Iran blames Israel for attack on nuclear site, vows revenge

TEHERAN • Iran has blamed Israel for an attack that it said damaged centrifuges at its largest uranium enrichment plant, raising geopolitical tensions around Teheran's nuclear programme as diplomats try to revive the international deal that contained it.

"Various sources have confirmed Israel was behind the attack" on Sunday at the underground facility in Natanz, Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said at a press conference yesterday, without giving details.

The Natanz site, much of which is underground, is one of several Iranian nuclear facilities monitored by inspectors of the International Atomic Energy Agency, the UN nuclear watchdog.

IR-1 centrifuges were damaged but it is too soon to assess the scale of the damage as each affected device must be tested, Mr Khatibzadeh said. Iran is in touch with the United Nations about the incident, and "will reserve all rights" to respond, he added.

Israel has neither confirmed nor denied responsibility, as is its policy in such cases. But suspicion has widely fallen upon it due to its involvement in other attacks on Iran's nuclear programme and its vehement opposition to American efforts to rejoin the 2015 world powers' deal with Teheran, which traded sanctions relief for curbs on its atomic programme.

"The struggle against Iran, its satellite groups and its weapons is an enormous task," Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has told high-ranking security officials, according to a statement posted on his official website after the attack.

The Natanz strike came as US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin was visiting Israel and just before diplomats from Iran, China, Russia, the European Union and the United States gather in Vienna tomorrow to resume talks on lifting US sanctions and returning Iran to full compliance with the nuclear curbs.

Earlier yesterday, Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif suggested Israel was to blame, without officially accusing it.

"The Zionists want to take revenge on the people of Iran for their successes on the path of lifting cruel sanctions, but we will not allow this and we will take revenge on the Zionists for these steps," Mr Zarif said in Parliament.

Iran's response will be "further development of nuclear progress", he said. "Natanz will be rebuilt stronger than before, using more advanced machines, and if they think our hand in negotiations has been weakened, in fact this despicable act will make our position in negotiations stronger."

The Natanz enrichment site suffered an electrical problem on Sunday, with Iran's top nuclear official calling the incident "nuclear terrorism" aimed at thwarting the country's atomic programme and international diplomacy around it.

One person responsible for causing a power cut at the facility has been identified and is being sought for arrest, semi-official Nour News reported, citing an unnamed official in the Ministry of Intelligence.

The spokesman for Iran's nuclear organisation, Mr Behrouz Kamalvandi, was being treated in hospital for injuries after falling about 7m down a hatch at the site that had been covered by aluminium sheets scattered in the incident.

Meanwhile, South Korean Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun arrived in Iran on Sunday to try and restore the nuclear deal between Iran and world powers and free up Iranian funds trapped in South Korea, Seoul officials said yesterday.

The trip comes days after Iran released a South Korean ship and its crew in the Strait of Hormuz following their seizure in January on pollution claims. Teheran wants Seoul to release US$7 billion (S$9.39 billion) in assets frozen in South Korean banks under US sanctions.

BLOOMBERG, REUTERS