Israel sabotaged Iran's nuclear equipment with explosives, vice president claims

Iran’s Vice President for Strategic Affairs, Mohammad Javad Zarif, has accused Israel of planting explosives in centrifuge technology that Iran purchased for its nuclear program.

In a preview of an online interview, Zarif said the explosives were detected within a centrifuge platform bought for the Atomic Energy Organization, but he provided few specifics about the timing of the incident, Caliber.Az reports via the London-based Iranian media outlet.

“Our colleagues had purchased a centrifuge platform for the Atomic Energy Organization, and it was discovered that explosives had been embedded inside it, which they managed to detect," Zarif told the Hozour (Presence) online program. "This is part of the deepened security challenges we face due to sanctions."

Zarif highlighted how sanctions against Iran and its allies force them to rely on intermediaries for purchasing sensitive equipment, increasing their vulnerability to foreign sabotage. “Instead of being able to order equipment directly from the manufacturer, sanctions force you to rely on multiple intermediaries for such purchases. If the Zionist regime infiltrates even one of the intermediaries, they can do anything and embed anything they want, which is exactly what happened,” Zarif explained.

The accusations come amid ongoing tensions regarding Iran’s nuclear program. In April 2021, a power failure at Iran’s Natanz uranium enrichment site, which Iran blamed on an explosion, was labeled by the country as an act of “nuclear terrorism.” Though Israel has never formally claimed responsibility for the attack, it has long been suspected of being behind cyberattacks and other operations targeting Iran’s nuclear infrastructure.

Zarif also referred to Israel’s involvement in an alleged operation to sabotage communication devices used by Hezbollah. In September 2024, a series of explosions involving pagers and walkie-talkies across Lebanon resulted in significant casualties. Zarif suggested the explosions were part of a years-long infiltration by Israeli operatives into suppliers of these devices, with explosives embedded covertly.

“The issue with the pagers in Lebanon turned out to be a multi-year process, meticulously orchestrated by the Zionists," Zarif said. "These are, in fact, some of the damages caused by sanctions, which have made circumventing them a necessity for us. In addition to financial losses, there have also been significant security risks.”

The Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) responded to the attacks by suspending communication devices and conducting inspections to prevent further incidents. Iran also banned mobile phones on commercial flights to prevent possible threats from electronic devices.

By Khagan Isayev