JPost: Israeli Role in Blast at Iran’s Natanz Facility ‘Validated’

Report says the blast was physical sabotage, not a cyberattack

Since the July 2nd explosion at Iran’s Natanz nuclear facility, media reports have said that Israel was to blame for the blast. Now, The Jerusalem Post is reporting that claims of Israel’s role are “validated,” and the attack was “physical sabotage” as opposed to a cyberattack.

The Post says the purpose of the attack was to send a message to Iran about the country’s nuclear program and to show that “progress towards a nuclear weapon” would not “be tolerated.”

Iranian officials said the explosion set back the centrifuge program by months, and some have said it could be set back years. Iran recently confirmed that the incident was sabotage and said they are working to identify the culprit, but so far, they have not officially accused Israel.

Israel has not officially taken credit for the attack either, besides vague statements from Israeli officials and leaks to the press, like this Post story. The Natanz blast came during a string of mysterious fires and explosions across Iran. During that time, anonymous sources told Business Insider that Israel was trying to provoke Iran into a confrontation before the November US presidential election.

Shortly after the incident at Natanz, a Middle Eastern intelligence source told The New York Times that Israel was responsible for the blast, which was caused by a “powerful bomb.” A cyberattack was suspected at first since the US and Israel attacked the same facility in 2010 with a powerful computer virus known as Stuxnet.

Author: Dave DeCamp

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