Iran State TV Identifies Man It Says Was Behind Blast at Natanz Nuclear Site

This satellite photo provided from Planet Labs Inc. shows Iran's Natanz nuclear facility on Wednesday, April 14, 2021. (AP)
This satellite photo provided from Planet Labs Inc. shows Iran's Natanz nuclear facility on Wednesday, April 14, 2021. (AP)
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Iran State TV Identifies Man It Says Was Behind Blast at Natanz Nuclear Site

This satellite photo provided from Planet Labs Inc. shows Iran's Natanz nuclear facility on Wednesday, April 14, 2021. (AP)
This satellite photo provided from Planet Labs Inc. shows Iran's Natanz nuclear facility on Wednesday, April 14, 2021. (AP)

Iran named a suspect Saturday in the attack on its Natanz nuclear facility that damaged centrifuges there, saying he had fled the country before the sabotage happened.

State television named the suspect as 43-year-old Reza Karimi. It showed a passport-style photograph of a man it identified as Karimi, saying he was born in the nearby city of Kashan, Iran.

The report did not elaborate how Karimi would have gotten access to one of the most secure facilities in the Islamic Republic, The Associated Press reported.

The report also aired what appeared to be an Interpol “red notice” seeking his arrest. The arrest notice was not immediately accessible on Interpol's public-facing database.

Interpol, based in Lyon, France, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The TV report said “necessary actions” are underway to bring him back to Iran through legal channels, without elaborating.

The report also showed centrifuges in a hall, as well as what appeared to be caution tape up at the Natanz facility.

The attack Sunday, suspected to have been carried out by Israel, has inflamed a shadow war between the two nations.

Iran has begun enriching a small amount of uranium up to 60% purity — its highest level ever — in response amid talks in Vienna aimed at saving its tattered nuclear deal with world powers.



Iran Denies Any Meeting with US Next Week, Foreign Minister Says

 Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi attends a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia June 23, 2025. (Sputnik/Sergei Karpukhin/Pool via Reuters)
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi attends a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia June 23, 2025. (Sputnik/Sergei Karpukhin/Pool via Reuters)
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Iran Denies Any Meeting with US Next Week, Foreign Minister Says

 Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi attends a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia June 23, 2025. (Sputnik/Sergei Karpukhin/Pool via Reuters)
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi attends a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia June 23, 2025. (Sputnik/Sergei Karpukhin/Pool via Reuters)

Iran currently has no plan to meet with the United States, Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said on Thursday in an interview on state TV, contradicting US President Donald Trump's statement that Washington planned to have talks with Iran next week.

The Iranian foreign minister said Tehran was assessing whether talks with the US were in its interest, following five previous rounds of negotiations that were cut short by Israel and the US attacking Iran’s nuclear facilities.

The US and Israel said the strikes were meant to curb Iran’s ability to create nuclear weapons, while Iran says its nuclear program is solely geared toward civilian use.

Araqchi said the damages to nuclear sites “were not little” and that relevant authorities were figuring out the new realities of Iran’s nuclear program, which he said would inform Iran’s future diplomatic stance.