TEHRAN, Iran
The uranium enrichment plant of Natanz suffered a blackout on Sunday as a result of an act of “antinuclear terrorism“, Indicated the Iranian Atomic Energy Organization.
“The Islamic Republic of Iran, while condemning this futile action, stresses the need for the international community and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to address this anti-nuclear terrorism,” the chief said. of the Iranian entity, Ali Akbar Salehi, in a statement broadcast by state television.
The incident, which was initially reported by the official Fars news agency, citing Iranian Atomic Energy Organization spokesman Behrouz Kamalvandi, came a day after the Chahid-Ahmadi complex. Rochan de Natanz launched new sets of centrifuges, despite these being banned by the 2015 agreement on Iran’s nuclear program.
The plant is one of the main centers of the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program.
Earlier, Kamalvandi had explained that there had been “an accident in a part of the electricity network of the Chahid-Ahmadi-Rochan enrichment facility” and that it was a “shutdown” of unknown cause, in a telephone interview with state television.
“Fortunately, there were no deaths or injuries or contamination. There were no particular problems, the accident is being investigated, “the spokesman said on television.
“This incident, occurred [al día siguiente] of National Nuclear Technology Day and with Iran striving to force Westerners to lift sanctions, is highly suspicious of [obedecer a un acto de] sabotage or infiltration, “MP Malek Chariati, a spokesman for the parliamentary energy committee, denounced on Twitter.
– “Israeli Cyber Operation” –
“The failure of the Natanz electrical circuit is considered [es] the result of an Israeli cyber operation, “tweeted an Israeli public broadcaster journalist, Amichai Stein, but did not provide data to support the claim.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who sees Iran as a threat to his country, accuses Tehran of secretly trying to equip itself with atomic weapons.
“The fight against Iran and its Iranian support and arms efforts is a huge mission,” he said on Sunday.
In early July, a centrifuge assembly plant in Natanz was severely damaged by a mysterious explosion. Authorities concluded that this was the result of “sabotage” of “terrorist” origin, but have not yet disclosed the results of the investigation.
At the time, the official Irna news agency warned Israel and the United States that they should avoid any hostile action.
On Saturday, Iranian President Hassan Rohani remotely inaugurated Natanz’s new centrifuge assembly plant, at the same time ordering that three new centrifuge assemblies be put into operation or tested.
These will allow Iran enrich uranium more quickly and in larger quantities, In volumes and with a level of refinement prohibited by the agreement closed in 2015 in Vienna between the Islamic Republic and the international community.
The United States denounced this pact unilaterally in 2018, under the presidency of Donald Trump, and reinstated the sanctions that had been lifted since the document was signed.
In retaliation, Tehran began defaulting on its commitments as of May 2019, and the pace has accelerated in recent months.
At present, Iran and the other signatory states to the 2015 agreement (Germany, China, France, the United Kingdom and Russia) are negotiating in Vienna on how to reintegrate the United States into the pact and make the ‘Iran fully respects its commitments again.
Tehran has always denied wanting to equip itself with the atomic bomb – something Israel accuses it of – and on Saturday Rohani reiterated that his country’s nuclear activities are “peaceful”.