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Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization has released a photo that allegedly shows the damaged building.
A fire that broke out Thursday at a key Iranian nuclear facility has caused “significant damage,” said a spokesman for Iran’s nuclear power agency.
He said the cause of the fire at the Natanz enrichment site had been determined, but gave no details.
The spokesperson added that the destroyed machinery would eventually be replaced by more advanced equipment.
The fire hit a centrifuge assembly shop. Some Iranian officials have blamed possible cyber sabotage.
Centrifuges are needed to produce enriched uranium, which can be used to produce fuel for reactors but also for nuclear weapons.
Behrouz Kamalvandi, a spokesman for Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization, said Sunday that security officials were not talking about what caused the Natanz fire “for security reasons.”
The incident, he said, “caused significant damage, but there were no victims.”
Other fires and explosions also occurred in Iran last week.
Kamalvandi added: “The incident could delay the development and production of advanced centrifuges in the medium term … Iran will replace the damaged building with a larger one with more advanced equipment.”
What happened on Thursday?
The fire occurred in “one of the industrial warehouses under construction” in Natanz, Kamalvandi said at the time.
AEOI later released a photo showing a partially burned-out building, which US-based analysts identified as a new centrifuge assembly shop.
The Reuters news agency quoted unidentified Iranian officials as saying they believed the fire was the result of a cyber attack, but did not cite any evidence.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), which monitors Iran’s compliance with a 2015 nuclear deal reached with world powers, said it did not anticipate any impact on its verification activities.
What other incidents have occurred?
The Natanz fire comes six days after an explosion near the Parchin military complex.
Iranian authorities said the explosion was caused by “gas tank leaks” at the site, but analysts said satellite photos showed it happened at a nearby missile production facility.
Parchin, near Tehran, is where Western powers suspect that Iran conducted tests related to detonation of nuclear warheads more than a decade ago.
Iran insists that its nuclear program is peaceful and denies having tried to develop nuclear weapons.
On Sunday, authorities said there was a fire at a power plant near the southwest city of Ahvaz. They said the fire was out and the electricity was restored.
Why is Natanz important?
Natanz, about 250 kilometers (150 miles) south of the capital Tehran, is Iran’s largest uranium enrichment facility.
The 2015 nuclear deal saw Iran agree to only produce low-enriched uranium, which has a U-235 concentration of 3-4% and can be used to produce fuel for nuclear power plants. Weapon grade uranium is 90% or more enriched.
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In November, Iran introduced advanced centrifuges at Natanz
Iran also agreed to install no more than 5,060 of the oldest and least efficient centrifuges at Natanz until 2026, and not to carry out any enrichment at its other underground facility, Fordo, until 2031.
Last year, Iran began voiding these commitments in retaliation for the decision by United States President Donald Trump to abandon the nuclear deal and reinstate crippling economic sanctions.
In November Iran said it had doubled the number of advanced centrifuges operating in Natanz and had started to inject uranium hexafluoride gas into Fordo’s centrifuges.
