Iran’s Zarif blames Israel for Natanz incident, vows revenge

Iran blames its regional arch-foe Israel for Sunday’s incident at the Natanz nuclear facility and will take its revenge, state TV quoted Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif as saying on Monday.

Tehran has said the site was hit by “nuclear terrorism”.

“The Zionists want to take revenge because of our progress in the way to lift sanctions … they have publicly said that they will not allow this. But we will take our revenge from the Zionists,” Zarif said.

Natanz suffered a mysterious explosion at its advanced centrifuge assembly plant in July 2020 that authorities later described as sabotage. Iran now is rebuilding that facility deep inside a nearby mountain.

The incident at the nuclear facility on Sunday could be considered as an “act against humanity”, foreign ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh told a news conference.

“There was no contamination or injuries but it could cause a disaster. It could be considered as an act against humanity,” Khatibzadeh said.

Israel to blame?

Israel, Iran’s regional archenemy, has been suspected of carrying out that attack as well as launching other assaults, as world powers now negotiate with Tehran in Vienna over its nuclear deal.

Iran also blamed Israel for the killing of a scientist who began the country’s military nuclear programme decades earlier.

The Stuxnet computer virus, discovered in 2010 and widely believed to be a joint US-Israeli creation, once disrupted and destroyed Iranian centrifuges at Natanz.

Israel has not claimed any of the attacks, though Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu repeatedly has described Iran as the major threat faced by his country in recent weeks.