“Natanz explosion has disrupted enrichment for at least 9 months”

Reports about the Mossad's role in the attack on the Natanz nuclear facility have been published by American and Israeli media. The New York Times, citing intelligence sources, reported a large explosion in the facility's power supply system.

The New York Times, citing two unnamed American and Israeli intelligence sources, announced that the failure of the enrichment section of the Natanz nuclear facility was due to a massive explosion in the facility's power supply section.

The attack on the power supply system of the Natanz nuclear facility took place a day after its launch was announced. Hassan Rouhani had spoken about the launch of the uranium enrichment facility in Natanz on the "National Nuclear Technology Day" while the JCPOA Joint Commission talks continued in Vienna.

The next day, Sunday, April 11, there was an attack on the facility's power supply system, an attack that Ali Akbar Salehi, head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, has referred to as "nuclear terrorism."

“The facilities are out of order”

The New York Times reported that the damage to the power supply was so severe that it would effectively delay Iran's nuclear activities at the facility for at least nine months.

Iran has not provided clear information about the cause of the explosion, only saying that the investigation into the incident is ongoing.

The New York Times, citing two American and Israeli intelligence sources, wrote that the attack was carried out by Israel.

The New York Times further wrote that it is unclear whether the attack on Natanz was carried out with the knowledge of the Biden administration or whether Israel acted independently.

The newspaper further wrote that Israel's dissatisfaction with the progress of negotiations aimed at reaching an agreement with the Islamic Republic over the nuclear dispute is not something that Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu and other officials have hidden.

The impact of the attack on the nuclear talks is also unclear. Iran has stated that the attack will not go unanswered, but has not provided further details about its possible actions.

An explosion on July 30 of last year also led to the inoperability of the Natanz advanced centrifuge assembly center.

At the time, Western media blamed Israel for the attack. The New York Times noted that Israel's prevailing policy in such cases is to neither confirm nor deny the news.

Despite that, Israeli officials have repeatedly stated that they will never allow Iran to equip itself with nuclear weapons.

In this regard, the New York Times has referred to the operation to kill Mohsen Fakhrizadeh and several other Iranian nuclear scientists by Israel over the past years.

The New York Times has pointed out the difficult situation of the Islamic Republic in this report. The newspaper's reporter wrote that if Iran concludes that Israel was responsible for the attack, it will face a difficult calculation in choosing its response to this action.

Source: DW