Cyber attack on Natanz facility reportedly caused major setback to Iranian nuclear program

by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent

(Worthy News) – Sunday’s cyber attack on the Natanz Iranian nuclear facility caused substantial damage to Iran’s uranium enrichment capability, Israeli and US media have reported. Although no official confirmation has been forthcoming, it is widely believed that Israel, which regards Iran’s nuclear program as an existential threat, was behind the attack.

According to unnamed US and Israeli sources, Sunday’s cyber attack resulted in major damage to the centrifuges at the underground Natanz facility, the Times of Israel reports. An intelligence official told Israel’s state-owned Kan news that “extensive” damage was caused at the site and that “different types of centrifuges” were affected.

The Times of Israel notes that, while Israel rarely confirms or denies such covert attacks, in this case, sources have told Kan and Israeli TV Channel 13 that “the assessment is that the fault in the Natanz power grid [is a] result of an Israeli cyber operation.”

The New York Times cited two Israeli intelligence officials who had been briefed on the attack as saying: “it had been caused by a large explosion that completely destroyed the independent — and heavily protected — internal power system that supplies the underground centrifuges that enrich uranium.”

The NYT report said production at the Natanz site has been set back for at least nine months.

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