The former Israeli Minister of Defense, leader of the right-wing opposition "Israel Our Home" party, Avigdor Lieberman, said that a senior official in the security services stated that Israel is responsible for the bombing that occurred in Iran last Thursday at the Natanz nuclear facility.
In an interview with Israeli Army Radio, he called on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to silence him.
According to what was reported by the Maariv newspaper website, Lieberman added in his speech that this senior intelligence official had started his campaign to contest the early elections in the Likud party, in preparation for the succession of Netanyahu.
Lieberman made this in the context of an interview with Army Radio, during which he attacked Netanyahu for his performance in dealing with the new epidemic of the Corona epidemic in Israel.
For its part, the newspaper "Times of Israel" said that Lieberman alludes to Mossad chief Yossi Cohen.
On Monday, the New York Times quoted an informed Middle Eastern intelligence official as saying that Israel was responsible for the incident that occurred at Iran's Natanz nuclear facility a few days ago.
The official said that Israel planted a bomb in a building where modern centrifuges are being developed, and the newspaper quoted an Iranian Revolutionary Guard official as saying that the accident took place using explosive materials.
Possible involvement
In response to a question about Israeli involvement in the incident, Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz said: "Anyone can suspect us of everything and all the time, but I do not think this is true ... Israel does not necessarily stand behind every incident that occurs in Iran." Without denying that Israel was involved in the Natanz incident.
These statements come a day after Tehran confirmed that the accident, which occurred last Thursday in a building in the Natanz nuclear complex in the center of the country, resulted in "severe material damage" and "may slow down" the process of developing advanced centrifuges to produce enriched uranium.
A spokesman for the Iranian Atomic Energy Agency, Herhroz Kamal Wandi, said that the accident at the Natanz nuclear facility occurred in a place designated for the production of advanced centrifuges, and may cause a temporary slowdown in the process of producing centrifuges, but the relevant authorities are able to overcome this.
Kamal Wendy added that the damaged part will be rebuilt more to produce more sophisticated centrifuges.
Russian warning
This comes as the Russian Foreign Ministry on Monday warned against jumping to urgent conclusions about the causes of the explosion that rocked the Natanz facility recently.
According to what Russia's website reported today, the Russian Foreign Ministry indicated the need to study the situation.
The website quoted Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Vercynin today, saying, "Such issues require serious and very detailed research."
"I think the last thing to do is jump into speculation, because the matter is very serious," Vershinin added.