Iran names suspect in Natanz nuclear plant attack, Iranian state television claims

Tehran: – The suspect carrying out blasts and planting explosives in the Natanz nuclear project has been identified. The Iranian government news agency published the suspect’s photograph and announced that the person has escaped from Iran. Israel and international media are claiming that there are many deficiencies in the information posted by the Iranian news agency. Meanwhile, it is being said that the centrifuges in the Natanz nuclear project have suffered major damages in the blast, and the Iranian nuclear project has been set back by about nine years.

As per the information released by the Iranian news agency, Reza Karimi, aged 43 years, had planted explosives in the Natanz project. Iranian-born Karimi escaped from Iran even before the blasts. The Iranian news agency informed that Interpol has issued even a red notice regarding Karimi. At the same time, necessary steps have been initiated to arrest Karimi and bring him back to Iran.

But Israeli and international media have questioned the fundamentals of the report of the Iranian news agency. If Reza Karimi planted the explosives, how did he gain entry into the high-security facility? Moreover, there is no red notice issued for the arrest of Karimi in the databases of the official Interpol website. The international media asked, in this scenario, how is anyone supposed to believe that the red notice mentioned by the Iranian news agency has been issued?

At the same time, the report published regarding Karimi speaks about the centrifuges in the hall of the Natanz project. Therefore, the question is being asked, is there any substance in the reports of the centrifuges suffering considerable damages in the blast? The Iran government has not clarified regarding the information published by the Iranian government news agency. Simultaneously, the Iranian leaders repeatedly say that no major damages have been caused in the blast at the Natanz project.

Last Sunday, there had been a sudden blackout in the prestigious Natanz Nuclear project in Iran. Iran, who initially claimed that this was an accident, blamed Israel for the accident in the nuclear project. Iranian Foreign Minister accused that this was nuclear terrorism of Israel. After that, a US newspaper reported a major blast in the Iranian Natanz nuclear project and declared that Behrouz Kamalvandi, the spokesman of the Iranian nuclear program, was seriously injured in the explosion. Photographs of Kamalvandi taking treatment in a hospital also have been published.

There had been a suspicious blast followed by fire in the Natanz nuclear project, even last year. The section had suffered major damages. Before that, more than 1,000 centrifuges had been rendered useless in the cyberattack with the Stuxnet virus on the same nuclear project in 2010. Iran had held Israel responsible for both the attacks.