Russia 'concerned' over incident in Iran's Natanz

MOSCOW

Russia is "concerned" over an attack on the Natanz nuclear facility on Sunday near the Iranian capital Tehran, the country's Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Monday.

If the investigation confirms "someone's malicious actions are behind this incident," then such intent deserves strong condemnation, Zakharova said in a statement.

She praised Iran's efforts on eliminating the consequences, saying the country's specialists managed to deal with them "in a timely and professional manner."

"It is also worrying how this situation will affect multilateral efforts to restore full implementation of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). We hope that what happened will not become a 'gift' to the various opponents of the JCPOA and will not undermine the consultations on the 'Vienna platform' that are gaining momentum on reviving these agreements," Zakharova said.

Iran’s Foreign Minister Javad Zarif said on Monday that Israel was behind Sunday’s attack on the Natanz nuclear facility, which came a day after Tehran unveiled new advanced uranium centrifuges.

Another top nuclear official of Iran, head of the Atomic Energy Organization Ali Akbar Salehi said the attack that led to power failure at the nuclear facility is an act of "nuclear terrorism," aiming to thwart the ongoing talks in Vienna.

Tensions between Iran and its long-time adversary Israel have escalated in recent months, especially following the diplomatic efforts led by US President Joe Biden to revive the 2015 nuclear deal.

Former President Donald Trump pulled Washington out of the Iranian nuclear deal, officially known as the JCPOA, in 2018.