TEHRAN — The head of the Parliament's Energy Committee said on Monday that the sabotage act at the Natanz nuclear facility’s electricity and cable distribution system was related to emergency power batteries.

Regarding the Sunday electricity malfunction due to sabotage at the Natanz nuclear site, Fereydoun Abbasi said, “We have an electricity substation at the Natanz site, from where electricity goes to the basement, which is about 40, 50 meters underground. That place was built in a sturdy fashion and was located underground and so that air and missile attacks could not destroy this place.”

He went on to explain different types of sabotage by the enemy, from cyber-attacks to sabotage being done by the enemy agents, or by sending in defective equipment in five to ten years. He then explained that when there is sturdy, underground construction, that could not be destroyed by air or missile attacks, the enemy resorts to evil methods like the sort occurred at the Natanz nuclear site.  

The act of sabotage at the Natanz nuclear plant occurred on Sunday, prompting a wave of international and domestic reactions. 

Qatar’s foreign minister strongly has condemned the incident, calling it “a dangerous and destructive action” that could intensify tension in the region and leave negative impacts on the region’s stability. 

The European Union stated on Monday that the incident “might be a destructive action” amid nuclear talks with Iran, calling any efforts to stop the negotiations “unacceptable.”

German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas, whose country is a member of the Vienna talks to revive the 2015 nuclear deal, also said on Monday that “what we are currently hearing from Tehran, especially from Natanz, is not a positive thing for the negotiations.”

In remarks on Monday, Mojtaba Zolnour, a senior Iranian MP, said Israel had a role in the sabotage “but we also don’t see the U.S. as innocent.”