Iran’s chief of civil defense threatened retaliation against any country carrying out cyber attacks on its nuclear sites after a major explosion at Iran’s Natanz plant this week.
Natanz’s underground fuel enrichment plant is one of the focal points of Iran’s nuclear program and is monitored by the UN nuclear watchdog. Iran is believed to be producing a new line of centrifuges that would allow the country to enrich uranium at a much faster rate, a concern for the US and its allies.
“Investigations by relevant agencies have pinpointed the cause of the incident … at the Natanz nuclear complex,” Keyvan Khosravi, spokesman for Iran’s top security body, said Friday, according to the Tasnim news agency. “Due to security considerations, the cause and form of the incident will be announced at a convenient time.”
Natanz is located in the central Iranian province of Isfahan. The explosion occurred early on Thursday, the Iranian Atomic Energy Organization (AEOI) reported. Later, the body released a photo representing the heavily damaged site.
A Middle East intelligence official told the New York Times that the damage was caused by a planted explosive device, but the AEOI did not mention any suspicions of foul play at first.
The BBC reported that a group called Homeland Cheetahs claimed responsibility for the blast, although it could not independently confirm the claim. The group is reportedly made up of Iranian military dissidents.
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