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The Stuxnet Mystery... Dutch Engineer Disrupted Iranian Uranium Enrichment

Natanz nuclear facility, 322 kilometers south of Tehran (AP)
Natanz nuclear facility, 322 kilometers south of Tehran (AP)
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The Stuxnet Mystery... Dutch Engineer Disrupted Iranian Uranium Enrichment

Natanz nuclear facility, 322 kilometers south of Tehran (AP)
Natanz nuclear facility, 322 kilometers south of Tehran (AP)

Sixteen years after the largest operation targeting the Iranian nuclear program, a new investigative report by a Dutch newspaper revealed the identity of the agent who introduced the “Stuxnet” computer worm to the main uranium enrichment facility in Natanz, central Iran, in a process that took years of cooperation between the United States and Israel.
Washington and Tel Aviv developed the Stuxnet virus, which was discovered in 2010, after it was used to strike the Natanz facility, in the first attack of its kind on industrial equipment. Iranian officials said at the time that the virus had infected the Bushehr nuclear station, which overlooks the Arabian Gulf.
The virus is a malicious computer program that attacks widely used industrial control systems produced by the German company Siemens AG, and exploits security vulnerabilities in the Microsoft Windows operating system. Experts say that the virus could be used for espionage or sabotage.
Years after the attack that disrupted the Iranian nuclear program and caused tension between Tehran and the West, De Volkskrant revealed the details of the access of American and Israeli intelligence to the heavily fortified facility, after a Dutch engineer succeeded in introducing equipment contaminated with the virus into the lifeline of Natanz, and installing it on water pumps.
According to the investigation published by De Volkskrant, Dutch Engineer Erik van Sabben, an agent of the Dutch General Intelligence and Security Service (AIVD), succeeded in reaching the Natanz facility, to carry out the secret operation that was preceded by years of preparation and cooperation between the CIA, the Israeli Mossad, at a cost of one billion dollars.
The investigation stated that the engineer carried out an extremely risky mission in Iran, by infiltrating the Natanz facility in 2007, where he installed contaminated devices and equipment. The results of the largest major blow to the Iranian nuclear weapons program emerged eight months after the equipment was fixed, causing the disruption of a thousand central devices within the facility.
Van Sabben, a civil engineer by profession, died in a motorbike crash near his home in Dubai two years after the operation.
According to the newspaper, the Dutch engineer, who is married to an Iranian woman, worked for a transport company in Dubai, and traveled several times to Iran. The company said it had previously sent spare parts to Iran’s oil and gas industry, but was not aware of the secret activities of its employee.
His death raised questions among the Dutch intelligence service, and fears that it was linked to his secret activities in Iran.
The two-year investigation was based on the testimonies of 43 people, 19 of whom were from the Dutch General Intelligence and Security Service (AIVD), the Dutch Military Intelligence and Security Service (MIVD), and former employees of the Mossad, the Israeli Military Intelligence Service (Aman), and the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).
The investigation raises questions about why the Dutch government, the two main Dutch intelligence services, and the parliamentary committee on public security and intelligence were not informed of the details of the Stuxnet operation. The newspaper noted that international experts view the sabotage of the Iranian nuclear program as “an act of war while the Netherlands was not at war with Iran,” and warned of “geo-political consequences” if the involvement of the country’s intelligence services is proven.
Electronic warfare constitutes an essential aspect of the shadow war taking place between Israel and Iran, especially against the backdrop of the nuclear file, the focus of the main conflict between Tehran and the Western powers.
At the end of August, Iran announced that it had thwarted an “Israeli plot” to damage its program to develop ballistic missiles and drones through defective spare parts imported from abroad.
According to the Iranian account, the Ministry of Defense obtained spare parts and electronic chips, which are used in the production of advanced missiles and drones.

Mahdi Farahi, Deputy Minister of Defense, told state television: “Had it not been for thwarting the interference, and if spare parts had been used, all the missiles would have been ineffective.”
State television accused a “professional and specialized network with the help of some infiltrated elements” of being behind the “conspiracy.”

 

 

 

 

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Trump Wants More Economic Pressure on Iran. What Are his Options?

US President Donald Trump arrives to deliver remarks at the Nassau County Police Academy Center for Training and Intelligence in Garden City, New York, on August 14, 2026. (Photo by Kent NISHIMURA / AFP)
US President Donald Trump arrives to deliver remarks at the Nassau County Police Academy Center for Training and Intelligence in Garden City, New York, on August 14, 2026. (Photo by Kent NISHIMURA / AFP)
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Trump Wants More Economic Pressure on Iran. What Are his Options?

US President Donald Trump arrives to deliver remarks at the Nassau County Police Academy Center for Training and Intelligence in Garden City, New York, on August 14, 2026. (Photo by Kent NISHIMURA / AFP)
US President Donald Trump arrives to deliver remarks at the Nassau County Police Academy Center for Training and Intelligence in Garden City, New York, on August 14, 2026. (Photo by Kent NISHIMURA / AFP)

US President Donald Trump on Friday vowed to hit Iran hard economically, a day after Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said that Washington would impose measures on Tehran that have "never been seen" as soon as next week.

The United States, United Nations and European Union have applied sanctions, implemented trade embargoes and frozen assets since the late 1970s over Iran's nuclear program, human rights violations and support for militant groups.

Since the Iran war began in February, Washington has levied additional maritime, energy and financial sanctions and started a naval blockade.

Data from the US Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) shows the agency has imposed sanctions on more than 1,000 people, vessels and aircraft since Trump began his second term.

Recent measures have targeted Iran's shadow oil fleet; shipping insurers; entities and people enabling Iran's acquisition of weapons; and digital exchanges, freezing an estimated $500 billion in Iran-linked cryptocurrency.

According to Reuters, experts say the Trump administration also can try these options:

SANCTIONS ON CHINESE 'TEAPOT' REFINERS

Chinese independent refineries known as "teapots" account for a quarter of Chinese refinery capacity. They operate with narrow and sometimes negative profit margins.

China buys more than 80% of Iran's shipped oil, according to 2025 data from analytics firm Kpler. Independent refiners absorb much of this trade, exposing them to so-called secondary measures that penalize entities helping a primary sanctions target.

Past ⁠US sanctions have ⁠deterred larger independent refiners from buying Iranian oil. But the independent refineries are somewhat immune since they have little exposure to the US financial system, sanctions experts say.

SANCTIONS ON CHINESE BANKS

OFAC has imposed secondary sanctions on smaller China- and Hong Kong-based entities accused of processing billions of dollars in Iranian oil and helping to fund weapons procurement.

Treasury has warned two larger Chinese banks they could face secondary sanctions if Iranian funds were found moving through their systems, but has stopped short of designating them.

Hitting those two banks, which US officials have not publicly identified, or imposing other sanctions could have a chilling effect on bigger financial institutions, sanctions experts said, although they warned it could ⁠also trigger retaliatory actions by Beijing.

Trump administration officials have sought to play down tensions between Washington and Beijing ahead of an expected meeting between Trump and President Xi Jinping later this year.

They worry that China could curtail exports of critical minerals that are essential to advanced technology production at a time when the US and Western allies are still trying to develop their own supplies.

'WHACK-A-MOLE'

The United States could continue targeting Iranian individuals and entities, as well as others in China and the Gulf, that are helping Tehran evade sanctions to collect revenues for its war effort.

Treasury recently issued sanctions against firms that are springing up to facilitate Iran's trading of oil revenue for imports. But such measures amount to a "whack-a-mole" approach that has not altered Iran's behavior, said Brett Erickson, managing principal of Obsidian Risk Advisors, noting that Tehran simply creates new entities to replace them.

Miad Maleki, a sanctions expert with the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, said Bessent was likely signaling a sharpened enforcement push against oil shippers, purchasers and currency exchangers who help Iran pay for ⁠its imports.

Further aviation sanctions were ⁠also possible, aimed at degrading Iran's ability to move trade now that the US has blockaded shipping via the Strait of Hormuz, he added.

LAND BLOCKADE

Some US and Israeli officials have floated the prospect of a land blockade, which would require assistance from Iran's neighbors: Iraq, Türkiye, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan and Armenia.

The Trump administration has varying degrees of closeness with all those countries except Afghanistan, but that border is mountainous and extremely difficult to patrol anyway.

SECONDARY TARIFFS

Trump has repeatedly threatened tariffs on goods from countries that do business with Iran, although the Supreme Court struck down the legal basis for such taxes.

The Senate passed a sweeping Russia sanctions bill last week that included new Iran sanctions and would give Trump new tariff powers that he could potentially use against countries that aid Iran's commerce and weapons procurement. That legislation must still pass the US House of Representatives, which could prove challenging given widespread concerns among Democrats and some Republicans about the tariff measures.

Features

The Ukrainian Social Media Channels Tracking Russian Missiles

Ukrainians use Telegram channels to track incoming Russian missiles and drones. Tetiana DZHAFAROVA / AFP
Ukrainians use Telegram channels to track incoming Russian missiles and drones. Tetiana DZHAFAROVA / AFP
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The Ukrainian Social Media Channels Tracking Russian Missiles

Ukrainians use Telegram channels to track incoming Russian missiles and drones. Tetiana DZHAFAROVA / AFP
Ukrainians use Telegram channels to track incoming Russian missiles and drones. Tetiana DZHAFAROVA / AFP

The chances of a missile attack on Kyiv that night were around 50 percent, according to the administrator of a social media channel monitoring Russian air raids.

His channel, Aeris Rimor -- roughly derived from the Latin for Searcher of the Skies -- is one of dozens sending real-time messages about incoming drones and missiles.

Ukrainians consult them to track potential Russian attacks, like people check weather applications for storms but with less certainty, shorter warning, and deadly stakes.

During one recent overnight attack, AFP journalists were granted rare access to shadow "Esko", the channel's administrator, on condition that his identity and some details of the operation remained undisclosed.

The 19-year-old, sporting a budding beard, usually operates from home, filling lulls by watching the TV show Criminal Minds or honing his drone-flying skills on a simulator.

Twenty-six minutes after midnight, the air raid alert rang, soon followed by a red dot glitching across the map on a screen in front of him.

"Oh, a missile on Kyiv," he said.

Switching to Telegram, he sent a message to 150,000 followers: "KYIV TARGET!"

"It's going to hit Kyiv in about a minute," he said.

He then sent out the names of the districts being targeted, quietly lamenting a few typos.

Seconds later, explosions echoed over the capital.

The red dot disappeared from the map, only for another to pop up shorty after.

"You have to literally stay on duty and stare at the screen the whole time, because you can easily miss it," said Esko, who did not appear to struggle, even late into the night.

Esko was looking at a live map used by Ukraine's air defense units.

Red icons -- depicting Russian drones -- were dotted across the map and disappeared as they were downed by Ukraine's air force.

- Bedtime dilemma -

The channels are tolerated by authorities but operate in a legal grey area as they use information from air force contacts.

Esko would not reveal publicly how he accessed the map.

In its nightly attacks, Moscow increasingly fires ballistic missiles, flying up to thousands of kilometers (miles) per hour and reaching Kyiv within three minutes of an air raid warning.

This poses a haunting dilemma for those in the capital.

Either go to a shelter -- the metro or a basement -- in advance, accepting a disrupted and uncomfortable night of half-sleep.

Or stay home and face the risk of a hit, particularly dangerous for those in high-rise buildings in heavily targeted districts.

Sometimes authorities warn hours before a likely attack.

Telegram channels -- sifting through intelligence data -- close the information gap, putting out daily forecasts on the probability of different types of attacks.

Esko said people often reach out asking for advice.

"You can only say: something might happen... but decide for yourselves."

On a recent night in Kyiv when there were mixed signals about a Russian strike, Kateryna Reshetnyk had gone down to the subway.

She based her decision on "a parallel analysis of several channels that have been posting truthful information for a long time."

She had set up folding chair next to the turnstiles with her mother and grandmother -- their beds for the next hours.

"But no one knows for sure what will happen or not. You just rely on your intuition and survival instinct," the 34-year-old said.

- 'Tension rising' -

Hundreds of others, armed with mats, tents and pillows, had done the same.

Dogs snored next to their owners, who were glued to their phones, screens lighting up weary faces.

"We track what's happening and where, because our relatives, friends and colleagues are all over Kyiv and the region, so at least we understand what is happening and where," Reshetnyk said.

The night passed without a major strike.

Ukraine's air force grudgingly tolerates the monitoring channels.

"We can't ban them. They exist, they inform the public, for some people that's convenient," spokesman Yuri Ignat told AFP.

But he warned those running them not to post "excess information ... that the enemy can use against us."

With people making potentially life-or-death decisions based on his posts, Esko said he felt the weight of responsibility.

Much of his life now is spent at the screen, tracking hundreds of drones on only a few hours sleep.

But he prefers busy nights, rather than uneasy periods of calm when Russia is stockpiling for future attacks.

"You keep waiting, waiting, waiting, and then you start posting warnings because the tension is rising. And still, nothing happens. You post again, and nothing happens..."

"And then they hit."

Features

US Pulls Last Aircraft Carrier in Asia as Trump Focuses on Iran and the Western Hemisphere

This handout picture released by the US Navy on May 8, 2019 shows the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72) while conducting a replenishment-at-sea with the fast combat support ship USNS Arctic (T-AOE 9), while MH-60S Sea Hawk helicopters assigned to the "Nightdippers" of Helicopter Maritime Strike Squadron (HSM) 5, transfer stores between the ships. (Jason WAITE / Navy Office of Information / AFP)
This handout picture released by the US Navy on May 8, 2019 shows the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72) while conducting a replenishment-at-sea with the fast combat support ship USNS Arctic (T-AOE 9), while MH-60S Sea Hawk helicopters assigned to the "Nightdippers" of Helicopter Maritime Strike Squadron (HSM) 5, transfer stores between the ships. (Jason WAITE / Navy Office of Information / AFP)
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US Pulls Last Aircraft Carrier in Asia as Trump Focuses on Iran and the Western Hemisphere

This handout picture released by the US Navy on May 8, 2019 shows the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72) while conducting a replenishment-at-sea with the fast combat support ship USNS Arctic (T-AOE 9), while MH-60S Sea Hawk helicopters assigned to the "Nightdippers" of Helicopter Maritime Strike Squadron (HSM) 5, transfer stores between the ships. (Jason WAITE / Navy Office of Information / AFP)
This handout picture released by the US Navy on May 8, 2019 shows the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72) while conducting a replenishment-at-sea with the fast combat support ship USNS Arctic (T-AOE 9), while MH-60S Sea Hawk helicopters assigned to the "Nightdippers" of Helicopter Maritime Strike Squadron (HSM) 5, transfer stores between the ships. (Jason WAITE / Navy Office of Information / AFP)

President Donald Trump's war against Iran is stretching the limits of US aircraft carriers and leaving the western Pacific without one of the key American warships as China shows more signs of aggression.

The USS George Washington is departing the Pacific and expected to replace the USS Abraham Lincoln in the Middle East amid growing concerns about mental health and supply issues aboard the long-deployed carrier. The Lincoln has had its time at sea extended from its original May return date to support operations against Iran.

The lack of a US carrier in the Pacific may be short-lived if the Navy deploys another in the next couple of months. But it shows how the open-ended operations with Iran are running some American sailors ragged, analysts say, while the Trump administration further retreats from the Asia-Pacific region and focuses on the Western Hemisphere.

“The administration says that the Pacific is supposed to be the most important behind the Western Hemisphere,” said Greg Poling, director of the Southeast Asia Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Instead, the US is "doing the exact opposite" of its previously expressed goal of pulling out of the Middle East.

American allies in the Pacific are unsettled over the unpredictability of the Republican administration, Poling said, while Beijing “is quite happy with US distraction, with the frustration of US allies and partners."

China may take advantage of US carrier's absence

Beijing sees the US military presence in the region as a threat to China’s rise and an obstacle to its ambition to seize Taiwan, the self-governing island it claims as its own. But the United States has argued that the Pacific region is too important economically to lose.

No one expects China to invade Taiwan because an American aircraft carrier has left the region. But the carrier's absence gives the Chinese another opportunity to show its strength, said Bryan Clark, a former Navy submariner who is a defense analyst at the Hudson Institute.

“They’re using this as part of the narrative to demonstrate to the Philippines, to Japan, to Indonesia and others that the US is not the big dog in the western Pacific anymore,” Clark said. “They would just prefer that countries in the region decide that China is the bigger power and the US is not able to guarantee their security anymore.”

China conducted naval exercises this week with Indonesia and recently has shown signs of aggression toward Japan and the Philippines, two key US allies that also have territorial disputes with Beijing.

China carried out military drills this month near the Scarborough Shoal in the South China Sea. Both China and the Philippines have claims over the shoal. Last month, a Chinese guided-missile destroyer conducted a live-fire exercise off Japan’s southernmost island of Okinotori.

Adm. Frank Bradley, head of the US Special Operations Command, has been trying to reassure regional allies of Washington’s commitment. He was in Manila on Thursday, telling his Filipino counterparts that US special operations forces are ready to step up joint exercises to strengthen the countries' alliance. He also is expected to travel to Japan.

“We have the ability to project force, the United States, anywhere on the globe,” Bradley told The Associated Press. “And when the threat in the region of the Middle East has been attended to, we will redeploy and reorient and be able to project that force wherever else it might be required.”

“I also feel very confident in the Armed Forces of the Philippines’ ability to protect their sovereignty here and for us to remain close with them,” he said.

Evan Sankey, a policy analyst at the Cato Institute who focuses on US policy toward China, said aircraft carriers provide psychological assurance to US allies. The absence of carriers in the region, he said, “adds to the general sense that the US is distracted by events in the Middle East.”

Trump has relied on aircraft carriers for military actions

Trump has relied heavily on aircraft carriers to support military operations during his second term. For example, the USS Gerald R. Ford returned home in mid-May after an 11-month deployment, the longest since the Vietnam War, during which it supported the US fight against Iran and the capture of Venezuela's then-leader, Nicolás Maduro.

The Ford had experienced a fire in a laundry space that forced the carrier to turn around and return to the Mediterranean Sea for repairs and left hundreds of sailors without places to sleep. Meanwhile, the Lincoln has spent a record uninterrupted time at sea of more than 240 days. Democratic lawmakers have been calling for investigations and greater visibility into conditions aboard the ship.

Warships and their crews can only handle so much, said Robert Farley, who teaches national security and diplomacy at the University of Kentucky and often writes about aircraft carriers.

“People don’t get enough rest. It's psychologically exhausting. And R&R is part of keeping the crew healthy,” Farley said. “Sometimes it’s framed as, ‘These people haven’t had a vacation.’ But we are dealing with well-known limits on the capacity of a crew to operate at top efficiency over time. And that just declines."

Clark, of the Hudson Institute, said the squeeze on the nation's aircraft carriers stems from the lack of preparation and planning for the Iran war.

“If we were going to mobilize to do this kind of conflict, and we anticipated it might go this long, we might have done some changes to the carrier schedule to make sure more would be available,” Clark said.

Clark said the Navy has 11 aircraft carriers and typically deploys two or three at a time. But it could soon deploy four if the USS Theodore Roosevelt leaves San Diego for the Middle East, allowing the Washington to return to Pacific.

But the massive warships will need maintenance, likely causing a bottleneck at the nation's only two carrier shipyards.

“We’ll end up with a maintenance debt that needs to be paid for the next few years,” Clark said. “We’ll probably have less carrier presence than we’ve had in the previous years because carriers will be lined up to get into the shipyard.”

There are questions about the use of aircraft carriers in modern warfare

Michael Swaine, a senior research fellow in the Quincy Institute’s East Asia Program, questions the future need for aircraft carriers as warfare rapidly changes.

Carriers can be more easily targeted with drones and missiles, particularly by an adversary such as China, Swaine said, while smaller ships and submarines can be as effective in striking targets as the fighter jets that launch off a carrier.

Top Navy officials have indicated a desire to move away from a heavy reliance on carriers. Adm. Daryl Caudle, chief of naval operations, told The Associated Press in February that he wants to convince commanders to use smaller, newer ships and other assets instead of consistently turning to huge aircraft carriers.