Iran has described a blackout at its underground Natanz atomic facility an act of “nuclear terrorism”, raising regional tensions.
Ali Akbar Salehi, the head of the Atomic Energy Organisation of Iran, stopped short of directly blaming anyone for the incident.
Details remained scarce about what happened early on Sunday morning at the facility, which initially was described as a blackout caused by the electrical grid feeding the site.
Centrifuge machines in the Natanz uranium enrichment facility (Atomic Energy Organisation of Iran via AP)
“To thwart the goals of this terrorist movement, the Islamic Republic of Iran will continue to seriously improve nuclear technology on the one hand and to lift oppressive sanctions on the other hand,” Mr Salehi said, according state TV.
Iran has described a blackout at its underground Natanz atomic facility an act of “nuclear terrorism”, raising regional tensions.
Ali Akbar Salehi, the head of the Atomic Energy Organisation of Iran, stopped short of directly blaming anyone for the incident.
Details remained scarce about what happened early on Sunday morning at the facility, which initially was described as a blackout caused by the electrical grid feeding the site.
Centrifuge machines in the Natanz uranium enrichment facility (Atomic Energy Organisation of Iran via AP)
“To thwart the goals of this terrorist movement, the Islamic Republic of Iran will continue to seriously improve nuclear technology on the one hand and to lift oppressive sanctions on the other hand,” Mr Salehi said, according state TV.
Iran’s Natanz nuclear site suffered a problem involving its electrical distribution grid on Sunday, just hours after starting up new advanced centrifuges which more quickly enrich uranium, state TV reported.
It was the latest incident to strike one of Tehran’s most secure sites amid negotiations over the troubled atomic accord with world powers.
Power had been cut across the facility of above-ground workshops and underground enrichment halls, civilian nuclear programme spokesman Behrouz Kamalvandi told Iranian state television.
“Here the power has been cut off indeed, and we do not know the reason for the outage,” he said. “The incident is under investigation and we will inform you about the reason as we find out.”