Iran reveals Damage to Natanz Nuclear Site, Slow down Program

Israel planted a bomb in a building where high centrifuges were developed said by the Middle Eastern intelligence official. 

The Iran government admitted that the damage occurred severe at main Nuclear fuel enrichment site which will slow down the country's nuclear program for months.Earlier, they were saying that damage is minor.

As according to the Middle Eastern intelligence official with their knowledge of the episode said that Israel was responsible for the attack on the Natanz nuclear complex which held on  Thursday with the use of a powerful bomb.

A member of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps also said an explosive was used.

Both officials spoke on condition of anonymity when discussing sensitive intelligence and operational topics.

As intuition in Iran has focused on Israel and the United States as they have destroyed the nuclear program in the past and also took pledge to keep Iran away from developing nuclear weapons.

As in the past, Israel and the United States have implied cyber attacks to destroy Iran’s nuclear program, but in this case it has been ruled out , said by the the Revolutionary Guards member.

Although there was no way to examine its involvement independently but the Israel’s intelligence network has given its capability to attack in Tehran's warehouse in 2017 and stole half a ton of secret records documenting of Iran’s nuclear project and taking them out of the country. Most of the records were given by Mossad which is the Israeli spy agency to the International Atomic Energy Agency. They also provide many clues about where Iran might hide the forbidden equipment and raw material.

Tehran is now not getting much support and it gets slowly slowly in isolation internationally. Those countries which were earlier supporting Iran by opposing US action on Iran has now joined in accusing it due to the hiding of nuclear  activity from international inspectors.

Israeli officials were unclear on Sunday when asked about their involvement in an attack on Natanz. They said that it stressed them about nuclear-armed Iran.

Defence Minister Benny Gantz said on Sunday in a radio interview with Kan, the state broadcaster that “Everyone can suspect us in everything and all the time, but I don’t think that’s correct,”

He further said that it is not that every event that happens in Iran is related to us. While not denying involvement in the Natanz explosion.

The Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi said at a conference on Sunday held by the newspapers Maariv and The Jerusalem Post, that Iran cannot be allowed to have nuclear capabilities. 

As in the recent months, tens of episodes which include fires at industrial complexes in Iran happened which also been widely allocate to Israel. 

Iranian officials have said publicly that they know what was the reason behind the damage at Natanz, but that they are retaining the information for now.

High speed centrifuges is using by Iran to enrich Uranium. The Uranium which enriched to lower level is used as Nuclear reactor while highly enriched Uranium is used as a fuel for an atomic bomb. The progress is on its way at Natanz to make more advanced centrifuges to enrich Uranium more fastly.

Behrouz Kamalvandi, spokesman for the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran also told the official Islamic Republic News Agency on Sunday It’s possible that this damage will slow down the progress and expansion of advanced centrifuges.

They further said that various advanced equipment and measurement gadgets were either destroyed or damaged.

He quoted “significant financial damage,” which will lead to the delaying of about several months but hopefully no one was injured. 

Mr Kamalvandi also said that the “The damaged warehouse was designed for the final stages of advanced centrifuges and assembly of these machineries.

Investigators have examined and conclude the  possibility that Natanz was hit on Thursday by a cruise missile or a drone, they consider it as more probably that someone carried a bomb into the building said by the Revolutionary Guards member. Yet there is no such clue they get about how or when the explosives were sneaked. But this attack tells a clear failure of  facility’s security.

He said further that the episode will now fast plans to move more of Iran’s most sensitive facilities underground.

As Under the 2015 nuclear deal with the United States, China, Russia and European powers, Iran agreed to give up lots of its enriched uranium and to restrict the level of enrichment and the number of centrifuges it intervened.

But as after US  President Trump withdrew from the deal and imposed damaging sanctions on Iran it has made Iran to restart up the enrichment program far beyond the limits which was imposed in the agreement under Nuclear deal in 2015.

source