Iran Foils Sabotage Operations at Fordo N. Site

Deputy Head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) Asqar Zarea’an disclosed enemies’ attempts to carry out sabotage acts at Fordo uranium enrichment plant and Iranian security forces’ swift reaction to foil them.

“Recently, a series of electronic boards were discovered that had been planted in certain equipment at Fordo nuclear site to carry out sabotage acts in the enrichment processes,” Zarea’an said in an interview with Iran’s Khorassan daily on Saturday.

He said that the swift action of the Iranian security forces thwarted enemies’ plots to paralyze Fordo nuclear site.

Zarea’an said that Fordo nuclear site acts as a backup for Natanz nuclear facility and enemies are attempting to weaken this backup through methods other than military operations.

Fordo is a uranium enrichment facility deep down a mountain and, according to Iranian and western military analysts, cannot be damaged through military operations.

In relevant remarks in August, Zarea’an warned that enemies were seeking to hit a blow at the country’s nuclear industry through new methods and instruments.

“Similar to the past, the enemy is seeking to prevent Iran’s peaceful nuclear activities using new instruments, and we should identify and defuse these moves with wisdom and prudence,” Zarea’an said, addressing a press conference in Tehran.

He, meantime, said that all enemies’ plots against Iran’s nuclear industry had proved futile.

The nuclear official informed that the AEOI is now through with designing a new centrifuge system, named Ultra, for medical purposes, adding that the centrifuge machine would be delivered to the Pasteur Institute of Iran (PII) in the near future.

Also last September, Zarea’an disclosed that the country had disrupted plots by foreign spies to recruit its nuclear experts and stopped sabotage attempts through faulty foreign equipment supplied for its facilities.

“We aim to raise awareness about the enemy, who is more hostile to us every day,” Zarea’an, who is also in charge of security for Iran’s nuclear program, said.

He did not name countries that authorities believe are behind the sabotage and the recruitment effort.

Zarea’an said foreign intelligence agencies targeted the experts when they traveled abroad and that the experts informed their superiors about the contact when they returned home. He did not elaborate on number of the attempts and destinations where the contacts occurred.

Zarea’an also showed parts and equipment, including modems and pumps, which he said had been deliberately tampered with to sabotage Iran’s nuclear program. He described the items on display, which he said had been manufactured in western and Asian countries, as only a small sample of western sabotage.