BEIRUT, LEBANON (12:40 P.M.) – Hours after the Natanz nuclear facility was destroyed, the official Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) published an article in which it alluded to the involvement of enemy states, including Israel and the United States, in the incident.
The agency said: “If there are indications that hostile countries cross Iran’s red lines in any way, especially Israel and the United States, then Iran’s strategy to confront the new situation should be reviewed intensely.”
The IRNA report stated that anonymous accounts on Israeli social media claimed that they were responsible for “sabotage attempts.”
The BBC language channel, which the Iranian authorities consider hostile, said it had received a statement “hours before” the accident from a group called “National Panthers” and claimed responsibility for the accident.
The group claimed that it included “defectors present in the Iranian security services” and said that the site was targeted because it was not “underground” and therefore it cannot be denied.
The Iranian Atomic Energy Organization did not provide an explanation as to the cause of the fire that broke out in a construction unit for uranium enrichment at the Naznaz nuclear reactor on Thursday.
The Iranian media reported that the explosion was likely due to a gas leak, but this has never been confirmed by the government.
Sources: AFP, RT, IRNA
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