Iran points finger at Israel for latest Natanz blast

Iran's foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has blamed Israel for an explosion at one of its two main nuclear facilities at the weekend, and has vowed revenge for what he claims are attempts to derail ongoing talks to revive the 2015 nuclear deal.

The explosion at Iran's key underground Natanz facility late on 10 April resulted in a power blackout and damage to centrifuges that are used to enrich uranium. Foreign ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said all damaged centrifuges will be replaced by more advanced ones. "I'm glad there were no human or environmental losses, but it could have resulted in a human catastrophe," Khatibzadeh said.

The incident comes as efforts are stepped up to revive the Iran nuclear deal, which was abandoned by former US president Donald Trump in 2018, resulting in renewed US sanctions on Iranian oil exports. Iran and the six other original signatories to the deal, including the US, engaged in a first round of talks in the Austrian capital Vienna last week, which all parties considered constructive. The talks are set to resume this week.

"The Zionists are trying to take their revenge for our successes on the path to the lifting of the oppressive sanctions, but we will not allow this," Zarif said in a meeting with parliamentarians earlier today. "They think they will achieve their goal. But they will get their answer in further nuclear progress on the Iranian side," he said, adding that Iran will get its "revenge for these actions".

"If they think our hand in the negotiations is weakened by such things, this cowardly act will, in fact, strengthen our position in the talks," Zarif said.

The explosion is the latest in a string of incidents at the Natanz facility, including a massive fire at a warehouse in July. Iranian officials said at the time that the fire caused significant damage and "may cause a slowdown or interruption" to the work of the UN's International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). Iran later said that the fire was "an act of sabotage".

By Nader Itayim