Iran calls cyberattack on atomic site ‘nuclear terrorism’
Comments made after the Natanz facility loses power suggest a serious disruption.
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Iran on Sunday described a blackout at its underground Natanz atomic facility as an act of “nuclear terrorism,” raising regional tensions as world powers and Tehran continue to negotiate over its tattered nuclear deal.
Although there was no immediate claim of responsibility, suspicion fell immediately on Israel, where its media nearly uniformly reported that a devastating cyberattack orchestrated by the country caused the blackout. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu later Sunday night toasted his security chiefs, with the head of the Mossad, Yossi Cohen, at his side on the eve of his country’s Independence Day.
“It is very difficult to explain what we have accomplished,” Netanyahu said of Israel’s history, saying the country had been transformed from a position of weakness into a “world power.”
If Israel caused the blackout, it further heightens tensions between the two nations, already engaged in a shadow conflict across the wider Middle East. Netanyahu, who also met Sunday with U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III, has vowed to do everything in his power to stop the nuclear deal.
Details remained scarce about what happened early Sunday at the facility, which initially was described as a blackout caused by the electrical grid feeding its workshops and underground enrichment halls.
Ali Akbar Salehi, the American-educated head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, who once served as the country’s foreign minister, offered what appeared to be the harshest comments of his long career, which included the assassination of nuclear scientists a decade ago. Iran blames Israel for those killings as well.
He pledged to “seriously improve” his nation’s nuclear technology while working to lift international sanctions.
Salehi’s comments to state TV did not explain what happened at the facility, but his words suggested a serious disruption.
“While condemning this desperate move, the Islamic Republic of Iran emphasizes the need for a confrontation by the international bodies and the [International Atomic Energy Agency] against this nuclear terrorism,” Salehi said.
The IAEA, the United Nations body that monitors Tehran’s atomic program, earlier said it was aware of media reports about the incident at Natanz and had spoken with Iranian officials about it. The agency did not elaborate.
However, Natanz has been targeted by sabotage in the past. The Stuxnet computer virus, discovered in 2010 and widely believed to be a joint U.S.-Israeli creation, once disrupted and destroyed Iranian centrifuges at Natanz amid an earlier period of Western fears about Tehran’s program.
Natanz experienced a mysterious explosion at its advanced centrifuge assembly plant in July that authorities later described as sabotage. Iran is rebuilding that facility deep inside a nearby mountain. Iran also blamed Israel for the November killing of a scientist who began the country’s military nuclear program decades earlier.
Multiple Israeli news outlets reported Sunday that an Israeli cyberattack caused the blackout in Natanz. Public broadcaster Kan said the Mossad was behind the attack. Channel 12 TV cited “experts” as estimating the attack shut down entire sections of the facility.
Although the reports offered no sourcing for their information, Israeli media maintain a close relationship with the country’s military and intelligence agencies.
“It’s hard for me to believe it’s a coincidence,” Yoel Guzansky, a senior fellow at Tel Aviv’s Institute for National Security Studies, said of Sunday’s blackout. “If it’s not a coincidence, and that’s a big if, someone is trying to send a message that ‘we can limit Iran’s advance and we have red lines.’ ”
It also sends a message that Iran’s most sensitive nuclear site is “penetrable,” he added.
Israel typically doesn’t discuss operations carried out by its Mossad intelligence agency or specialized military units.
In recent weeks, Netanyahu repeatedly has described Iran as the major threat to his country as he struggles to hold on to power after multiple elections and while facing corruption charges.
Speaking at the event Sunday night, Netanyahu urged his security chiefs to “continue in this direction, and to continue to keep the sword of David in your hands,” using an expression referring to Jewish strength.
Meeting with Austin on Sunday, Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz said Israel viewed America as an ally against all threats, including Iran.
“The Tehran of today poses a strategic threat to international security, to the entire Middle East and to the state of Israel,” Gantz said. “And we will work closely with our American allies to ensure that any new agreement with Iran will secure the vital interests of the world, of the United States, prevent a dangerous arms race in our region, and protect the state of Israel.”
The Israeli army’s chief of staff, Lt. Gen. Aviv Kochavi, also seemed to reference Iran. The Israeli military’s “operations in the Middle East are not hidden from the eyes of the enemy,” he said. “They are watching us, seeing [our] abilities and weighing their steps with caution.”
Since then-President Trump’s withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal in 2018, Tehran has abandoned all the limits on its uranium stockpile. It now enriches up to 20% purity, a technical step away from weaponsgrade levels of 90%. Iran says its atomic program is for peaceful purposes.
On Tuesday, an Iranian ship said to serve as a floating base for Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard forces off Yemen was struck by an explosion. Iran has blamed Israel for the blast.