Iran accuses Israel of attacking uranium plant, vows “revenge on Zionist regime”

TEHRAN.- Iran today directly accused Israel of sabotaging its nuclear facility underground Natanz with an attack that damaged the centrifuges used in the place to enrich uranium and ensured that he would take revenge.

“Iran’s response will be to take revenge on the Zionist regime at the right time and in the right place”, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Said Khatibzadeh threatened, adding that information confirms Israel’s responsibility for what happened.

“What happened in Natanz was (an act of) nuclear terrorism against Iran in Iranian territory. Iran reserves the right to receive a response under Article 51 of the Charter of the United Nations, ”he continued and argued, trying to explain Israel’s reasons for committing an act like this one, which he asked take revenge on the Iranian people for their “patience and prudence” and for their success in dealing with sanctions imposed by United States since Washington’s unilateral withdrawal from the nuclear deal in 2018.

“The answer to Natanz will be to take revenge on Israel,” Khatibzadeh insisted. “Israel will receive its response in its own way,” he added without going into details. He also stated that what happened did not weaken Iran’s nuclear capabilities because the concerned centrifuges were those which were going to be replaced by more advanced centrifuges.

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohamad Yavad Zarif spoke in the same vein, who said Tehran’s position would not weaken due to these events: “On the contrary, this act will strengthen Iran’s position in the negotiations.”

The regime recognized that the IR-1 centrifuges, the first generation of Iranian machines for uranium enrichment, had been damaged during the attack, which also led to a fire on the spot.

News of the episode at the factory, located in central Iran, was known yesterday, when a Blackout and later authorities claimed it was an act of< terrorisme antinucléaire >>, result of a cyber operationhours after starting new advanced centrifuges that enrich uranium faster.

Iran was not the only one targeting Israel. Service sources Intelligence of the United States cited by the newspaper The New York Times indicated that there was a powerful explosion which damaged the internal electrical system and indicated a possible operation carried out by Israel, who did not comment on what happened.

They also said the explosion would have caused significant damage to Iran’s ability to enrich uranium and that Tehran would need at least nine months to restore Natanz production to current levels.

From the first moment, the Israeli press began to speculate on the origin of this incident and the sources cited by The Jerusalem Post They said it was not an accident and the damage is much greater than what Tehran reported. More specifically, they point to a computer attack. In fact, from what has been published by The Guardian, Public radio claimed that the Mossad intelligence agency played a central role in what happened.

The Prime Minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, He did not speak directly about the event, although he did say that “the fight against Iran and its allies and Iranian weapons is a giant mission.” “The current situation says nothing about what will exist tomorrow,” he said according to the newspaper. The Times of Israel.

If Israel is responsible, the event will get worse tensions between the two countries, already mired in an indirect conflict Middle East. Netanyahu has vowed to do everything in his power to end Iran’s new nuclear deal with international powers.

AP and DPA agencies

THE NATION