TEHRAN — Mahmoud Vaezi, the president’s chief of staff said on Wednesday that there are traces of Israel in the sabotage done at the Natanz nuclear site on Sunday morning.

"Based on the fact that we witnessed a terrorist sabotage, the Zionist regime was behind it based on what the signs show," Vaezi told reporters after a cabinet meeting.

He also said the new decisions by Iran to enrich uranium to the level of 60 percent and install IR-6 centrifuges at the Natanz site a result of “the actions of the other side”. 

In the sabotage attack on the electricity grid of the nuclear site a number of IR-1 centrifuges were destroyed.

Experts at the International Atomic Energy Agency of Iran (AEOI) are working hard to repair the damages. 

Vaezi also dismissed rumors that a large number of centrifuges have been decommissioned, saying, “We were able to fix these problems in a short time and the activities have started again and now the centrifuges are being replaced and these claims are just rumors.” 

Elsewhere in his statements, Vazei called for a change of behavior by the U.S. government, saying that the current U.S. administration is following the footsteps of Donald Trump and his “maximum pressure” policy by keeping the sanctions. 

The new round of negotiations to revive the 2015 nuclear deal and lift the sanctions will take place on Thursday in Vienna. 

SA/PA