In today’s meeting of Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif with the Parliamentary National Security Commission, he presented a full report on last week’s talks in Vienna and explained how to follow the country’s definite positions in these talks.
Referring to yesterday’s incident in Natanz, the Foreign Minister stressed the need for proper protection of facilities and nuclear scientists in this critical situation.
The Iranian foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, vowed revenge against Israel on Monday morning, a day after a blackout at an Iranian nuclear enrichment site was attributed to an Israeli attack.
Mr. Zarif’s comments highlight the risk of escalation in a years-long shadow war between Iran and Israel. They also threaten to overshadow efforts in Vienna to encourage Iran to reimpose limits on its nuclear program in exchange for the lifting of American sanctions.
In a statement broadcast by Iranian state television, Mr. Zarif was quoted as saying: “The Zionists want to take revenge because of our progress in the way to lift sanctions.”
He added, “But we will take our revenge from the Zionists,” according to the broadcast.
Mr. Zarif’s reported comments followed a power failure on Sunday at the Natanz uranium enrichment site that Iranian officials attributed to Israeli sabotage. The Israeli government formally declined to comment on its involvement, but American and Israeli officials confirmed separately to The New York Times that Israel had played a role. Several Israeli news outlets, citing intelligence sources, attributed the attack to the Mossad, the Israeli spy agency.
Two officials briefed on the matter told The Times that the blackout was caused by an explosion that targeted the power supply for thousands of underground centrifuges that form the main Iranian enrichment program.
A spokesman for the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, Behrouz Kamalvandi, said on Monday that the blast had created a crater so big that he had fallen into it, injuring his face.
The U.S. defense secretary, Lloyd J. Austin III, was expected to discuss the blackout in meetings in Israel on Monday with his Israeli counterpart, Benny Gantz, and the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu. It was unclear whether the Israeli government had given the United States advance warning of any operation.
Iran has long maintained that its nuclear program is peaceful and aimed at energy development. But Israel sees it as an existential threat since Iranian leaders have often called for Israel’s destruction.
