Netanyahu: We will not allow Tehran to acquire nuclear weapons

Iran holds Israel responsible for the Natanz incident and vows revenge

Netanyahu during the press conference with Austin yesterday.

EPA

Yesterday, Iran accused Israel of being responsible for the sabotage incident at the Iranian nuclear facility, Natanz, and vowed revenge, while the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, said that Iran had never given up its pursuit of nuclear weapons, and that Israel would never allow it to build them.

Yesterday, the White House announced that the United States had not participated in any attack on the Iranian nuclear facility, and had no comment regarding speculation about the cause of the accident, while the Iranian Foreign Minister, Muhammad Javad Zarif, explicitly accused Israel of the sabotage incident at the Natanz facility. Iranian television reported him saying that "Israel wants revenge on the Iranian people for the successes they have achieved in the path of lifting sanctions," adding: "We will not fall into the trap they set, and we will not allow this sabotage act to affect the nuclear talks, but we will take revenge."

The Iranian authorities described the incident, the day before yesterday, as "nuclear terrorism," saying that it reserves the right to take measures against its perpetrators.

A spokesman for the Iranian Atomic Energy Agency, Behrouz Kamalondi, said that the Iranian facility for uranium enrichment, Natanz, was subjected to a small explosion, adding that "the accident occurred in the electricity distribution center."

The ceiling of one of the control halls collapsed, and no one was injured. ”

On the other hand, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Iran had never given up its pursuit of nuclear weapons, and that Israel would never allow it to build them.

In statements he made during a press conference with the US Secretary of Defense, Lloyd Austin, Netanyahu did not comment on Iran's accusation that Israel had sabotaged the Iranian nuclear site, Natanz, and said: "I will never allow Iran to have the nuclear capability to implement the goal of genocide and the elimination of Israel."

Several Israeli media outlets quoted intelligence sources as saying that the Israeli Mossad agency carried out a successful sabotage operation at the Natanz site, which would likely impede the enrichment work there for several months.

Israel has not officially commented on this incident.

Last Saturday, Iran announced the operation of new, advanced centrifuges in Natanz.

The head of the Iranian Atomic Energy Authority, Ali Akbar Salehi, announced the operation of an emergency electricity system at the Natanz facility to overcome the outage.

"The enrichment of uranium did not stop at the site," he said.

"All the centrifuges that stopped at the Natanz site are IR-1s," said the Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman, Saeed Khatibzadeh, in a press conference, referring to the first generation of Iranian enrichment devices that are most vulnerable to malfunctions.

He added, "Our nuclear experts assess the damage, but I can assure you that Iran will replace the damaged centrifuges (for enriching uranium) at Natanz with advanced equipment."

The newer devices can enrich uranium with a higher degree of purity much faster, which contributes to an increase in the stockpile, which may reduce the period of time that Iran needs to build a nuclear weapon if it wants to.

Iran insists that all US sanctions crippling its oil-dependent economy must be lifted before stopping measures to accelerate enrichment steps, and returning to imposing restrictions on that process.

Sporadic incidents of sabotage have already occurred in Iranian nuclear facilities over a period of 10 years, and Iran blamed Israel, which considers the Iranian uranium enrichment campaign a threat.

In 2010, the "Stuxnet" computer virus, which is widely believed to have been developed by the United States and Israel, was discovered after it was used to attack Natanz.

Last July, a fire broke out at the Natanz facility, and Iran said at the time that it was an Israeli attempt to sabotage its nuclear activity.

Iran also accuses Israel of being behind the killing of Iranian scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, last November.

Western intelligence services considered him the mastermind of a secret Iranian nuclear weapons program.

Israel did not confirm or deny its involvement in the matter.

The recent accident took place at the Natanz nuclear facility, amid diplomatic efforts to revive the nuclear agreement concluded by Tehran in 2015 with world powers.

Israel vehemently objects to the deal from which former US President Donald Trump withdrew three years ago.

Iran and world powers held talks last week to salvage the deal, which Iran has flouted against its restrictions on sensitive uranium enrichment since Trump reimposed tough sanctions on Tehran.

The Russian Foreign Ministry said, in a statement, yesterday that the Natanz incident should not undermine the talks about the Iran nuclear deal.

German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas warned that recent developments related to Iran's Natanz nuclear facility are "not positive" for talks aimed at reviving the agreement on Tehran's nuclear program.

"What we are hearing now from Tehran does not represent a positive contribution, especially the developments in Natanz," he said before the upcoming talks in Vienna this week.

Yesterday, the European Union warned of any attempts to derail the talks aimed at returning Washington to the agreement on Iran's nuclear program, after Tehran accused Israel of attacking the Natanz facility.

"We reject any attempts to undermine or weaken diplomatic efforts related to the nuclear agreement," said Federation spokesman Peter Stano. "We still have to clarify the facts about the events that took place at the Iranian nuclear site."

In another context, the European Union said in its official newspaper, yesterday, that it had imposed sanctions targeting eight leaders of the Basij militia and the Iranian police, as well as three prisons, due to what it called “the deadly crackdown carried out by the Iranian authorities in November 2019.” The sanctions include a travel ban, Freezing of assets.

Sources: Iran has identified the perpetrator

The Iranian "Noor News" website quoted intelligence sources as saying, yesterday, that Iran has identified the person who disrupted the flow of electrical energy at the Natanz nuclear facility, which led to power cuts at the site.

The site stated that "the person has been identified, and necessary measures have been taken to arrest this person who caused a power outage in one of the buildings in the Natanz site."

The site did not give details of the intended person.

Tehran - Reuters

Tehran confirms that it will replace the damaged centrifuges in Natanz with advanced equipment.

The United States announces that it did not participate in the attack on the Iranian nuclear facility.

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