Probe Into Natanz Incident Underway

EghtesadOnline: The Atomic Energy Organization of Iran’s spokesman said the country’s security forces have identified the perpetrators of an act of sabotage at Natanz nuclear facility in central Iran in July.

News ID: ۷۵۰۹۳۲

08 September 2020

“It is for the security organizations to painstakingly investigate [the incident] and they are expected to give their final view in this regard. Their investigations are underway and as far as we know, they have detected the agents [who committed the act of sabotage] as well as the motive, methods and manner of the sabotage,” Behrouz Kamalvandi also said on Sunday.

He added that saboteurs sought to disrupt the uranium enrichment process at the Natanz facility, but they failed, IRNA reported.

Therefore, the Iranian official said AEOI has decided to build another shed at the nuclear facility, stressing that their desperate effort will have no impact.

The AEOI spokesman likened the current conditions facing the country to a “scene of war”, saying, “We might suffer a loss in this scene, but it only makes us more motivated for [boosting] defense and efforts.”

On July 2, Iran said an incident had damaged a shed under construction at Natanz, but it caused no casualties and failed to stop enrichment work at the facility.

Iran's Supreme National Security Council said later that the "main cause" of the incident had been determined and would be announced at an appropriate time.

SNSC Spokesman Keyvan Khosravi said experts from different entities started investigating "different hypotheses" about the Natanz incident immediately after its occurrence and have determined its main cause.

"Due to some security considerations, the cause and manner of this incident will be announced at a proper time," he added.

Cooperation With IAEA

Kamalvandi also said the International Atomic Energy Agency is under political pressure and its Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi has also confirmed this, but promised to act in a professional manner.

Pointing to the IAEA chief’s visit to Tehran on August 24-25 and his talks with senior Iranian officials, which led to the issuance of a joint statement aimed at strengthening cooperation and building more confidence, the AEOI spokesman said, "Iran has nothing to conceal. So, it allowed IAEA to have access to demanded sites, because the further prolongation of this issue and not giving the agency the permission [to visit those sites] would have only benefited the US."

At the end of Grossi’s two-day visit, Iran and the UN agency issued a joint statement on agreements and the results of high-level talks between the two sides.

"After intensive bilateral consultations, Iran and the IAEA reached an agreement on the resolution of the safeguards implementation issues specified by the IAEA, in good faith. In this regard, Iran is voluntarily providing the IAEA with access to the two locations specified by the IAEA and facilitating the IAEA verification activities to resolve these issues," the statement added.

In its quarterly report on Friday, IAEA said Iran has granted the agency's inspectors access to one of the two sites it agreed last week for verification purposes.

It added that IAEA inspected the site and took environmental samples there while the agency's inspectors would visit the other site "later in September 2020 on a date already agreed with Iran, to take environmental samples".