Iran claims sabotage of Iran Atomic Energy Organization failed

A sabotage operation against one of the buildings of Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization (IAEO) failed and caused no damage or casualties, Iranian media reported on Wednesday.

The incident is under investigation by Iranian authorities.

Despite Iranian claims, both in July 2020 and April 2021, the Islamic Republic initially lied to the global media in trying to downplay sabotage operations of key nuclear facilities at Natanz.

In both cases, Iranian officials initially claimed that the damage was minor and a routine accident.

These officials only admitted that Iran’s centrifuge program for enriching uranium was massively set back several days after the two Natanz incidents when The Jerusalem Post and others reported the real full extent of the damage.

Both operations were attributed by foreign sources to the Mossad, which the Post was able to verify.

The update regarding the IAEO facility comes at a sensitive time for Tehran.

On one hand, the US, Iran and the world powers recently finished a sixth round of negotiations in Vienna to resolve the nuclear standoff, with no new meetings yet scheduled.

Leaks from all parties to the negotiations suggest that the sides could reach a deal between now and mid-August when a new Iranian administration takes power.

However, there are clearly still differences between them, and this latest incident could either undermine Iran’s negotiating position or undermine trust between the parties – regardless of who might be responsible.

In addition, Ebrahim Raisi was just declared the winner of Iran’s presidential race on Saturday and he has been giving speeches and trying to project a powerful image on the world stage.

This latest incident could undermine his efforts to roll out his aura of strength – or could empower him to clean out political rivals from the outgoing administration.

The incident also comes just days after Iran’s Bushehr nuclear power plant underwent an emergency shutdown.

The IAEO reported that a technical defect led to the power plant being temporarily shut down and disconnected from the national electricity grid, according to the Iranian Fars News Agency.

The organization stated that the plant would be reconnected to the electricity grid in a matter of days.

As of Tuesday, repairs at the Bushehr power plant were still ongoing.