Tehran claims it foiled attack on nuclear facility

TEHRAN — Iranian authorities have thwarted what they called a “sabotage attack” targeting a civilian nuclear facility near the country’s capital, state TV reported Wednesday, as details about the incident remained scarce.

The attempted attack against a building belonging to Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization “left no casualties or damages and was unable to disrupt the Iranian nuclear program,” Iranian state television reported, adding that authorities were working to identify the perpetrators.

Iranian media offered no details on the kind of attack, saying only that the move targeted a sprawling nuclear center located in Karaj city, just 25 miles northwest of Tehran.

The International Atomic Energy Agency, the United Nations’ body that monitors Tehran’s atomic program, did not immediately respond to request for comment.

Iranian authorities did not specify which facility in Karaj had been targeted. There are two sites associated with Iran’s nuclear program known to be in the area, including the Karaj Agricultural and Medical Research Center.

Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization describes the Karaj Agricultural and Medical Research Center as a facility founded in 1974 that uses nuclear technology to improve “quality of soil, water, agricultural and livestock production.”

There are 18 nuclear facilities and nine other locations in Iran under IAEA safeguards. The agricultural nuclear research center is not listed as a “safeguard facility” with the IAEA, though a nearby nuclear waste facility around Karaj is.

The foiled sabotage attack follows several suspected incidents targeting Iran’s nuclear program that have heightened regional tensions in recent months, as diplomatic efforts gain traction in Vienna to resurrect Tehran’s tattered atomic deal with world powers.

In April, Iran’s underground Natanz nuclear facility experienced a mysterious blackout that damaged some of its centrifuges. Last July, unexplained fires struck the advanced centrifuge assembly plant at Natanz, which authorities later described as sabotage.

Israel is widely believed to have carried out the sabotage, though it has not claimed it.