Iran claims terrorist act committed at underground nuclear facility

(MENAFN - Colombo Gazette) nuclear facility in Iran was hit by a "terrorist act" a day after it unveiled new advanced uranium centrifuges, a top nuclear official says. He did not say who was to blame but urged the international community to deal with nuclear terrorism. Israeli media suggest the incident was a result of an Israeli cyber attack. Last year, a fire broke out at the Natanz underground facility, which the authorities alleged was the result of cyber sabotage. The latest incident comes as diplomatic efforts to revive a 2015 nuclear deal - abandoned by the US under the Trump administration in 2018 - have resumed. On Saturday, Iran's President Hassan Rouhani inaugurated new centrifuges at the Natanz site, which is key to the country's uranium enrichment programme, in a ceremony broadcast live on television. Centrifuges are needed to produce enriched uranium, which can be used to make reactor fuel - but also material for nuclear weapons. It represented another breach of the country's undertakings in the 2015 deal, which only permits Iran to produce and store limited quantities of enriched uranium to be used to produce fuel for commercial nuclear power plants. On Sunday, a spokesman for the Atomic Energy Organisation of Iran (AEOI), Behrouz Kamalvandi, said an "incident" had occurred in the morning involving the nuclear facility's power network. Mr Kamalvandi did not provide further details but told Iran's Fars news agency there there had been "no casualties or leaks". Later state TV read out a statement by AEOI head Ali Akbar Salehi, in which he described the incident as "sabotage" and "nuclear terrorism". "Condemning this despicable move, the Islamic Republic of Iran emphasises the need for the international community and the International Atomic Energy Agency [IAEA] to deal with this nuclear terrorism," he was quoted as saying. "Iran reserves the right to take action against the perpetrators." The IAEA said it was aware of the reports of an incident but would not comment. Last July, sabotage was blamed for a fire at the Natanz site which hit a central centrifuge assembly workshop. (Courtesy BBC) MENAFN11042021000190011042ID1101898846