After the pagers in Lebanon: a senior Iranian admits – Israel infiltrated explosives

Iranian Vice President for Strategic Affairs, Muhammad Jawad claimed today (Wednesday) that Israel managed to inject explosives into centrifuge equipment purchased for Iran’s nuclear program, as reported on the Iran International website. Zarif revealed in an interview what appears to be another secret thwarting attempt by Israel against the Iranian nuclear program.

“Our colleagues purchased a centrifuge platform for the Atomic Energy Organization, and it was discovered that explosives had been embedded in it,” Zarif said in an interview. The Iranian official did not specify when the incident occurred, but linked it to the international sanctions system that forces Iran to rely on intermediaries in the purchase of sensitive equipment.

Zarif elaborated on the alleged Israeli method of operation: “The sanctions force us to work through a chain of intermediaries instead of directly with the manufacturers. As soon as the Zionist regime succeeds in penetrating one of the intermediaries, it opens up the possibility to inject anything it wants into the equipment.”

The senior Iranian diplomat linked the exposure to the beeper attack carried out last September against the Hezbollah terrorist organization in Lebanon. In those events, about 5,000 pagers and 1,000 radios exploded, causing the death of 32 people and the injury of more than 3,000. “This was a sophisticated operation planned for years by the Zionists,” Zarif said.

Following the events, Iran took unprecedented preventive measures. The Revolutionary Guards suspended the use of communication devices and conducted extensive inspections, and the Civil Aviation Authority prohibited the introduction of electronic communication devices, including mobile phones, on commercial flights. “These are some of the damages caused by the sanctions regime,” concluded Zarif, “beyond the economic losses, we are exposed to significant security risks.”

It should be noted that malfunctions and explosions have already occurred in the Iranian nuclear facilities in the past, the most prominent of which was the power failure at the Natanz enrichment facility in April 2021, an event that Iran defined as “nuclear terrorism”. Although Israel has never officially taken responsibility for the attacks, it is considered to be primarily responsible for countermeasures against the Iranian nuclear program.