A centrifuge production plant located above the underground Natanz nuclear enrichment facility of Iran on Thursday was struck by a fire and an explosion. Analysts said that the area is one of the most guarded sites across the Islamic Republic after acts of sabotage has earlier been witnessed.
Behrouz Kamalvandi, state's spokesperson, said the fire was downplayed by the Atomic energy Organization of Iran and called it an incident only affecting an industrial shed that is currently under construction. After the incident Kamalvandi and Ali Akbar Salehi, chief of the Iranian nuclear, hurried to Natanz, a facility that was marked by the Stuxnet computer virus and constructed an underground to defy the airstrikes by the enemy.
The fire threatened to provoke broader tensions across the Middle East, close to the escalation that occurred in January after an Iranian general was killed by a US drone strike in Baghdad. After which a retaliatory ballistic missile attack was launched by Tehran that targeted the American forces designated in Iraq.
According to Fox News, while the cause of the blaze that happened in Thursday was not presented, a commentary addressing the probable sabotage by enemy states like the US and Israel following recent blasts in the country, was issued by IRNA, an Iran state-run news agency.
The commentary said the Islamic Republic of Iran has been trying to put an end on the escalating crises and the emergence of unforeseeable situations. It also added that the crossing of red lines by the hostile countries, particularly the US and the Zionist regime, meant the need for revision of the state's strategy.
According to the collected data of the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration satellite that tracks fires from space, the fire appeared about 2 a.m. local time in Natanz' northwest corner compound in the central Isfahan province of Iran.
Iranian state media disclosed images revealing a two-story brick building with burned marks and destroyed roof. Debris were found on the ground and a door with hinges looked blown off signified that during the blaze an explosion occurred.
Kamalvandi said they are investigating both physical and financial damages during the explosion. And added that the work in the enrichment site has not been interrupted, stating that the site performs the same operation as before.
In Washington, as claimed by the State Department, the US officials were keeping an eye on the fire reports at a nuclear facility in Iran.
According to the State Department, the fire incident served as a reminder of how the Iranian regime prioritized the state's misdirected nuclear program to the loss of the needs of its people, CBC reported.
Fabian Hinz, researcher at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies in Monterey, California, pointed out that the recently opened centrifuge production facility has something to do with the site of the fire.
Hinz stated that he depended on the satellite captured images and a state TV program on the facility to determine the exact position of the building, which is seated in the northwest corner of Natanz.
