Electrical problem strikes Iran’s Natanz nuclear facility

Iran's Natanz nuclear site suffered a problem on April 11 involving its electrical distribution grid just hours after starting up new advanced centrifuges that more quickly enrich uranium, state TV reported. It was the latest incident to strike one of Tehran's most secure sites amid negotiations over the tattered atomic accord with world powers.

State TV quoted Behrouz Kamalvandi, a spokesman for Iran's civilian nuclear program, announcing the incident.

"Kamalvandi said fortunately the incident has not caused any human damage or contamination," a state TV anchorwoman said. "The cause of the incident is under investigation."

The word state television used in its report attributed to Kamalvandi in Farsi also can be used for "accident."

The Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, the civilian arm of its nuclear program, later published a statement using the same wording as the TV report, without elaborating.

Natanz, a facility earlier targeted by the Stuxnet computer virus, was largely built underground to withstand enemy airstrikes. It became a flashpoint for Western fears about Iran's nuclear program in 2002, when satellite photos showed Iran building its underground centrifuges facility at the site, some 200 kilometers (125 miles) south of the capital, Tehran.

Natanz suffered a mysterious explosion at its advanced centrifuge assembly plant in July that authorities later described as sabotage. Iran now is rebuilding that facility deep inside a nearby mountain.

Israel, Iran's regional archenemy, has been suspected of carrying out an attack there, as well as launching other assaults, as world powers now negotiate with Tehran in Vienna over its nuclear deal.

Iran also blamed Israel for the killing of a scientist who...