Iranian Official: Fire at Natanz the ‘Result of Sabotage’

Anonymous Middle Eastern intelligence official told NYT that Israel was responsible for the July 2nd fire

An Iranian nuclear official said the July 2nd fire at Natanz nuclear facility was the result of sabotage. “The explosion at Natanz nuclear facility was a result of sabotage operations,” Behrouz Kamalvandi, a spokesman for Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization said on Sunday.

Kamalvandi also said security officials will reveal the cause of the blast “in due time.” The Natanz explosion caused significant damage to the nuclear facility, and Iranian officials said it slowed down their centrifuge program.

Since the blast, there has been much speculation of the cause since Iran suspected “sabotage” from the beginning. Shortly after the incident, an unnamed Middle Eastern intelligence official told The New York Times that Israel was responsible for the explosion, which was caused by a “powerful bomb.”

In the same report, the Times quoted an unnamed official from Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps who also said the blast was caused by an explosive, but this official did not attribute blame.

Others suspect the explosion was caused by a cyber-attack similar to the 2010 Stuxnet attack on Iranian nuclear infrastructure, carried out by the US and Israel. The July 2nd fire at Natanz occurred during a string of mysterious fires and explosions across Iran.

Author: Dave DeCamp

Dave DeCamp is the news editor of Antiwar.com, follow him on Twitter @decampdave.