Tehran, Aug 27, IRNA – Chairman of Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) Ali Akbar Salehi said on Wednesday that certain South Asian states had a hand in sabotaging Iranˈs nuclear program.
There is no limits to nuclear sabotage. We have found out many cases of interruptions to our peaceful nuclear program which, unfortunately, were made by some South Asian countries,ˈ he said in a morning televised program.
Referring to the case of the Stuxnet virus that had attacked Iranˈs nuclear facilities in 2009 and 2010, Salehi said, ˈIran was informed of the sabotage and learned how to confront it before it had come to light by mass media.ˈ
ˈWe would not disclose the issue at that time, if the western media did not make it public as we were to handle it without the knowledge of the West,ˈ added the official.
Salehi also criticized the so-called human rights advocates for perpetuating such acts against Iran noting those moves could have led to a humanitarian disaster if they had not been prevented.
Earlier this week, a senior nuclear security official announced that Germany, France and Britain were involved in industrial sabotage acts in Iran under the US leadership.
On Monday, Deputy Head of AEOI for Nuclear Security and Safeguards Asqar Zarean revealed the role of US, Germany, France and UK in acts of sabotage against Iranˈs nuclear facilities.
He said acts of sabotage by foreign agents in the industrial sector is not limited to Iranˈs nuclear facilities and there have also been similar activities against the countryˈs defense and telecommunication sectors.
All acts of sabotage are identified and defused by Intelligence Ministry before causing significant damages, Zarean stressed.
Iran has repeatedly complained of enemiesˈ hostile efforts against its civilian nuclear program.
Tehran says enemiesˈ campaign includes abduction of scientists, sale of faulty equipment and planting destructive computer worms, including Stuxnet, which sought to disrupt the countryˈs uranium enrichment activity in 2010.
