Truth behind the Nuclear Cyber attack on Iran's Natanz Facility. ## ईरान की नैटजेन फैसिलिटी पर न्यूक्लियर साइबर हमले के पीछे का सच ##
Why in NEWS?
A nuclear facility in Iran was hit by "sabotage" a day after it unveiled new uranium enrichment equipment, the country's top nuclear official says.
Head of Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, Ali Akbar Salehi did not say who was to blame for the "terrorist act", which caused a power failure at the Natanz complex south of Tehran on Sunday.
Israeli public media, however, cited intelligence sources who said it was the result of an Israeli cyber-attack. Israel has not commented on the incident directly.
The BLACKOUT at Iran's Natanz facility came just after the country announced it had started up new advanced centrifuges capable of enriching uranium faster.The timing has raised suspicions that it could have been a cyber attack that caused the blackout, with experts saying this may have been done to send a message that Iran's nuclear programme will be curbed in different ways even if western powers ease pressure on Tehran by lifting sanctions as talks are on to revive the nuclear deal. Israel has been a vocal opponent of the nuclear deal and calls for a maximum pressure approach in dealing with Tehran.
What is the goal of uranium enrichment?
Uranium contains a rare radioactive isotope, called U-235, that can be used to power nuclear reactors at low enrichment levels and to fuel nuclear bombs at much higher levels. The goal of uranium enrichment is to raise the percentage levels of U-235, which is often done through the use of centrifuges-machines that spina form of unrefined uranium at high speeds.under the nuclear agreement, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, Iran was allowed to keep up to 300 kilograms, or 660 pounds, of uranium enriched to 3.67 percent for civlian nuclear power.Iran also agreed to' stop enriching uranium beyond 5 percent and to idle hundreds of centrifuges. Its uranium supply fell far below the amount needed to produce even one bomb.
Why does Iran have more enriched uranium now?
After President Donald J. Trump repudiated the Iran deal in 2018,
reimposed economic sanctions on Iran and added other penalties, Iran undertook a graduated series of steps away from compliance with the deal to retaliate - increasing its 3.67 percent uranium supply, adding centrifuges, raising uranium purity in some of the supply to 20 percent and restricting international inspectors' access to some nuclear sites. What makes the 60 percent enrichment level particularly threatening is that the tricky process of enrichment becomes far easier and requires fewer centrifuges as it moves into the higher purities. In other words, getting to 90 percent purity is much easier starting from 20 percent, and easier still starting from 60 percent.
How much enriched uranium does Iran now possess?
According to the International Atomic Energy Agency, the nuclear monitoring arm of the United Nations, Iran as of February had amassed 2,967.8 kilograms of uranium roughly 14 times the limit under the nuclear accord and theoretically enough to power about three atomic bombs if refined to weapons grade. The stockpile includes 17.6 kilograms enriched to 20 percent also forbidden under the accord until the year 2030.
Iran nuclear crisis: The basics
World powers don't trust Iran: Some countries believe Iran wants nuclear
power because it wants to build a nuclear bomb - it denies this. So, a deal was struck: In 2015, Iran and six other countries reached a major agreement. Iran would stop some nuclear work in return for an end to harsh penalties, or sanctions, hurting its economy. What is the problem now? Iran re-started banned nuclear work after former US President Donald Trump pulled out of the deal and re-imposed sanctions on Iran. Even though new leader Joe Biden wants to rejoin, both sides say the other must make the first move.
How could Israel be involved?
Israeli public broadcaster Kan, citing unnamed intelligence sources, said the apparent power cut at the facility was caused by an Israeli oyber operation. The Haaretz newspaper also said the incident could be assumed to be an Israeli cyber-attack. Later on, Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said, "the struggle against Iran and its proxies and the lIranian armament efforts is a huge mission. "The situation that exists today wil not necessarily be the situation that will exist tomorrow" he added, without referencing the Iran incident directly.
What happened to the deal?
The nuclear deal only allows Iran to produce and store limited quantities
of uranium enriched up to 3.67% concentration. Uranium enriched to 90% or more can be used to make nuclear weapons Trump said the accord was based on "a giant fiction that a murderous regime desired only a peaceful nuclear energy programme" and reinstated crippling economic sanctions in an attempt to compel Iran to negotiate a replacement Iran, which insists it does not want nuclear weapons, refused to do so and retaliated by rolling back a number of key commitments under the accord.
It has since accelerated the breaches in an attempt to increase pressure on the US. They have included operating advanced centrifuges to enrich uranium, resuming enrichment to 20% concentration of the most fissile U-235 isotope, and building a stockpile of that material.
Did the sabotage last weekend set back Iran's ability to enrich uranium?
Almost certainly yes.While Iranian officials have given conflicting accounts of the extent of centrifuge damage at Natanz, the sabotaged enrichment complex, at least one has said that several thousand of the machines were destroyed. But Iran also possesses a second known enrichment site, an underground facility called Fordow, that houses roughly 1,000 centrifuges, and some were deployed early this year to enrich uranium to 20 percent.
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