Iranian official: Problem at nuke site ‘strongly suspected to be sabotage’

An International Atomic Energy Agency inspector disconnects the connections between the twin cascades for 20% uranium production at Natanz nuclear power plant south of Tehran on January, 20, 2014 (Kazem Ghane/IRNA/AFP)
An International Atomic Energy Agency inspector disconnects the connections between the twin cascades for 20% uranium production at Natanz nuclear power plant south of Tehran on January, 20, 2014 (Kazem Ghane/IRNA/AFP)

Malek Chariati, the spokesman for the Iranian parliament’s energy commission, claims the electrical problem at the country’s Natanz nuclear site over the weekend was likely the result of sabotage.

“This incident, coming (the day after) National Nuclear Technology Day as Iran endeavours to press the West into lifting sanctions, is strongly suspected to be sabotage or infiltration,” Chariati tweets.

The Natanz site lost power Sunday just hours after starting up new advanced centrifuges capable of enriching uranium faster, the latest incident to strike the site amid negotiations over the tattered atomic accord with world powers.

As Iranian officials investigated the outage, many Israeli media outlets assessed that a cyberattack darkened Natanz and damaged a facility that is home to sensitive centrifuges.

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