Iran on Saturday named a man it wants arrested in connection
with a recent explosion and power outage at its main Natanz nuclear plant, as
talks got underway in Vienna to try to save Tehran's 2015 nuclear deal with
world powers.
اضافة اعلان
"Reza Karimi, the perpetrator of this sabotage... has
been identified" by Iran's intelligence ministry, state TV said. It said
the suspect had fled Iran before last Sunday’s blast that the Islamic Republic
has blamed on arch-foe Israel.
Officials from the remaining parties to Iran's nuclear deal
began a formal meeting in Vienna, suggesting that this round of talks which
began on Thursday was wrapping up.
The television showed what it said was a photograph of the
suspected perpetrator on a red card that had "Interpol Wanted"
written on it. The card listed his age as 43.
"Necessary steps are underway for his arrest and return
to the country through legal channels," the report added.
State TV also aired footage of rows of what it said were
centrifuges which had replaced the ones damaged in the blast at the Natanz
uranium enrichment plant.
It added that "a large number" of centrifuges
whose enrichment activity was disrupted by the explosion had been returned to
normal service, the report said.
Iran and global powers are meeting in Vienna to try to
rescue the 2015 nuclear deal abandoned by Washington three years ago. The talks
are potentially complicated by Tehran’s decision to ramp up uranium enrichment
and what it called Israeli sabotage at the Natanz nuclear site.
Meanwhile a source, echoing Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali
Khamenei’s stance, reiterated Iran's demand for the removal of all sanctions
imposed under former President Donald Trump.
"In Tehran, nothing will be accepted but the removal of
all sanctions, including those related to the JCPOA (nuclear accord), reimposed
and relabeled during the Trump era," the unnamed source told Iran’s
state-run Press TV.
Israeli media outlets have quoted unnamed intelligence
sources as saying the country's Mossad spy service carried out the Natanz
sabotage operation. Israel - widely believed to be the only Middle Eastern
country with a nuclear arsenal - has not formally commented on the incident.
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