Iran has promised to retaliate against any country that launches cyber attacks on its nuclear sites after a fire at its Natanz plant that some Iranian officials said could have been caused by such sabotage.
“Responding to cyber attacks is part of the country’s defense power. If our country is shown to have been the target of a cyber attack, we will respond, “civil defense chief Gholamreza Jalali told state television on Thursday.
The Natanz underground fuel enrichment plant is one of several Iranian facilities monitored by inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency, the UN’s nuclear watchdog.
Iran said the cause of the “incident” at the nuclear site had been determined, but “due to security considerations” would be announced at a later time.
The Iranian Atomic Energy Organization initially reported that an “incident” had occurred early Thursday in Natanz, located in the desert in the central province of Isfahan.
He later posted a photo of a one-story brick building with the roof and walls partially burned, and a door hanging on its hinges, the image suggests there was an explosion inside the building.
An article published Thursday by the state news agency IRNA addressed what he called the possibility of sabotage by enemies like Israel and the United States, although he did not directly charge them.
“So far, Iran has tried to avoid intensifying crises and the formation of unpredictable conditions and situations,” IRNA said, adding that there was no release of radiation from the fire.
“But the crossing of the Islamic Republic of Iran’s red lines by hostile countries, especially the Zionist regime and the United States, means that the strategy … should be reviewed.”
Three Iranian officials who spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity said they believed the fire was the result of a cyber attack, but did not cite any evidence.
One of the officials said the attack had targeted the centrifugal assembly building, referring to the delicate cylindrical machines that enrich uranium, and said that Iran’s enemies had carried out similar acts in the past.
Two of the officials said Israel may have been behind the Natanz incident, but offered no evidence.
When asked Thursday night about recent reported incidents at strategic Iranian sites, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told reporters: “Clearly, we cannot go into that.”
The Israeli army and Netanyahu’s office, which oversees Israel’s foreign intelligence service, the Mossad, did not immediately respond to Reuters inquiries on Friday.
In 2010, the Stuxnet computer virus, widely believed to have been developed by the United States and Israel, was discovered after it was used to attack Natanz’s facilities.
Natanz’s underground site remains the centerpiece of Iran’s enrichment program, although Tehran denies seeking nuclear weapons, saying its atomic program is for peaceful purposes only.
Iran halted its nuclear work in exchange for the removal of most global sanctions under an agreement reached with six world powers in 2015, but has reduced compliance with the agreement’s restrictions since President Trump withdrew the United States from agreement in 2018.
With Reuters
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