What took place at the Iranian Natanz nuclear facility?
The incident is the third mysterious explosion in a week and has led to many questions.
The plot thickened on Thursday afternoon hours after a building at a nuclear facility looked to have blown up in Iran. Reports of a “explosive device planted,” and an early warning, as well as a dissident group taking responsibility now adds to questions and concerns about what happened at the sensitive site.
The building affected by some kind of an explosion is located at the Natanz nuclear enrichment facility. Iran had alerted the world to the incident in the morning of July 2 and even took state media for a tour to show that while there had been some kind of incident, the nuclear facility was not in danger. It is the third mysterious explosion in a week and has led to many questions.
The New York Times reported that "a Middle Eastern intelligence official...said the blast was caused by an explosive device planted inside the facility. The explosion, he said, destroyed much of the above ground parts of the facility.”
This is important because it was allegedly the above ground portion of a larger area where new centrifuges are “balanced before they are put into operations.” Iran is known for building underground facilities that obscure or protect their activities, including at missile and nuclear sites.
It now looks increasingly likely the incident was deliberate, an attack of act of sabotage. Adding to the question of how this happened, a group called the “Homeland Panthers” claimed responsibility, according to emails allegedly sent to BBC Persian. The emails arrived “hours before any news of the incident had emerged,” according to Radio Farda. The emails however claimed something more complex. They asserted there was an attack and then a cover up. They wanted to blow the lid on the cover up.
When did the attack happen?
Around two in the morning on July 2. It was not widely reported in Iranian media until some eight hours later. IRIB News gave a tour of the area that was burned in the afternoon. The Associated Press noted that the US National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration has data from a satellite tracking fires that shows a fire at around 2 a.m. This corresponds with someone on the ground who allegedly heard an explosion.
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The plot thickened on Thursday afternoon hours after a building at a nuclear facility looked to have blown up in Iran. Reports of a “explosive device planted,” and an early warning, as well as a dissident group taking responsibility now adds to questions and concerns about what happened at the sensitive site.
The building affected by some kind of an explosion is located at the Natanz nuclear enrichment facility. Iran had alerted the world to the incident in the morning of July 2 and even took state media for a tour to show that while there had been some kind of incident, the nuclear facility was not in danger. It is the third mysterious explosion in a week and has led to many questions.
The New York Times reported that "a Middle Eastern intelligence official...said the blast was caused by an explosive device planted inside the facility. The explosion, he said, destroyed much of the above ground parts of the facility.”
This is important because it was allegedly the above ground portion of a larger area where new centrifuges are “balanced before they are put into operations.” Iran is known for building underground facilities that obscure or protect their activities, including at missile and nuclear sites.
It now looks increasingly likely the incident was deliberate, an attack of act of sabotage. Adding to the question of how this happened, a group called the “Homeland Panthers” claimed responsibility, according to emails allegedly sent to BBC Persian. The emails arrived “hours before any news of the incident had emerged,” according to Radio Farda. The emails however claimed something more complex. They asserted there was an attack and then a cover up. They wanted to blow the lid on the cover up.
When did the attack happen?
Around two in the morning on July 2. It was not widely reported in Iranian media until some eight hours later. IRIB News gave a tour of the area that was burned in the afternoon. The Associated Press noted that the US National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration has data from a satellite tracking fires that shows a fire at around 2 a.m. This corresponds with someone on the ground who allegedly heard an explosion.
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