An "accident" occurred at the Natanz enrichment facility; the location of the incident was the "Iranian Centrifuge Assembly Center"
On Thursday, July 3, a spokesman for the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran announced an "accident" at the Natanz nuclear enrichment facility in Isfahan province.
ISNA news agency quoted Behrouz Kamalvandi, a spokesman for the organization, as saying that this "incident" occurred in one of the sheds in the "open area" of the Natanz facility.
There is still no information about the nature of the incident, which this Islamic Republic official refers to as an "accident," and the cause of its occurrence.
According to Mr. Kamalvandi, the shed where the incident occurred was "under construction in the open area of the Natanz site."
A spokesman for the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran said: "This incident did not cause any casualties and did not harm the ongoing activities of this complex."
The Natanz uranium enrichment facility covers an area of over 100,000 square meters and is built eight meters underground. The site is Iran's main uranium enrichment center, under the supervision of IAEA inspectors.
Ali Akbar Salehi, head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, announced in late April that a new generation of centrifuges would soon be unveiled at the Natanz enrichment facility and that work was underway on the construction of a number of fuel complexes for the Arak reactors and power reactors.
The Natanz facility also made headlines last December when Iran expelled an International Atomic Energy Agency inspector and then accused him of attempting to commit "industrial sabotage" at the Natanz nuclear facility.
The Natanz "incident" comes less than a week after the sighting of a light and a massive explosion in eastern Tehran made headlines across the country.
Media and social media users in Iran reported a loud noise and the sighting of an orange light in eastern Tehran on Friday morning, July 26.
An hour later, a spokesman for the Iranian Ministry of Defense announced that the intense light was caused by the explosion of "a gas tank in the Parchin general area" and "involved no casualties."
However, a review of videos posted on social media suggested that the explosion was in the Khojir area of Tehran, not Parchin. A day later, satellite images confirmed this guess.
The BBC Persian television channel also says that hours before the news of the Natanz incident was published on Thursday morning, a group called "Yuzpangan Vatan" claimed responsibility for the incident in an email to the channel's reporters.
According to a BBC Persian reporter, the email claims that members of the "Homeland Panthers" are present and active in Iran's security apparatus.
Source: Radio Farda
