Iran’s Zarif blames Israel for Natanz attack, vows revenge

Iran’s Foreign Minister Javad Zarif blamed Israel for an incident at Natanz nuclear facility that occurred on Sunday. He joins an increasing number of Iranian officials describing the incident as sabotage or “terrorism.” His comments appeared on state television on Monday morning.  “The Zionists want to take revenge because of our progress in the way to lift sanctions… they have publicly said that they will not allow this. But we will take our revenge from the Zionists,” Zarif said.

On Sunday afternoon, Iran’s nuclear chief Ali Akbar Salehi said there was an act of “nuclear terrorism.” The attack was carried out by “opponents of the country’s industrial and political progress, who aim to prevent development of a thriving nuclear industry,” he said, according to reports. Zarif’s comments on Monday morning appear to be building to a crescendo that could indicate Iran intends to retaliate.  

In the 24 hours after the damage was first reported, and first ascribed to a failed electrical grid that harmed the facility, increasing details have emerged about a major setback to Iran’s nuclear program. Tehran had just boasted on Saturday about using new advanced centrifuges at Natanz. The attack comes almost a week after an Iranian ship was allegedly attacked in the Red Sea, an attack the New York Times has ascribed to Israel.  

Iran’s own media is quieter about the incident at Natanz. It was not front-page news on Tasnim, Fars, or some other Iranian channels. This may be due to the fact that the Islamic Republic wants to message one thing to the international community, complaining about sabotage and Israel, while messaging something else at home. It has boasted about its successes at Natanz, a facility that also suffered sabotage in July 2020.

Tehran says that the facility is more secure, so the incident on April 11 is embarrassing. At the same time, Iran wants to feed information to its pro-Iran lobby in the West where it pretends to be a victim and where Iranian “moderates” are portrayed as embattled and in need of support via a new Iran deal. Iran tries to present Israel as sabotaging that deal. It also uses narratives about a possible conflict in the region to threaten Western countries.