DUBAI, UAE – Natanz’s underground nuclear facility in Iran lost electricity on Sunday just hours after launching new advanced centrifuges capable of enriching uranium more quickly, the latest incident to attack the site in the midst of negotiations on the disorderly atomic agreement with the world powers.
While Iranian officials investigated the disruption, many Israeli media offered a similar assessment that a cyberattack darkened Natanz and damaged a facility that houses sensitive centrifuges. While the reports do not provide any supplies for the assessment, the Israeli media maintains a close relationship with the country’s military and intelligence agencies.
If Israel caused the blackout, it further increases tensions between the two nations already involved in a shadowy conflict across the Middle East.
It also complicates the efforts of the United States, Israel’s main security partner, to re-enter the atomic agreement aimed at limiting Tehran’s program, so that it could not pursue a nuclear weapon if it chose to. When news of the blackout came, U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin landed in Israel on Sunday to talk with Netanyahu and Israeli Defense Secretary Benny Gantz.
Natanz’s energy had been cut off at the entire facility, consisting of surface workshops and underground enrichment rooms, Iranian nuclear program spokesman Behrouz Kamalvandi told Iranian state television.
“We still don’t know the reason for this power outage and we need to look into more details,” Kamalvandi said. “Fortunately, there were no casualties or damage and no particular problems or contamination.”
Asked by the state TV correspondent about whether it was a “technical defect or sabotage”, Kamalvandi declined to comment.
Malek Shariati Niasar, a Tehran-based lawmaker acting as a spokesman for the Iranian parliament’s energy committee, wrote on Twitter that the incident was “very suspicious” and raised concerns about possible “sabotage and infiltration.” He said lawmakers were also looking for details of the incident.
The Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency, which oversees Iran’s program, said it was “aware of media reports,” but declined to comment.
Natanz was built largely underground to withstand enemy airstrikes. It became a hotbed for Western fears about Iran’s nuclear program in 2002, when satellite photos showed Iran building its underground centrifuge facility on site, about 200 miles away. kilometers (125 miles) south of the capital, Tehran.
Natanz suffered a mysterious explosion at its advanced centrifuge assembly plant in July which authorities later described as sabotage. Iran is now rebuilding this facility at the bottom of a nearby mountain.
Israel, Iran’s regional archenemy, is suspected of carrying out this attack and launching other assaults, as world powers are now negotiating with Tehran in Vienna over its nuclear deal.
Iran also blamed Israel for the assassination of a scientist who started the country’s military nuclear program decades earlier. The Stuxnet computer virus, discovered in 2010 and widely believed to be a joint creation between the US and Israel, disrupted and destroyed Iranian centrifuges in Natanz.
“I find it hard to believe it’s a coincidence,” Yoel Guzansky, a senior member of the Tel Aviv Institute for National Security Studies, said on Sunday’s shutdown. “If it’s not a coincidence, and that’s great if someone tries to send a message that ‘we can limit Iran’s advance and we have red lines.'”
Israel has not claimed any of the attacks, although Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly described Iran as the main threat his country has suffered in recent weeks.
Meeting with Austin on Sunday, Gantz said Israel viewed America as an ally against all threats, including Iran.
“Today’s Tehran 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 secures the vital interests of the world, the United States, prevents a dangerous arms race in our region, and protects the state of Israel.” .
The chief of staff of the Israeli army, Lieutenant General Aviv Kochavi, also appeared to be referring to Iran.
“Israeli army operations in the Middle East are not hidden from the eyes of the enemy,” Kochavi said. “They’re watching us, watching (our) skills and weighing their steps carefully.”
Several Israeli media reported on Sunday that a cyberattack caused the shutdown in Natanz. Public broadcaster Kan said Israel was probably behind the attack, citing Israel’s alleged responsibility for the Stuxnet attacks a decade ago. Channel 12 TV quoted “experts” as estimating that the attack closed entire sections of the facility. None of the reports included sources or explanations on how the outlets came to this assessment.
Meanwhile, in Tehran, Iranian officials were awaiting the arrival of South Korean Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun, the first visit by a Seoul prime minister since before the 1979 Islamic Revolution. a South Korean oil tanker held since January amid a dispute with Seoul over billions of dollars of its assets frozen there.
On Saturday, Iran announced that it had launched a chain of 164 IR-6 centrifuges at the plant. Officials also began testing the IR-9 centrifuge, which they say will enrich uranium 50 times faster than Iran’s first-generation centrifuges, the IR-1. The nuclear deal limited Iran to using only IR-1 for enrichment.
Since President Donald Trump’s withdrawal from the Iranian nuclear deal in 2018, Tehran has abandoned all limits on its uranium reserve. It now enriches up to 20% purity, a technical step away from 90% weapon grade levels. Iran maintains that its atomic program has peaceful purposes.
On Tuesday, an Iranian cargo ship that was said to serve as a floating base for Iranian Revolutionary Guard paramilitary forces off the coast of Yemen was hit by an explosion, probably from a carpet mine. Iran has blamed Israel for the blast. This attack increased a long war of shadows on the Mideast waterways targeting shipping in the region.
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Ben Zion reported from Jerusalem. Associated Press writers Nasser Karimi, in Tehran, Iran, and Josef Federman, in Jerusalem, contributed to this report.