A day after the Iranian president announced the opening of the second phase of heavy water production and "133 upgrades of our nuclear capability", a spokesman for the Iranian Atomic Energy Agency admits that activity at the Natanz reactor was temporarily halted due to a "power outage".
The reactor at Natanz
Photo:
GettyImages
A mysterious "fault" in the power grid
for the Natanz nuclear reactor in Iran.
The "glitch" occurs exactly one day after Iranian President Hassan Rouhani boasted that Iran had improved its nuclear capabilities and intended to increase heavy water production - contrary to nuclear agreements.
A spokesman for the Iranian Atomic Energy Agency, Bahruz Kamalbandi, said this morning (Sunday) that "a malfunction in the supply of electricity to the nuclear facility at Natanz, there were no casualties or pollution as a result of the incident."
Yesterday (Saturday), Iranian President Hassan Rouhani announced the opening of the second phase of Barak's heavy water production facility, as well as further developments in the nuclear field - all in violation of the nuclear agreement Iran signed with the powers it negotiated with the United States in Vienna.
"In the past year, we have made 331 upgrades to our nuclear capabilities, including the flow of gas to the centrifuges at the Natanz underground complex, and the initial activation of advanced hubs," the president said in a statement to the media.
According to him, the new IR9 concentrates are "dozens of times more efficient than those we used earlier."
Rouhani attacked the United States, saying, "Our enemies are concerned about our nuclear program, while all of our nuclear capabilities are for peaceful purposes. These capabilities have not been used as another nation has done in Japan. All of our nuclear operations are legal and within the framework of the nuclear deal."
Rouhani complained about the conduct of the International Atomic Energy Agency, claiming that the organization had not helped Iran develop its nuclear program, as it had previously promised.
