Israel is behind the fire at the centrifuge production facility for uranium enrichment in Natanz, Iran. This is the assertion made by a source in The New York Times in an electronic version of the paper published Sunday, June 5.
“A Middle Eastern intelligence official with knowledge of what happened said Israel was responsible for the attack on the Natanz nuclear facility, a powerful explosive device was used,” the paper said.
The newspaper does not say which intelligence service is being referred to.
A member of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC, an elite force in the Iranian military) has allegedly confirmed to the press that an explosive device went off at the Natanz site on July 2.
However, the newspaper explains that it is unable to verify the information about Israel’s involvement in the incident. It is also not known how the device arrived at the site. Israeli officials on Sunday did not give a clear answer to the question of whether the country had organized the sabotage in Iran, the article notes.
It is specified that the incident occurred last week.
Earlier, spokesman for the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran Behrouz Kamalvandi said there had been no casualties as a result of the incident, but there had been considerable material damage.
The United States Special Envoy for Iran, Brian Hook, said in an interview with Channel 13 on July 1 that the US authorities were considering the possibility of using military force against Iran if it would be necessary to prevent the country from getting nuclear weapons.
On May 27, U.S. State Department chief Mike Pompeo said U.S. authorities gave Iran two months to complete its nuclear program projects, after which they would be subject to sanctions.
In 2015, Iran, the U.S., Russia, China, Britain, France, and Germany signed a Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). The document implies the lifting of sanctions against Tehran in exchange for an end to nuclear development.
In 2018, the U.S. side withdrew from the treaty, reinstated some sanctions against Iran, and imposed new ones. A year later, President of the Islamic Republic Hassan Rouhani announced that Tehran was suspending some of its obligations under the nuclear deal.
