TEHRAN – Nuclear chief Ali Akbar Salehi on Sunday slammed the act of sabotage against Iran’s nuclear site in Natanz earlier in the day, noting that the international community and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) must deal with such “nuclear terrorism” that targets Iran’s facilities.

Salehi’s remarks came hours after a nuclear spokesman said that an incident took place at the electricity distribution network of the Shahid Mostafa Ahmadi Roshan nuclear facility in Natanz in Iran’s central province of Isfahan.

“The Islamic Republic of Iran, while condemning this despicable act, underlines the need for the international community and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to address this nuclear terrorism and reserves the right to take action against masterminds, perpetrators and conspirators of this [terrorist] act,” Salehi said.

He added Iran will seriously pursue the development of its nuclear technology, on the one hand, and make efforts to remove the oppressive U.S. sanctions, on the other hand, so that those who ordered the terrorist act would not reach their goals, Press TV reported.

The action that took place at the Natanz enrichment facility shows the failure of those, who oppose the country’s industrial and political advances, in preventing Iran’s remarkable progress in its nuclear program and obstructing successful talks aimed at removing the oppressive sanctions, Salehi, a nuclear physicist remarked.

Israel's public radio quoted unidentified intelligence sources on Sunday as saying that Israel's Mossad spy agency carried out a cyberattack against Iran's Natanz nuclear facility, Reuters reported.

The Natanz facility is among the sites being monitored by the IAEA under a 2015 landmark nuclear deal, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), between Iran and a group of world powers.

On July 2, 2020, an explosion was reported in a shed under construction at the Natanz complex, but it caused no casualties and failed to stop enrichment work at the facility.

At the time, Kamalvandi described the incident as “an act of sabotage.”