Iran blames Israel for sabotage in uranium plant

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif on Monday blamed Israel for the incident in central Iran's Natanz uranium enrichment site, reported Xinhua, quoting official news agency IRNA.

Israel "wants to take revenge on the Iranian people for their success in lifting the unjust sanctions, but we will not allow it," Zarif said in a meeting of the Iranian parliament's national security commission.

In response to the voice asking Iran's government to halt the Vienna talks on reviving Iran nuclear deal after the accident, Zarif called on Iranian people not to "fall in a trap" set up by Israel.

The Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) said on Sunday that an accident took place in a part of the electricity distribution network of the Natanz nuclear facility in the morning.

Zarif said that the centrifuges damaged at the Natanz facility were the first generation, and will be replaced with more advanced devices, which will strengthen Iran's position in the negotiations aiming to have U.S. sanctions against Iran lifted.

Iran, Zarif warned, will not allow Israel to prevent the sanctions from being lifted, and will "take revenge on" Israel for the incident in Natanz.

Meanwhile, the Sunday incident was "a bold act of nuclear terrorism on the Iranian soil," Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh was quoted by Press TV as saying on Monday.

The AEOI head Ali Akbar Saleh on Sunday also described the incident as an act of "nuclear terrorism."

"Necessary measures are being taken to arrest the main element behind the disruption in the power system of Natanz complex," Iran's Nour News reported, citing a security source.

Iran celebrated its National Day of Nuclear Technology last Saturday. During the event, 164 IR-6 semi-industrial centrifuges were injected with gas and became fully operational at a uranium enrichment plant in Natanz, and 30 IR-6S centrifuges entered the first phase of gas injection at the same plant, according to IRNA.