Iran blames Israel for attack at plant
Tensions rise over nuclear program
Iran blamed Israel for an attack at its largest uranium enrichment plant, raising geopolitical tensions around Iran’s nuclear program even as diplomats try to revive the international accord that contained it.
“Various sources have confirmed Israel was behind the attack” on the power network at the Natanz facility in central Iran, Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh told a news conference Monday. Some of Iran’s standard IR-1 centrifuges were damaged, but it is too soon to assess how badly, he said, without giving further details of the attack.
“Iran will take revenge upon Israel for the Natanz incident,” Khatibzadeh said. In a letter to the United Nations, Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif called for international condemnation of the attack and for culprits to be held to account, adding that Iran would respond by increasing developments in its nuclear activity.
Power was cut off to the site, but that didn’t disrupt enrichment operations, and the plant is still running on emergency electricity backup, said Ali Akbar Salehi, the head of Iran’s atomic energy agency, according to state-run IRIB news. The main power supply will be restored in coming days, he said.
A senior Iranian lawmaker and prominent nuclear scientist said that he had been briefed on the incident and that it entailed an explosion at an electricity station at Natanz that is 130 to 165 feet underground.
“From a technical standpoint, the enemy’s plan was rather beautiful,” Fereydoon Abbasi Davani, a former head of Iran’s atomic energy organization and now head of Parliament’s energy commission, told state TV, adding that it may have taken five to 10 years to engineer the attack.
One person responsible for the blackout has been identified and is being sought for arrest, semiofficial Nour News reported, citing an official in the Ministry of Intelligence it didn’t identify.
Israel has neither confirmed nor denied responsibility, as is its practice in such cases.
“My policy as prime minister of Israel is clear: I will never allow Iran to obtain the nuclear capability to carry out its genocidal goal of eliminating Israel, and Israel will continue to defend itself against Iran’s aggression and terrorism,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in Jerusalem alongside visiting U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin.
Sunday’s attack occurred during Austin’s visit and just two days after Iran marked its annual national day of nuclear technology.
In a statement Monday, the White House said it was aware of the reports of the incident at Natanz but added that the U.S. had nothing to do with it and wouldn’t speculate about the causes of the attack. Spokeswoman Jen Psaki told reporters in a separate statement that the incident won’t affect the United States’ participation in talks to rejoin the 2015 Iran nuclear deal.
Sanam Vakil, deputy head and senior research fellow at Chatham House’s Middle East and North Africa program, said she doesn’t think the attack was coordinated with the U.S.
“This would have been counter to the U.S. intent to return to compliance with the nuclear deal,” Vakil said. “I suspect Tehran will attempt to extract further concessions or guarantees from Washington.”
The attack underlined the contested status of Iran’s nuclear activities just as diplomacy appeared to be defusing tensions.