Iran’s foreign minister on Monday blamed Israel for a power failure that reportedly caused massive damage to the Natanz nuclear facility, vowing to “take revenge on the Zionists” and to replace damaged centrifuges at the site with even better ones.
Meanwhile, according to Reuters, Tehran claimed it had identified the individual behind the attack and would arrest him. The report was based on the comments of an unnamed intelligence official who spoke to the Nournews website.
And Ali Akbar Salehi, the head of Iran’s nuclear program, said officials had launched an effort to provide emergency power to the nuclear facility. He said the sabotage had not stopped enrichment there, without elaborating.
The apparent sabotage at the site was reported by the New York Times to have been caused by a massive blast at the centrifuges’ power supply. Israeli and US media quoted unnamed intelligence sources as saying it was believed to have caused significant damage to the centrifuges and set back Iran’s uranium enrichment ability by at least nine months.
Mohammad Javad Zarif’s latest statements blaming Israel were made during meetings with the Iranian parliament’s National Security Committee Monday, according to Iranian media.
“The Zionists want to take revenge on the Iranian people for their success in lifting the oppressive sanctions,” Zarif was reported to say, “but we will not allow it and take revenge on the Zionists themselves.”
Zarif said Israel had sought to block the removal of international sanctions against Iran, but that “the Zionists will get their answer in further nuclear progress.”
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