A “sabotage” is at the origin of the explosion which damaged the nuclear complex of Natanz in the center of Iran in early July, the Iranian Atomic Energy Organization (OIEA) said on Sunday.
“Security investigations confirm that it is sabotage and what is certain is that an explosion took place in Natanz“said OIEA spokesperson Behrouz Kamalvandi.
“But how did the explosion come about, and with what materials […], this will be announced by security officials in due course “, he added according to the official Iranian agency Irna.
On July 3, the day after the explosion, Tehran announced that the causes of the incident had been established but refused, for “security reasons“, to reveal them to the public.
Sabotage of Israel?
The governor of Natanz, Ramézan-Ali Ferdowsi had told him that a fire had taken place near the site, and the OIEA specified that there had been no victims or radioactive pollution.
Irna had for her part published a dispatch in the form of an editorial, noting that, on social networks, “some (unidentified) accounts of the Zionist regime” had “immediately attributed the accident to Israeli sabotage”.
Several fires and explosions have been reported in Iran since the end of June, including an explosion on the night of June 25 to 26 near a major military site in the south-east of Tehran, due, according to the Iranian defense ministry, to “fuel tank leaks”.
The Martyr-Ahmadi-Rochan complex in Natanz is one of the main centers of the Iranian nuclear program, placed under very high security. Washington and Israel accuse Iran of developing a secret military nuclear program, which the Islamic Republic denies.
Tensions with Washington
Tensions are all the more acute as Washington unilaterally withdrew in May 2018 from the international Iran nuclear agreement concluded in 2015 and reinstated several sets of sanctions against the country.
►►► Read also: US-Iran tensions: Europe “will not spare its efforts” to save the Iran nuclear deal
After the United States withdrew from the agreement, Iran resumed uranium enrichment in September 2019 at the Natanz site.
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