On Friday, the Iranian Foreign Ministry warned that if Tehran finds out that “foreign elements” were behind the 2 July explosion at the Natanz nuclear site, there will be consequences.
Iranian media outlets have indirectly accused the US and Israel of being behind a blast at the Natanz nuclear facility in early July, even though Tehran is yet to issue an official statement on what caused the explosion, the London-based news outlet Middle East Eye reports.
The newspaper also drew parallels between the blast and the assassination of top Iranian general Qasem Soleimani on 3 January in a US drone strike in Baghdad.
The Middle East Eye also cited Nour News, an outlet close to Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, as saying that possible Israeli involvement in the Natanz blast could have been be greenlighted by the US.
The speculation comes as Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi said in a statement on Friday that “it is early to comment about the cause of the recent incident at the Natanz nuclear site” and that “the relevant authorities are investigating the incident in detail”.
A view of a damage building after a fire broke out at Iran’s Natanz Nuclear Facility, in Isfahan, Iran, July 2, 2020
According to him, if Tehran concludes that “foreign elements” were involved in the explosion, they will face consequences.
The statement followed the Kuwaiti daily al-Jarida citing an unnamed “senior” source as saying earlier this month that the Natanz explosion, as well as last week’s blast at Iran’s Parchin military complex were Israel’s work.
No casualties or leaks of radioactive materials were reported after the 2 July blast at the Natanz nuclear site. It remains Iran’s main uranium processing facility, where Tehran reportedly installed new cascades of advanced centrifuges in November 2019 in retaliation for Washington’s earlier unilateral exit from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, also known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).
The Natanz incident occurred about a week after a blast ripped through the Parchin military complex located about 30 kilometres (18 miles) from the Iranian capital Tehran, in what Iranian authorities said was the result of “leaking gas tanks”.
Iranian authorities have, meanwhile, rejected Thursday’s reports about new blasts in two cities near Tehran as they reportedly blamed western countries for waging a psychological war against the Islamic Republic and spreading unverified information online.
Sourse: sputniknews.com
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