Iran describes Natanz Atomic site blackout as nuclear terrorism

Iran's nuclear chief has said its Natanz nuclear facility was hit by a terrorist act yesterday. In a statement, head of the Iran Atomic Energy Organisation (IAEO) Ali Akbar Salehi condemned it and urged the international community and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to deal with this nuclear terrorism.

   

Earlier yesterday, a spokesman for the AEOI had said that a problem with the electrical distribution grid of the Natanz site had caused an incident. He earlier said that the incident caused no casualties or contamination. But later, AEOI chief



described the incident as sabotage and nuclear terrorism.

 

The IAEA said it was aware of the reports of an incident but would not comment.

 

On Saturday, Iran's President Hassan Rouhani had inaugurated new centrifuges at the Natanz site, which is key to the country's uranium enrichment programme, in a ceremony broadcast live on television. The facility, located in the desert in the central province of Isfahan, is the centre piece of Iran’s uranium enrichment programme and is monitored by inspectors of the IAEA.