Israel behind blast in Iran’s Parchin, Natanz site ‘incident’: report

Last week’s blast in Iran’s Parchin military complex and Thursday’s “incident” at the Natanz nuclear site were Israel’s work, Kuwaiti al-Jarida newspaper revealed on Friday.

The newspaper cites a “senior security source” as saying that the explosion in the vicinity of the Parchin complex, a major weapons R&D and manufacturing center, was the result of an airstrike conducted by Israeli F-35 stealth jet.

The jet reached its target without mid-air refueling, the newspaper added.

The fire at Natanz, reported by Tehran Thursday, was in its turn the effect of a cyberattack aimed at gas compression controls, al-Jarida said, adding the blast made a “crack” in the reactor building.

Both attacks were supposedly aimed at Iran’s stock of UF6 (uranium hexafluoride) gas — a key component of uranium enrichment process for both reactor fuel and weapons.

The alleged strikes resulted in Iran losing over 80 percent of its UF6 reserves, the newspaper says, which would greatly slow down Tehran’s enrichment ambitions.

According to Iran’s own official accounts, the Natanz site saw a warehouse under construction sustain minor damage during an “incident” that was now under investigation. The blast at the Parchin site — which, according to Western media reports, may have actually occurred at a nearby Khojir military complex — was explained by a “gas explosion.”

Earlier, the newspaper also reported that the Parchin blast was caused by a cyberattack as well.