This photo released November 5, 2019, by the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, shows centrifuge machines in the Natanz uranium enrichment facility in central Iran. /AP
The European Union (EU) on Monday strongly rejected any attempts to derail diplomatic efforts to revive the Iran nuclear deal currently under way in Vienna, the capital of Austria.
EU foreign affairs spokesman Peter Stano told an online press conference that the reported incident in Natanz "could have been an act of sabotage," but insisted that there had been no official attribution over who was responsible.
The Natanz uranium enrichment site near Tehran was hit by a power outage on Sunday as negotiators in Vienna were seeking to readmit the United States to the 2015 pact aimed at curbing Iran's nuclear ambitions, after former U.S. President Donald Trump withdrew from the deal in 2018.
"There has been no official attribution and there are several accusations that we are aware of, but it has to be clarified what happened and who is behind it. We still need to clarify the facts in detail as quickly as possible," he said.
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Stano said that any attempt to derail the diplomatic negotiations underway in Vienna to salvage the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) must be completely rejected.
"We reject any attempts to undermine, derail or weaken diplomatic efforts on the nuclear agreement," he stressed. "All issues concerning the nuclear program have to be resolved by diplomatic means because there is no other sustainable alternative."
The Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) said Sunday that an accident took place in a part of the electricity distribution network of the Natanz nuclear facility in the morning. AEOI head Ali Akbar Salehi described the incident as an act of "nuclear terrorism."
U.S. denies involvement; Iran blames Israel for attack
The White House said on Monday that the United States was not involved in the attack on the facility.
"We, of course, have seen the reports of the incident at the Natanz enrichment facility. The U.S. was not involved in any manner. We have nothing to add on speculation about the causes or the impacts," White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki told reporters during the daily briefing.
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki speaks during a press briefing at the White House in Washington, U.S., April 12, 2021. /AP
Psaki said that the United States is focused on discussions scheduled this Wednesday in Vienna to revive the Iran nuclear deal.
"We expect them to be difficult and long," she said. "We have not been given any indication about a change in participation for these discussions."
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif on Monday blamed Israel for the attack and vowed revenge on Israel.
"The Zionists want to take revenge because of our progress in the way to lift sanctions ... We will not fall into their trap ... We will not allow this act of sabotage to affect the nuclear talks," Zarif was quoted by state TV as saying. "But we will take our revenge against the Zionists."
Zarif said those involved "committed a grave war crime" and "any power with knowledge of, or acquiescence in, this act must also be held accountable as an accomplice to this war crime."
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Multiple Israeli media outlets have quoted unnamed intelligence sources as saying the country's Mossad spy service carried out a successful sabotage operation at the underground Natanz complex, potentially setting back enrichment work there by months.
But Iranian nuclear energy chief Salehi said an emergency power system had been activated at Natanz to offset the outage. "Enrichment of uranium has not stopped at the site."
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday said in a press conference alongside U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin that Israel would never allow Iran to obtain nuclear weapons. Austin did not mention Iran in his statement but said that the U.S. and Israel would "maintain close cooperation."
Two meetings of the JCPOA Joint Commission were held last week in Vienna, chaired by Enrique Mora, the deputy secretary general and political director of the EU External Service Action Service, and attended by representatives from China, France, Germany, Russia, Britain and Iran.
Washington sent a delegation led by U.S. Special Envoy to Iran Robert Malley to Vienna. They did not meet their Iranian counterparts face-to-face, but a shuttle diplomacy approach was adopted with the intensified help of the coordinators.
(With input from Xinhua, Reuters)