TEHRAN - The head of the Parliament Energy Committee believes that the U.S. and UK are accomplices in the nuclear sabotage at the Natanz site because their intelligence services helped the Israeli regime to conduct such act. 

“I blame the United States and the United Kingdom because most of the intelligence gathering is done by the American and British intelligence services, despite the fact that the operation was done by the Zionist regime,” Fereydoun Abbasi Davani, a professor of nuclear physics at Shahid Beheshti University, tells the Tehran Times. 

Abbasi who survived an assassination attempt by Mossad agents in northern Tehran on November 29, 2010, says, “The data at our disposal and the actions of these countries, including the assassinations they have carried out against Iranian scientific figures and their past industrial sabotage, confirm that they are behind the sabotage operation in Natanz.” 

Sabotage in the Natanz nuclear site occurred on April 11 at night time. Israeli media claimed that Mossad has conducted the attack.

An official at the Iranian Intelligence Ministry has said the saboteur has been identified.
Abbasi, who was appointed as the chief of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) in February 2011 and kept the post until August 2013, is of the opinion that “Iran should take tough action” in response to the sabotage.

Following is the text of the interview: 

Q: Could you update us about the details of the Natanz incident? How did it happen?

A: What happened in the Natanz facility actually has its history and dates back to a few years ago. For more than ten years, we have been facing various movements of Iran’s enemies in order to prevent the country’s progress in scientific fields.

“When Iran verified and saw that the way is paved to buy any goods and import any medicine, banking and financial exchanges channels are open, problems related to shipping and insurance are resolved, and the countries that trade with Iran are no longer subject to sanctions, then the Americans can return to the JCPOA.”The enemy wanted to hinder Iran’s nuclear program and, either through the Stuxnet virus or sabotaging industrial equipment, or placing limited explosives in the centrifuge balancing equipment and causing electricity outage at the Fordow Fuel Enrichment Plant and even in the Natanz facility. That is, they tried to cut power from outside to destroy the centrifuges.

We had already experienced what happened in Natanz, and some predictions were made to prevent it. Here again, we had the issue of power outages, and most likely the cable that came from the emergency batteries had been cut off. Of course, this is only a possibility because I do not have the details.

If this is the case, the centrifuges that were placed in the underground hall may have been completely shut down due to a power outage, and the rotors may malfunction, which can lead to trouble in restarting them. All machines must be inspected and relaunched if there is no problem.

Q: What will be the possible repercussions of the sabotage on the Vienna talks? 
A: These negotiations should not have taken place at the present time because the position of the Islamic Republic of Iran became clear after the ratification by the Majlis (the Iranian parliament). 

The United States (According to the ratification) must lift all sanctions and then sit at the negotiating table. So, there is no need for technical discussions.
There is no need to talk about how the Americans can lift the sanctions and how Iran may return to its commitments. All this can be fulfilled by a signature (by the American president). That is, the Americans must announce that they will lift all sanctions.

When Iran verified and saw that the way is paved to buy any goods and import any medicine, banking and financial exchanges channels are open, problems related to shipping and insurance are resolved, and the countries that trade with Iran are no longer subject to sanctions (which all these processes will take six months), then the Americans can return to the JCPOA. After that, Iran will return to its full obligations according to the nuclear deal.

Therefore, there was no need to negotiate. Now we see the explosion hit our nuclear facilities at the same time as the negotiations are underway. Some argue that the purpose of the sabotage operation was to interrupt the negotiations. As a result, it could weaken the Iranian negotiating team’s position by burning their cards on the table. So the Iranian negotiating team must take into account this tactic of the enemy.

Q: Is it enough to enrich uranium up to 60 percent in response to the sabotage in Natanz, or should Iran take other measures?

A: I think Iran should take tough action. A harsh response cannot be hasty. From now on, saboteurs and the individuals who contributed to the attack on the Natanz nuclear facility must be tracked down. I blame the United States and the United Kingdom because most intelligence gathering is done by the American and British intelligence services, though the operation was done by the Zionist regime.

The data at our disposal and the actions of these countries, including the assassinations they have carried out against Iranian scientific figures and their past industrial sabotage, confirm that they are behind sabotage operations in Natanz. Iran reserves the right to retaliate and deliver even more destructive blows to the enemy.