Blast heard near Iran’s Natanz nuclear site; officials cite air defense test

Iranian news outlets report a missile was fired to drill air defense response to potential threats

By TOI staff Today, 8:11 pm

The Natanz uranium enrichment facility buildings are pictured some 200 miles (322 km) south of the capital Tehran, Iran, on March 30, 2005. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

A blast was reported Saturday in the vicinity of a nuclear site in Natanz, Iran, according to preliminary reports, which did not provide further details.

Iranian officials did not make any immediate comment.

Several media outlets including Nour News, a website linked to Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, said the explosion was not an attack, but rather was caused by a missile as part of a test of air defenses’ response to a potential attack.

Some of the reports said a drone was shot down.

The explosion came amid heightened tensions between Iran and world powers, as Tehran continues to race forward with its nuclear enrichment. It came a day after nuclear negotiations were halted in Vienna, with Western countries saying Iran had come to the talks with unrealistic proposals.

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Iran’s uranium enrichment facilities in Natanz have seen several reported attacks in recent years which have been attributed to Israel.

In April, the underground nuclear facility there experienced a mysterious explosion that damaged some of its centrifuges. Last July, unexplained fires struck the advanced centrifuge assembly plant at Natanz, which authorities later described as sabotage.

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Content retrieved from: https://www.timesofisrael.com/blast-reported-in-vicinity-of-nuclear-site-in-natanz-iran/.

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