DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) – Iran on Monday blamed Israel for a sabotage attack on its underground nuclear facility in Natanz, which damaged the centrifuges it uses to enrich uranium there and warned it would avenge the attack.
The comments of State Department spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh represent the first official charge against Israel for Sunday’s attack that cut off power over the facility.
Israel has not directly claimed responsibility for the attack. However, suspicion was immediately raised as Israeli media reported widely that a devastating cyber attack orchestrated by Israel caused the power outage.
If Israel were responsible, it would further heighten tensions between the two nations, which are already embroiled in a shadow conflict in the wider Middle East. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who met with US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin on Sunday, has vowed to do everything possible to stop efforts to revive a nuclear deal between Iran and world powers.
At a press conference at Israel’s Nevatim Air Force Base Monday, where he reviewed Israeli air and missile defense systems and his F-35 fighters, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin declined to say whether the Natanz incident is likely to hinder the Biden administration’s efforts – Cooperate with Iran on its nuclear program.
“Those efforts will continue.” Austin said.
Details of what happened at the facility early on Sunday have remained scarce. The event was initially described as a blackout caused by the power grid that powers the above ground workshops and underground enrichment halls.
“The answer for Natanz is to get revenge on Israel,” Khatibzadeh said. “Israel will receive its answer through its own path.” He didn’t go any further.
Khatibzadeh acknowledged that IR-1 centrifuges, the first-generation workhorse of Iran’s uranium enrichment, had been damaged in the attack, but took no further action. State television has not yet shown images of the facility.
A former head of Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard said the attack had also started a fire at the site and called for security improvements. In a tweet, General Mohsen Rezaei said that a second fire in Natanz in a year was a sign of “the seriousness of the infiltration phenomenon”.
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif separately warned that Natanz would be reconstructed with more sophisticated machinery, something that could jeopardize ongoing talks in Vienna with world powers about saving Tehran’s torn nuclear accord.
“The Zionists wanted to take revenge on the Iranian people for their success on the path of lifting sanctions,” Iranian state news agency IRNA Zairf quoted. “But we will not allow (it) and we will retaliate for this action against the Zionists.”
The IAEA, the United Nations body overseeing Tehran’s nuclear program, previously said it was aware of media reports of the Natanz power outage and had discussed it with Iranian officials. The agency did not proceed.
Natanz has been the target of sabotage in the past. The Stuxnet computer virus, discovered in 2010 and widely believed to be a joint American-Israeli creation, once disrupted and destroyed Iranian centrifuges in Natanz during an earlier period of Western fears about Tehran’s program.
In July, Natanz suffered a mysterious explosion at its advanced centrifuge assembly plant that authorities later described as sabotage. Iran is now rebuilding that facility deep in a nearby mountain. Iran also blamed Israel for the November assassination of a scientist who started the country’s military nuclear program decades earlier.
Multiple Israeli media reported on Sunday that an Israeli cyber attack caused the power outage in Natanz. Kan public broadcaster said the Mossad was behind the attack. Channel 12 TV quoted “experts” as estimating the attack had knocked out entire parts of the facility.
While the reports provided no sources for their information, the Israeli media maintains a close relationship with the country’s military and intelligence services.
“It’s hard for me to believe it’s a coincidence,” said Yoel Guzansky, a senior fellow at the Tel Aviv Institute for National Security Studies, of the power outage. “If it’s not a coincidence, and that’s a big one, someone is trying to send a message that ‘we can limit Iran’s advance and we have red lines.’ ”
It also issues a message that Iran’s most sensitive nuclear site is permeable, he added.
Netanyahu toasted his security chiefs late Sunday, 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 weak position into a “world power.”
Israel does not typically discuss operations conducted by Mossad intelligence or specialized military units. In recent weeks, Netanyahu has repeatedly described Iran as the greatest threat to his country as he struggles to hold on to power after multiple elections and faces corruption allegations.
Associated Press writer Nasser Karimi in Tehran, Iran, contributed to this report.