White House Denies Involvement in Power Outage at Iran's Natanz Nuclear Facility

[Asia Economy Reporter Yujin Cho] The White House officially denied any involvement in the power outage incident at Iran's Natanz nuclear facility, stating that "the United States was not involved."

White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said at a briefing on the 12th (local time), "(Regarding the power outage at Iran's Natanz nuclear facility) the United States was not involved in any way," adding, "We have nothing further to add regarding observations about the cause or impact."

This appears to be an effort to minimize the negative impact of the Natanz nuclear facility power outage on negotiations among parties to restore the Iran nuclear deal (JCPOA - Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action).

U.S. President Joe Biden is resuming diplomatic efforts to revive the nuclear deal, which was unilaterally abandoned during the Donald Trump administration. Iran, along with the United Kingdom, France, Germany, and others, has been conducting negotiations among the parties in Vienna, Austria since the 6th, while the United States is participating indirectly due to Iran's opposition to direct talks.

Iranian authorities have attributed the power outage at the Natanz nuclear facility on the 11th to an Israeli act aimed at preventing the restoration of the nuclear deal and have warned of retaliation.

According to Iran's state-run IRNA news agency, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif attended a parliamentary security committee meeting on the same day and condemned the power outage at the Natanz nuclear facility as an Israeli attempt to block the restoration of the nuclear deal.

Foreign Minister Zarif stated, "The Zionist regime (Israel) wants to prevent Iran's efforts to lift sanctions," and added, "We will carry out retaliation for such actions."

He emphasized, "They (Israel) believe this attack will weaken Iran in negotiations to restore the nuclear deal, but the Natanz nuclear facility will become stronger with more advanced equipment than before."

The Natanz nuclear facility, which suffered the incident, operates advanced centrifuges that are prohibited under the JCPOA. This facility is also subject to daily inspections by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).