Khatibzadeh: If Israel Had Sabotaged Natanz, We Would Have Told the People

Saeed Khatibzadeh, spokesman for the Iranian Foreign Ministry, has stated that if the recent incidents in Natanz were “sabotage” by Israel, “it would have been reported to the people”.

During a press conference on Monday, December 6, when responding to journalists’ questions, he emphasized that regarding the sound of an explosion heard in Natanz, “I have nothing more to add beyond what the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the National Security Council secretariat have said”.

Iranian media reported on Saturday, December 3, on hearing the sound of an explosion and observing light in the sky of Natanz and near Iran’s uranium enrichment facilities. Shahin Taghi-Khani, spokesman for the Islamic Republic of Iran’s Army, stated that the sound was related to testing one of the region’s missile systems.

Fars News Agency, affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, had reported that local residents who “had gathered in the village of Abbas Abad Baderud due to the sound and smoke dispersal, said they saw an intense object and light in the sky”.

Several Iranian news agencies described the missile launch in their reports as a planned event and in line with testing Iran’s defensive capabilities in the Natanz region, where Iran’s nuclear facilities are located.

Two explosions occurred at the Natanz site over the past 18 months, with Iranian officials pointing the finger of blame toward Israel.

The “Jewish Chronicle”, a Jewish weekly in Britain, also claimed on December 2 that Mossad, Israel’s intelligence agency, by employing 10 Iranian nuclear scientists, was able to execute three sabotage plots at Iran’s atomic sites in less than two years, two of which were explosions at the Natanz site.

Following an explosion at the Natanz enrichment facility on April 11 of this year, Fereydoon Abbasi, chairman of Iran’s parliamentary energy committee, stated that over the past 15 years, five “major” explosions have occurred at Natanz nuclear facilities, and besides that, numerous smaller incidents have also taken place at this facility.

Iran is currently in the midst of negotiations with world powers to revive the nuclear agreement. The seventh round of these negotiations resumed last week after a 5-month hiatus. However, Western diplomats have described the recent negotiations as “disappointing and concerning”.

Source: Radio Farda