TEHRAN (Iran News) – Chief of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) Ali Akbar Salehi said the country has begun to build a hall near its Natanz nuclear site to replace a production hall at the facility which was damaged by an explosion in July.
Salehi made the remarks on the sidelines of a meeting of the Parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Committee on Tuesday, according to IRNA.
“It was decided to establish a more modern, wider and more comprehensive hall in all dimensions in the heart of the mountain near Natanz. Of course, the work has begun,” said Salehi.
Iran said at the time that the explosion was the result of sabotage and had caused significant damage that could slow the development of advanced uranium enrichment centrifuges.
The AEOI spokesman Behrouz Kamalvandi said on Sunday that the country’s security forces have identified the perpetrators of the act of sabotage at the facility.
“It is for the security organizations to painstakingly investigate [the incident] and they are expected to give their final view in this regard. Their investigations are underway and as far as we know, they have detected the agents [who committed the act of sabotage] as well as the motive, methods and manner of the sabotage,” Kamalvandi said, Press TV wrote.
Failed plot
He added that the saboteurs sought to disrupt the uranium enrichment process at the Natanz facility, but they failed.
Therefore, the Iranian official said, the AEOI decided to build another shed at the nuclear facility, stressing, “Their desperate effort did not stop us.”
On July 2, Iran said an incident had affected a shed under construction at Natanz, but it caused no casualties and failed to stop enrichment work at the facility.
Iran’s Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) said later that the “main cause” of the incident had been determined and would be announced at an appropriate time.
Nuclear facilities in region
Salehi said on Tuesday that the United Arab Emirates has launched the first nuclear reactor and is supposed to have four nuclear reactors. Saudi Arabia has also made a serious decision to enter this field, and in Turkey, very extensive activities have begun in connection with the construction of the nuclear plant, according to IRNA.
He noted that the Parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Committee is seeking consultations with the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran to examine the security dimension of this issue.
- source : Iran Daily
