IRAN FOILS ‘SABOTAGE ATTACK’ ON NUCLEAR BUILDING, MATTER IS UNDER INVESTIGATION

According to an Iranian news site close to security services, the authorities have thwarted a “sabotage attack” on the country’s civilian nuclear programme, without providing further information. The website believed to be close to Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, Nournews, reported on Wednesday that the attack was foiled “before causing any damage to the building.” It said the case was “under investigation.” When asked for comment, an Iranian official referred to the Nournews report. The official spoke on condition of anonymity as they did not have the authorisation to discuss the matter with the media.

The building was located near Karaj City, some 40 km (25 miles) west of the capital of Tehran, said Iran’s semi-official ISNA news agency. The website of state-owned Iran newspaper published the same report without revealing the location or other details. Iranian state TV carried the report on its news ticker.

The report comes after a series of suspected sabotage attacks targeting Iran’s nuclear programme in recent months. In April, Iran’s underground Natanz nuclear facility experienced a mysterious blackout that damaged some of its centrifuges. Iran described the blackout as an act of “nuclear terrorism,” raising regional tensions as world powers and Tehran negotiated a return to its tattered 2015 nuclear deal with world powers. Israel is widely believed to have carried out the sabotage that caused the outage, though it has not claimed it. Last year, Natanz suffered a mysterious explosion at its advanced centrifuge assembly plant that authorities later described as sabotage. Iran now is rebuilding that facility deep inside a nearby mountain. Iran also blamed Israel for the November killing of a scientist who began the country’s military nuclear programme decades earlier.