Monday April 12, 2021
Iran is downplaying episodes
Attack throws nuclear program back months
Israel is likely to be behind the attack on the nuclear facility in Iran – according to reports, the attack throws the rival’s nuclear program back by several months. That could also influence the negotiations for a US return to the Iran nuclear deal.
According to the “New York Times”, the attack on Natan’s nuclear facility in central Iran will set back uranium enrichment there by at least nine months. The newspaper reported, citing two senior US intelligence officials who spoke of an Israeli intelligence operation during the attack. Accordingly, the attack is said to have triggered a violent explosion, as a result of which the entire power grid of an underground facility, where the centrifuges for uranium enrichment are manufactured, was destroyed. It will take at least nine months to repair the damage.
According to the newspaper, the attack has considerably weakened Iran’s negotiating position at the nuclear talks in Vienna. The reason: Iran is said to have used new centrifuges for uranium enrichment as a means of pressure. Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammed Jawad Zarif has called the attack on Natan’s nuclear facility an act of terrorism and blamed Israel for it.
The Iranian Foreign Ministry said that the attack on Natan’s nuclear facility only damaged the production line for the older centrifuges. “The damage relates to the IR-1 centrifuge, but we are already producing the IR-9 generation in the meantime,” said Foreign Office spokesman Said Chatibsadeh. The Israeli attack will not affect work in Natans, the spokesman said, according to the Isna news agency.
Chatibsadeh also sees the attack as an attempt by Israel to sabotage the Vienna nuclear negotiations. But this won’t happen. Iran will stick to its line and insist that it will only meet its technical obligations again if the US implements the agreement in accordance with the treaty. The main issue here is the lifting of US sanctions, without which the nuclear deal would be de facto worthless for Tehran. He described the attack itself as “a crime against humanity” because it could have led to a nuclear catastrophe.
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