DUBAI, UAE – Iran on Monday blamed Israel for a sabotage attack on its Natanz underground nuclear facility that damaged the centrifuges it uses to enrich uranium, warning it would retaliate. ‘assault.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh’s comments represent the first official indictment filed against Israel for Sunday’s assault that cut off power to the entire facility.
Israel has not directly claimed responsibility for the attack. However, suspicion immediately fell on her, as Israeli media widely reported that a devastating Israeli-orchestrated cyberattack caused the shutdown.
If Israel were responsible, it would further increase tensions between the two nations, which were already engaged in a conflict in the shadow of the entire Middle East. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who met with U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin on Sunday, has vowed to do everything in his power to stop efforts to revive a nuclear deal between Iran and the United States. world powers.
At a news conference at the Israeli air base in Nevatim on Monday, where he saw Israeli anti-aircraft and anti-missile defense systems and their F-35 fighter jets, U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin refused. to say whether the Natanz incident will prevent the administration’s efforts from -including itself with Iran in its nuclear program.
“These efforts will continue.” Austin said.
Details were sparse about what happened Sunday at the first facility. The event was initially described as a blackout caused by the power grid that fed its workshops and underground enrichment rooms.
“Natanz’s response is to take revenge on Israel,” Khatibzadeh said. “Israel will receive its answer in its own way.” He did not elaborate.
Khatibzadeh acknowledged that the IR-1 centrifuges, Iran’s first-generation uranium enrichment workhorse, had been damaged during the attack, but did not deepen. State television has not yet shown images of the installation.
A former head of the Iranian paramilitary revolutionary guard said the attack had also caused a fire at the site and called for security improvements. In a tweet, General Mohsen Rezaei said a second fire in Natanz in a year indicated “the severity of the infiltration phenomenon.”
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif warned separately that Natanz would be rebuilt with more advanced machines, which could jeopardize ongoing talks in Vienna with world powers on saving the worn-out atomic deal of Tehran.
“Zionists wanted revenge on the Iranian people for their success on the path to lifting sanctions,” Zairf, the state-run IRNA news agency, said. “But we do not allow it and we will take revenge for this action against the Zionists.”
The IAEA, the United Nations agency that monitors Tehran’s nuclear program, said earlier that it was aware of media reports of the Natanz shutdown and had spoken to Iranian officials. The agency elaborated nothing.
Natanz has been sabotaged in the past. The Stuxnet computer virus, discovered in 2010 and widely believed to be a joint creation between the US and Israelis, disrupted and destroyed Iranian centrifuges in Natanz during a previous period of Western fears about the Tehran program.
In July, Natanz suffered a mysterious explosion at its advanced centrifuge assembly plant that authorities later described as sabotage. Iran is now rebuilding this facility at the bottom of a nearby mountain. Iran also blamed Israel for the assassination of a scientist in November who began the country’s military program decades earlier.
Several Israeli media reported on Sunday that an Israeli cyberattack caused the shutdown in Natanz. Public broadcaster Kan said the Mossad was behind the attack. Channel 12 TV quoted “experts” as estimating that the attack closed entire sections of the facility.
While the reports offer no supply for their information, the Israeli media maintains a close relationship with the country’s military and intelligence agencies.
“I find it hard to believe it’s a coincidence,” said Yoel Guzansky, a senior member of the Tel Aviv Institute for National Security Studies. “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.'”
It also sends a message that Iran’s most sensitive nuclear site is penetrable, he added.
Netanyahu is toasting for his security chiefs on Sunday afternoon, with Mossad chief Yossi Cohen by his side on the eve of his country’s Independence Day.
“It is very difficult to explain what we have achieved,” Netanyahu said of Israel’s history, saying the country had been transformed from a position of weakness into a “world power.”
Typically, Israel does not discuss operations conducted by its Mossad intelligence agency or specialized military units. In recent weeks, Netanyahu has repeatedly described Iran as the main threat to his country, as he struggles to maintain power after multiple elections and facing charges of corruption.
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Associated Press writer Nasser Karimi in Tehran, Iran, contributed to this report.