It also complicates the efforts of the US, Israel’s main security partner, to re – enter the nuclear deal aimed at restricting Tehran’s program so that it could not pursue a nuclear weapon if it chose to. When the news of the eclipse came to light, US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin landed in Israel on Sunday for talks with Netanyahu and Israeli Defense Secretary Benny Gantz.
Behrouz Kamalvandi, spokesperson for the civilian nuclear program, told Iranian state television that the power at Natanz over the facility consisting of above-ground workshops and underground enrichment halls had been cut.
“We still do not know the reason for this power outage and need to investigate further,” Kamalvandi said. “Fortunately, there were no casualties or damage, and there is no pollution or problem.”
When asked by the state TV correspondent whether it was a “technical defect or sabotage”, Kamalvandi declined to comment.
Malek Shariati Niasar, a Tehran lawmaker who serves as spokesman for the Iranian parliament’s energy committee, wrote on Twitter that the incident was “very suspicious”, raising concerns about possible ‘sabotage and infiltration’. He said lawmakers are also pursuing details of the incident.
The Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency, which monitors Iran’s program, said it was “aware of the media reports” but declined to comment.
Natanz was built largely underground to resist enemy airstrikes. It was a turning point for Western fears over Iran’s nuclear program in 2002, when satellite photos showed Iran building its underground centrifuge facility at the site, about 125 kilometers south of the capital, Tehran.
Natanz suffered a mysterious explosion in July in its advanced centrifuge plant that authorities later described as sabotage. Iran is now rebuilding the facility deep within a nearby mountain.
Israel, Iran’s local arch-enemy, is suspected of carrying out the attack as well as launching other attacks, as world powers are now negotiating with Tehran in Vienna over its nuclear deal.
Iran also blamed Israel for the assassination of a scientist who started the country’s military nuclear program decades earlier. The Stuxnet computer virus, discovered in 2010 and believed to be a joint creation between the US and Israel, once disrupted and destroyed Iranian centrifuges in Natanz.
“It’s hard for me to believe it’s coincidental,” said Yoel Guzansky, a senior fellow at Tel Aviv’s Institute for National Security Studies, about Sunday’s eclipse. “If it’s not a coincidence, and it’s a big problem, try to send someone a message that ‘we can curb Iran’s march and that we have red lines. ‘
Israel has not claimed any of the attacks, although Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly described Iran as the biggest threat his country has faced in recent weeks.
Gantz met with Austin on Sunday, saying Israel considers America an ally against all threats, including Iran.
“Today’s Tehran poses a strategic threat to international security, to the entire Middle East and to the state of Israel,” Gantz said. “And we will work closely with our American allies to ensure that any new agreement with Iran safeguards the vital interests of the world, the United States, prevents a dangerous arms race in our region and protects the state of Israel.”
The Chief of Staff of the Israeli Army, Lt.Gen. Aviv Kochavi, apparently also referred to Iran.
The Israeli army’s “operations in the Middle East are not hidden from the eyes of the enemy,” Kochavi said. “They are watching us, seeing (our) abilities and weighing their steps carefully.”
Several Israeli media reported on Sunday that a cyber attack caused the eclipse in Natanz. Public broadcaster Kan said Israel was likely behind the attack, citing Israel’s alleged responsibility for the Stuxnet attacks a decade ago. Channel 12 TV cites “experts” as estimating the attack to close entire parts of the facility. None of the reports contain sources or explanations as to how the outlets came to the assessment.
In Tehran, Iranian officials have meanwhile been waiting for the arrival of South Korean Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun, the first visit by a prime minister from Seoul since the Islamic Revolution in 1979. Iran on Friday held a South Korean oil tanker since January was released amid a dispute with Seoul over billions of dollars of its assets frozen there.
On Saturday, Iran announced that it had launched a chain of 164 IR-6 centrifuges at the plant. Officials have also begun testing the IR-9 centrifuge, which they say will enrich uranium 50 times faster than Iran’s first-generation centrifuges, the IR-1. The nuclear deal limited Iran to only IR-1s for enrichment.
Since then-President Donald Trump’s withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal in 2018, Tehran has abandoned all the boundaries of its uranium supply. It now enriches to 20% purity, a technical step away from the 90% level of weaponry. Iran maintains that its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes.
On Tuesday, an Iranian cargo ship said it was serving as a floating base for Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guards off the coast of Yemen, was hit by an explosion, presumably from a limp mine. Iran blamed Israel for the blast. This attack increased a long shadow war in Mideast waterways targeting shipping in the region.