A fire and explosion at a nuclear site in Iran is believed to have taken place at a new centrifuge production plant.
Atomic Energy Organization of Iran spokesman Behrouz Kamalvandi said the “incident” only affected an “industrial shed” under construction but did not give specifics about what caused the damage. Kamalvandi and Iranian nuclear chief Ali Akbar Salehi rushed to Natanz, where Iran keeps its largest uranium enrichment facility, early Thursday.
A photo released by the atomic energy agency showed burn marks on the exterior of the building and a collapsed roof. Doors appeared to have been blown off their hinges.
?اولین تصویر از حادثه امروز در یکی از سولههای در دست احداث سایت #نطنز pic.twitter.com/iU74tUOzkb
— خبرگزاری تسنیم ?? (@Tasnimnews_Fa) July 2, 2020
Analysts told the Associated Press that they believe the site was a newly opened centrifuge production facility.
Fabian Hinz, a researcher at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies, said he based his theory on satellite images and a state TV program about the facility. David Albright of the Institute for Science and International Security agreed that the fire struck the production facility. Hinz said the fire was “very, very suspicious.”
“It would delay the advancement of the centrifuge technology quite a bit at Natanz,” Hinz said. “Once you have done your research and development, you can’t undo that research and development. Targeting them would be very useful” for Iran’s adversaries.
Iranian authorities have given no explanation for the damage, but Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency raised the possibility that the United States or Israel tried to sabotage the facility after other recent explosions across the country.
“The Islamic Republic of Iran has so far has tried to prevent intensifying crises and the formation of unpredictable conditions and situations,” the commentary said. But ”the crossing of red lines of the Islamic Republic of Iran by hostile countries, especially the Zionist regime and the U.S., means that strategy … should be revised.”
Kamalvandi told Iranian state television that an investigation was ongoing and “there has been no interruption in the work of the enrichment site.”
