Israel rigged centrifuge technology with explosives, Iran alleges

Israel planted explosives in centrifuge technology Iran bought for its nuclear program, veteran diplomat and vice president Mohammad Javad Zarif said, alleging an apparently unknown attempted attack by the Islamic Republic's arch-enemy.

Providing few details, Iran's vice president for strategic affairs said in a preview of an online interview that sanctions on Iran and its allies deepened security challenges and made them vulnerable to Israeli booby traps.

“Our colleagues had purchased a centrifuge platform for the Atomic Energy Organization, and it was discovered that explosives had been embedded inside it, which they managed to detect," he told the Hozour (Presence) online program.

It was not clear when the alleged incident occurred.

A power failure at Iran’s Natanz uranium enrichment site in April 2021 apparently caused by an explosion was decried by Iran as an act of "nuclear terrorism".

The murky incident was neither fully explained by Iran nor claimed by Israel, which has repeatedly carried out cyberattacks and assassinations aiming at Tehran's nuclear program.

Iran says it is pursuing peaceful nuclear technology, while Israel and the United States believe Iran may ultimately seek a bomb.

Zarif detailed how sanctions compel Iran and its allies to rely on intermediaries, creating vulnerabilities that have allegedly been exploited by Israel.

“Instead of being able to order equipment directly from the manufacturer, sanctions force you to rely on multiple intermediaries for such purchases," Zarif said.

"If the Zionist regime infiltrates even one of the intermediaries, they can do anything and embed anything they want, which is exactly what happened.”

A series of coordinated explosions in Hezbollah's communication devices in September 2024 arose from Israel's diligent infiltration of those suppliers, he added.

“The issue with the pagers in Lebanon turned out to be a multi-year process, meticulously orchestrated by the Zionists."

The September incidents in Lebanon involved the detonation of around 5,000 pagers and 1,000 walkie-talkies, resulting in at least 32 deaths and more than 3,000 injuries.

Though Israel has not taken credit for the attacks, Israeli intelligence operatives appear to have covertly modified the devices, embedding explosives during a decade-long operation involving fake companies and deceptive distribution tactics.

In response, Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) suspended communication devices, conducting inspections to prevent recurrence. The Iranian Civil Aviation Organization also banned electronic communication devices, barring mobile phones, on commercial flights.

"These are, in fact, some of the damages caused by sanctions, which have made circumventing them a necessity for us," Zarif said. "In addition to financial losses, there have also been significant security risks.”