据《俄罗斯卫星通讯社》4月11日报道

伊朗副总统萨利希公布说，纳塔兹核工厂11日的电网事故是“核恐怖主义行为”蓄意破坏，并呼吁国际社会和国际原子能机构反对制止这种恐怖行径。这次事件发生在伊朗总统鲁哈尼宣布重新启用IR-6 and IR-5新型先进铀浓缩离心机之后，也正值美伊谈判重返伊核协议处于僵局之际。耶路撒冷邮报此前曾发表文章称，11日的纳塔兹事件不是“事故”，而是网络攻击，所造成的损失比伊朗政府宣布的还要严重，同时断言以色列是幕后推手。其它几家媒体报道称，以色列和美国的专家联合研制了震网病毒，由以色列对伊朗核设施发起攻击，但以色列和美国官方既未承认，也不否认。

Natanz Plant Incident Caused by ‘Act of Nuclear Terrorism’, Iran’s Vice-President Says

11.04.2021(updated  11.04.2021)Get short URL by Tim Korso

Israeli media earlier alleged that the incident was not an “accident” but the result of a cyberattack, possibly carried out by Tel Aviv. The outlet did not reveal its sources, but Natanz in the past had already fallen victim to a hacker attack via the Stuxnet virus.

Iran’s Vice-President Ali Akbar Salehi has announced that Tehran is treating today’s incident involving Natanz nuclear plant’s power grid as an act of “nuclear terrorism”.

“Iran condemns this heinous attack and reminds the international community and the [International Atomic Energy Agency] of the need to combat such acts of nuclear terrorism”, Salehi said.

The vice-president added that the Islamic republic reserves the right to respond appropriately to whoever Tehran finds is guilty of the attack. At the same time, Salehi described today’s incident at the nuclear plant as “evidence” that Iran’s enemies were “failing” to impede the country’s success in the sphere of nuclear energy and in negotiations, by which he presumably meant talks between the US and Tehran on their both returning to the JCPOA, or Iran nuclear deal.

Earlier, a member of Iran’s parliament, Malek Shariati Niasar said that Tehran also suspects an act of “sabotage” caused the incident at the nuclear facility, which did not result in casualties or pollution, but led to the shutdown of its power grid. He noted that the power grid incident took place on Iran’s National Nuclear Technology Day and also amid attempts to return the US to complying with the Iran nuclear deal and lift its sanctions.

The events at the Natanz plant also unfolded the day after Iranian President Hassan Rouhani announced the start of using new advanced centrifuges for uranium enrichment – IR-6 and IR-5. Tehran had previously been banned from using any centrifuges except for the first generation ones under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA, also known as the Iran nuclear deal). However, the country has been gradually backtracking on its commitments since the US withdrew from the treaty in 2018. Now, the two countries are attempting to agree on terms of returning to the JCPOA compliance.

Stuxnet Virus Strikes Again?

Ahead of Vice-President Salehi’s announcement, The Jerusalem Post newspaper issued a report, claiming that the 11 April incident at Natanz was not an “accident”, but the result of a cyberattack, and resulted in greater damage to the facility than Tehran is ready to admit. The media outlet did not reveal its sources, but alleged that Israel might be behind the purported cyber intrusion.

If the report true, this will be at least the second time Natanz is hit with a cyberattack in its history. Back in 2010, Tehran reported that some of its centrifuges have been damaged as the result of the hackers’ actions without specifying their allegiance.

Several cybersecurity companies reported that a virus called Stuxnet was released into cyberspace some time ago and was designed to target specific computer systems working on the Windows OS and operating Siemens industrial equipment, which reportedly is what the Iranian nuclear facilities use. The virus infected the machines operating the centrifuges, reportedly forcing them to spin at extreme speeds and in effect ripping themselves apart.

Additionally, several media reports suggested that Stuxnet was developed jointly by Israeli and American specialists, and released by Tel Aviv against the Iranian nuclear facility. Neither Washington nor Tel Aviv confirmed or denied the report.

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