Iran vows revenge over sabotage
DUBAI: Iran blames regional archfoe Israel for a sabotage incident at its key Natanz nuclear site and will exact revenge, state TV quoted its foreign minister as saying, in what appeared to be latest episode in a longrunning covert war.
Iran’s semiofficial Nournews website said the person who caused an electricity outage in one of the production halls at the underground uranium enrichment plant had been identified.
‘‘Necessary measures are being taken to arrest this person,’’ the website reported, without giving more details.
The incident occurred amid diplomatic efforts by Iran and the United States to revive Teheran’s 2015 nuclear deal with major powers, an accord Israel fiercely opposed, after former US president Donald Trump abandoned it three years ago.
Last week, Iran and the global powers held what they described as ‘‘constructive’’ talks to salvage the deal, which has unravelled as Iran has breached its limits on sensitive uranium enrichment since Trump reimposed harsh sanctions on Teheran.
Iranian authorities described the incident a day earlier as an act of ‘‘nuclear terrorism’’ and said the Government reserved the right to take action against the perpetrators.
Yesterday, Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif explicitly blamed Israel.
‘‘The Zionists want to take revenge because of our progress in the way to lift sanctions . . .
‘‘They have publicly said that they will not allow this. But we will take our revenge against the
Zionists,’’ Zarif was quoted by state TV as saying.
Multiple Israeli media outlets have quoted unnamed intelligence sources as saying the country’s Mossad spy service carried out a successful sabotage operation at the underground Natanz complex, potentially setting back enrichment work there by months.
Israel has not formally commented.
The incident took place a day after Iran, which has insisted it wants only peaceful nuclear energy, started new advanced enrichment centrifuges at Natanz.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh told a news conference yesterday the incident could be deemed an ‘‘act against humanity’’, adding it had caused ‘‘no contamination or casualties’’ at the site.
‘‘Our nuclear experts are assessing the damage, but I can assure you that Iran will replace damaged uranium enrichment centrifuges in Natanz with advanced ones,’’ he said.
The incident also coincided with a visit to Israel by US Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin, who pledged the Biden Administration’s support for its Middle East ally.
A senior US administration official said Washington had no involvement in the incident.
There have been sporadic incidents of sabotage at Iranian nuclear sites for more than a decade, for which its government has blamed Israel, which regards the Iranian nuclear programme as a menace to its existence. — Reuters