Iran warned on Monday that any country found to be responsible for the explosion at its Natanz nuclear enrichment facility on July 2 should expect retaliation, the Israel Hayom newspaper reported.
“After summarizing, a full report will be presented in this regard and then, we will take the necessary actions in accordance with the findings that will be made after the investigation,” Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Seyed Abbas Mousavi was quoted as having said.
“If a regime or a government is involved in the Natanz incident, Iran will react decisively,” stressed Mousavi.
On July 2, Iran reported an "incident" at the Natanz complex, but said it caused no casualties and failed to stop enrichment work at the facility.
An unnamed Middle Eastern intelligence official told The New York Times last week that Israel was responsible for the attack, which he said was carried out using a powerful bomb. Israel has not commented on the report.
The building damaged at the Natanz site from the explosion was a new centrifuge assembly center, Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency reported.
Iranian officials had previously sought to downplay the fire, which erupted in the early morning, calling it only an “incident” that affected an “industrial shed.” However, images of the site broadcast by Iranian state television showed a two-story brick building bearing scorch marks, with its roof apparently destroyed. Iranian officials have said they suspect “enemies of Iran” were responsible for the attack.
The explosion at Natanz came six days after an explosion near a military complex in Parchin area southeast of Tehran rocked the Iranian capital.
Authorities blamed that blast on "leaking gas tanks".