, or IRGC, an arm of the Iranian armed forces.
Just hours after Iranian officials reported the incident, Israeli army chief Aviv Kochavi said the “operations across the Middle East are not hidden from the eyes of the enemies.”
“They are looking at us, seeing the possibilities and carefully considering their steps,” he said at a memorial gathering in Jerusalem on Sunday to mark the fallen soldiers.
Reports in various Israeli media outlets on Sunday quoted intelligence officials as saying Israel’s national intelligence agency, Mossad, was responsible for the incident. While few details of the unnamed officials are offered, some outlets described them as “Western intelligence sources,” although it is not immediately clear whether “Western” implies the possibility that the sources are from Israel or not.
The Israeli Prime Minister’s office did not comment on the reports, but Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed Iran on Sunday during a toast to mark the anniversary of the founding of the State of Israel.
“The fight against Iran and its allies and the Iranian armaments effort is a huge mission,” he said, alongside Israeli Armed Forces Chief Kochavi and his commanders-in-chief, as well as Defense Minister Benny Gantz. “The situation that exists today will not necessarily be the situation that will be tomorrow.”
Netanyahu will meet with US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin on Monday, who is visiting the country. It is the highest visit to Israel by a member of the Biden administration and comes days after talks in Vienna to restart negotiations on a possible new nuclear deal between Iran and a US-led group of world powers.
US officials were also in Vienna, meeting representatives of world powers that are still parties to the deal. They have not met directly with Iranian officials.
Former US President Donald Trump began imposing new sanctions on Iran when he pulled the United States from the deal. Iranian officials have insisted that the US must lift all Trump-era sanctions and return to the nuclear deal before it complies with the agreement again.
Israel’s leader this week reiterated its strong opposition to the prospect of a re-established Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) agreement, saying Israel “would not be bound by any agreement paving the way for Iran to develop nuclear weapons. . “
Iran condemns ‘terrorist action’
Leaders in Iran condemned the incident.
Akbar Salehi, head of the Iranian Atomic Energy Organization, said, “Iran reserves the right to respond against the perpetrators and those who committed the terrorist action,” IRGC reported.
Today’s attack shows that the enemies of Iran’s advancements and advancements in nuclear science, as well as the nuclear negotiations, are desperate to engage in terrorist acts against nuclear technology in Natanz. [nuclear facility]
In reports from the Iranian news agency, other Iranian officials suggested the facility may have been attacked, speculating that the plant may have been targeted while the country discusses a revival of the Iran nuclear deal with its Western signatories.
Malek Shariati Niaser, a member of Iran’s parliament, said: “The power outage in Natanz on the anniversary of National Nuclear Day is suspicious and could be due to sabotage as Iran tries to convince Western countries to lift the sanctions. lift “. reported the official news website Entekhab.ir.
A spokesman for the International Atomic Energy Agency told CNN by email on Sunday that the agency was aware of the media reports.
“We have no comment at this stage,” he said.
During the 15th anniversary of Iran’s National Nuclear Technology Day Saturday, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani announced new uranium enrichment centrifuges at the plant, stating that while Iran’s nuclear activities are for “ peaceful and civilian purposes, ” the nuclear capabilities of the country was also stronger than ever before.
“A chain of 164 IR-6 centrifuges was launched today,” Rouhani said Saturday, according to Press TV. “It can supply us ten times more products than the previous chain.”
The Natanz nuclear power plant lost a building when a fire broke out last July. The Iranian government said at the time that it was an attack on its nuclear program. It was also the target of the 2010 Stuxnet cyber attack, which security experts say was carried out by Israel and the US.
CNN’s Andrew Carey and Amir Tal reported from Jerusalem, Ramin Mostaghim reported from Tehran, Sarah Dean reported from London.