Iran Says it Thwarted Nuclear Site Sabotage it Ascribes to Israel

Photo from a brochure published by the Iranian Atomic Energy Organization on Nov. 6, 2019, showing the interior of the Fordow plant in Qom, Iran. (Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, AFP file photo)
Photo from a brochure published by the Iranian Atomic Energy Organization on Nov. 6, 2019, showing the interior of the Fordow plant in Qom, Iran. (Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, AFP file photo)
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Iran Says it Thwarted Nuclear Site Sabotage it Ascribes to Israel

Photo from a brochure published by the Iranian Atomic Energy Organization on Nov. 6, 2019, showing the interior of the Fordow plant in Qom, Iran. (Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, AFP file photo)
Photo from a brochure published by the Iranian Atomic Energy Organization on Nov. 6, 2019, showing the interior of the Fordow plant in Qom, Iran. (Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, AFP file photo)

Iranian state television said on Monday its security forces had thwarted a planned sabotage at the country's major Fordow nuclear site by a network it accused Israel of recruiting. It said the forces made arrests.

The Israeli prime minister's office had no immediate comment on the report.

The television said an Israeli officer first contacted a neighbor of an employee of the uranium enrichment plant and managed to recruit them both after paying them in cash and digital currency.

Revolutionary Guards security agents were monitoring the network and were able to break it up before the sabotage could be carried out, arresting an unspecified number of people, the television said.

The state news agency IRNA said a new agency called Revolutionary Guards Nuclear Command, which it said had been set up to oversee defense and security matters at nuclear installations, was involved in the operation to stop the planned sabotage.

Iran has accused Israel of carrying out several attacks on facilities linked to its nuclear program and of killing its nuclear scientists over the past years. Israel has neither denied nor confirmed the allegations.

In April 2021, Tehran said an incident that disrupted the flow of power at Iran’s Natanz uranium enrichment facility, in the desert in the central province of Isfahan, was caused by an act of “nuclear terrorism”.



Russia Attacks Energy Infrastructure in Ukraine’s Sumy Region, Local Authorities Say 

A firefighter works at a site of residential buildings heavily damaged by a Russian air strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Sumy, Ukraine September 8, 2024. (Press service of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine in Sumy region/Handout via Reuters) 
A firefighter works at a site of residential buildings heavily damaged by a Russian air strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Sumy, Ukraine September 8, 2024. (Press service of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine in Sumy region/Handout via Reuters) 
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Russia Attacks Energy Infrastructure in Ukraine’s Sumy Region, Local Authorities Say 

A firefighter works at a site of residential buildings heavily damaged by a Russian air strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Sumy, Ukraine September 8, 2024. (Press service of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine in Sumy region/Handout via Reuters) 
A firefighter works at a site of residential buildings heavily damaged by a Russian air strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Sumy, Ukraine September 8, 2024. (Press service of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine in Sumy region/Handout via Reuters) 

Russian forces attacked energy infrastructure in Ukraine's northeastern Sumy region, cutting power in some districts and forcing authorities to resort to back-up power systems, local authorities said on Tuesday.

The attack dealt damage in Konotop, Okhtyrka and Sumy districts of the region and the critical infrastructure facilities were using back-up power systems, regional officials said via the Telegram messaging app.

Sumy water supply facilities said that the attack cut power to them at night, prompting the switch to emergency power supply.

Sumy's acting mayor Artem Kobzar said there were no casualties in the city and that energy workers were dealing with the attack's aftermath.

The regional authorities said air defenses shot down 16 drones over the region.

The Ukrainian air force said Russia launched 51 drones to attack the country overnight and that it had shot down 34 of them after the air defense worked in five regions.