Iran vows revenge for ‘Israeli’ attack on Natanz nuclear site

Daily US Times: The Iranian foreign minister has said his country will “take revenge” for an attack on its Natanz uranium enrichment plant, for which it has blamed Israel.

Iranian officials said the underground nuclear site was the target of “nuclear terrorism” on Sunday after initially reporting a power failure.

New advanced centrifuges to enrich uranium had just been activated there.

Israel has not officially acknowledged it, but public radio cited intelligence sources as saying it was an Israeli intelligence service Mossad cyber operation.

According to Israeli media, the cyberattack it had caused more extensive damage than Iran had reported.

New York Times reported, citing US intelligence officials, that a large explosion had completely destroyed the independent internal power system that supplied the centrifuges inside the underground facility. The US officials estimated it could take at least nine months to resume enrichment there.

Iran’s Nour News agency meanwhile cited a source at the intelligence ministry as saying the “main perpetrator” behind the disruption to the electricity system had been identified and that “necessary measures are being taken to arrest this person”. Iran has no offered more details about the ‘revenge’.

Israel has recently stepped up its warnings about Iran’s nuclear programme amid efforts to revive a 2015 nuclear deal that was abandoned by Donald Trump, the former US President.

Joe Biden, Trump’s successor, has said he wants to return to the landmark accord.

But Iran and the five other world powers still party to it – Germany, Russia, China, France and the UK – need to find a way for him to lift US sanctions and for Iran to return to the agreed limits on its nuclear programme.

You may read: Israel appears to confirm behind the cyberattack on Natanz nuclear facility