SULAIMANI (ESTA) — Iran has identified the person who disrupted flow of power at the Natanz nuclear facility that led to electricity outage in the site, Iran’s Nournews website quoted intelligence sources as saying on Monday.
“The person has been identified … Necessary measures are being taken to arrest this person who caused the electricity outage in one of the halls at the Natanz site,” the website reported, according to Reuters.
It gave no details about the person.
On Sunday, spokesman for Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization (AEOI) Behrouz Kamalvandi had said that a problem with the electrical distribution grid of the Natanz site had caused an incident.
Kamalvandi said the incident caused no casualties or contamination, adding that Tehran reserves the right to take action against the perpetrators.
The facility, located in the desert in the central province of Isfahan, is the centerpiece of Iran’s uranium enrichment programme and is monitored by inspectors of the International Atomic Energy Agency, the U.N. nuclear watchdog.
Iran’s nuclear chief Ali Akbar said on Sunday that the incident was caused by an act of “nuclear terrorism”.
“While condemning this despicable move, Iran emphasizes the need for the international community and the International Atomic Energy Agency to deal with this nuclear terrorism and reserves the right to take action against the perpetrators,” Salehi said. He did not elaborate.
Israel, which has accused Iran of seeking to build nuclear weapons that could be used against it, made no official comment on the incident. It took place a day after Tehran, which has denied it seeks atomic arms, launched new advanced enrichment centrifuges at Natanz.
Israel’s Kan public radio cited intelligence sources, whose nationality it did not disclose, as saying that Israel’s Mossad spy agency had carried out a cyber attack at the site.
*This story was updated at 02:27 p.m. EBL time
