Iran Uncovers Rigged Device in Nuclear Program, Similar to Pager Attack

A billboard with a picture of late Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, late senior Iranian military commander General Qassem Soleimani, late Lebanon's Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah and late Hamas leader Yahya Al-Sinwar is seen on a street in Tehran, Iran, January 16, 2025. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS
A billboard with a picture of late Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, late senior Iranian military commander General Qassem Soleimani, late Lebanon's Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah and late Hamas leader Yahya Al-Sinwar is seen on a street in Tehran, Iran, January 16, 2025. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS
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Iran Uncovers Rigged Device in Nuclear Program, Similar to Pager Attack

A billboard with a picture of late Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, late senior Iranian military commander General Qassem Soleimani, late Lebanon's Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah and late Hamas leader Yahya Al-Sinwar is seen on a street in Tehran, Iran, January 16, 2025. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS
A billboard with a picture of late Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, late senior Iranian military commander General Qassem Soleimani, late Lebanon's Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah and late Hamas leader Yahya Al-Sinwar is seen on a street in Tehran, Iran, January 16, 2025. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS

Iran’s Vice President for Strategic Affairs, Mohammad Javad Zarif, revealed that a sabotage attempt targeting the country's uranium enrichment program had been thwarted.

The plot involved a rigged component meant for the country’s centrifuges, which was acquired through intermediaries assisting Iran in evading sanctions.

In a televised interview streamed exclusively online, Zarif cautioned that Iran is facing growing security challenges in acquiring spare parts due to US sanctions.

“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.

On September 17, thousands of pagers used by Hezbollah members exploded simultaneously in Beirut’s southern suburbs and its other strongholds. Iranian Ambassador to Lebanon Mojtaba Amani was among the injured.

The attack, followed by a second bombing the next day targeting walkie-talkies, killed 39 people and injured over 3,400.

“The issue with the pagers in Lebanon turned out to be a multi-year process, meticulously orchestrated by the Zionists (Israelis),” said Zarif.

Following the pager explosions, Iranian officials and lawmakers warned of potential Israeli infiltrations similar to the attacks. As a precaution, the communication devices used by Iranian officials underwent security reviews.

This is not the first time Iran has raised concerns over potential infiltration through spare parts. In late August 2023, Iranian state television reported the thwarting of an Israeli "plot" to sabotage its ballistic missile and drone programs using faulty spare parts acquired from a foreign supplier.

Authorities stated the parts could have caused explosions or malfunctions in Iranian missiles before launch.

The Israeli intelligence agency Mossad was accused of orchestrating the shipment of defective parts and electronic chips used in missiles and drones.

A defense ministry official confirmed that a “network of agents” had attempted to introduce the rigged components.

In April 2021, an explosion at Iran’s Natanz uranium enrichment facility, which housed hundreds of centrifuges, was blamed on Israel’s Mossad.

Alireza Zakani, then a member of parliament and now Tehran's mayor, said the blast was caused by “300 pounds of explosives planted in equipment sent abroad for repairs.”

The explosion destroyed the electrical distribution system 50 meters underground.



Colombia's Potential Presidential Contender Shot, Suspect Arrested

Senator Miguel Uribe Turbay is transported on an ambulance after being shot and wounded in Bogota on June 7, 2025. (Photo by AFP)
Senator Miguel Uribe Turbay is transported on an ambulance after being shot and wounded in Bogota on June 7, 2025. (Photo by AFP)
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Colombia's Potential Presidential Contender Shot, Suspect Arrested

Senator Miguel Uribe Turbay is transported on an ambulance after being shot and wounded in Bogota on June 7, 2025. (Photo by AFP)
Senator Miguel Uribe Turbay is transported on an ambulance after being shot and wounded in Bogota on June 7, 2025. (Photo by AFP)

Colombian Senator Miguel Uribe, a potential presidential contender, was shot in Bogota on Saturday, according to the government and his party, as his wife said he was fighting for his life in hospital.

The 39-year-old senator, who was shot during a campaign event as part of his run for the presidency in 2026, is a member of the opposition conservative Democratic Center party founded by former Colombian President Alvaro Uribe. The two men are not related.

According to a party statement condemning the attack, the senator was hosting a campaign event in a public park in the Fontibon neighborhood in the capital on Saturday when "armed subjects shot him from behind,” Reuters reported.
The party described the attack as serious, but did not disclose further details on Uribe's condition. Videos on social media showed a man, identified as Uribe, being tended to after the shooting. He appeared to be bleeding from his head.

Uribe's wife Maria Claudia Tarazona wrote on her husband's account on X that he was "fighting for his life."

Colombia's Defense Minister Pedro Sanchez said a suspect had been arrested in the shooting and that authorities were investigating whether others were involved. Sanchez said he had visited the hospital where Uribe was being treated.

The government is offering some $730,000 as a reward for information in the case.

Colombia's presidency issued a statement saying the government "categorically and forcefully" rejected the violent attack, and called for a thorough investigation into the events that took place.

Leftist President Gustavo Petro sympathized with the senator's family in a message on X saying, "I don't know how to ease your pain. It is the pain of a mother lost, and of a homeland."

Petro later said in a speech on Saturday night that the person arrested was a minor and that the investigation would focus on finding who had ordered the attack.

"For now there is nothing more than hypothesis," Petro said, adding that failures in security protocols would also be looked into.