Iran reports ‘accident’ at nuclear site, warns enemies

TEHRAN: Tehran on Thursday reported an “accident” at Natanz nuclear complex in central Iran, saying there were no casualties or radioactive pollution, and warned foes — especially Israel — against hostile actions. There was “no nuclear material (at the damaged warehouse) and no potential of pollution,” the spokesman for Iran´s Atomic Energy Organisation Behrouz Kamalvandi told state television. Kamalvandi said no radioactive material or personnel were present at the warehouse within the Natanz site in central Iran, one of the country´s main uranium enrichment plants. He noted that the cause was being investigated, and said it had caused “some structural damage” without specifying the nature of the accident. There was “no interruption to the work of the enrichment site itself”, which “is working at the pace it used to,” Kamalvandi said. Hours after the announcement, Iran´s state news agency IRNA published an editorial warning that “if there are signs of hostile countries crossing Iran´s red lines in any way, especially the Zionist regime (Israel) and the United States, Iran´s strategy to confront the new situation must be fundamentally reconsidered.