Israel may feel the clock is ticking on an American administration committed to “maximum pressure” on Iran
hours of July 2nd a building caught fire in the grounds of the nuclear plant at Natanz in central Iran. Officials downplayed it as an accident in an unfinished shed. But photos showed a building with machinery on the roof. Satellite images added more doubt: scattered debris looked consistent with an explosion, not a fire. The cover story was short-lived. A spokesman for Iran’s nuclear agency soon admitted it was a factory for centrifuges used to enrich uranium.
But others look intentional. The blasts at Parchin and Natanz raise suspicions of an Israeli hand. For months the conflict over Iran’s nuclear programme has been overshadowed by covid-19. Now the virus may have helped resurrect it. President Donald Trump’s botched handling of America’s outbreak has put his re-election in doubt, and Israel may feel the clock is ticking on an administration committed to “maximum pressure” on Iran.
Even without these sly jabs, the explosions would have been ascribed to Israel, which has spent years fighting a low-intensity war against Iran. Stuxnet, a computer worm thought to be a joint effort by American and Israeli spies, sent Iran’s centrifuges spinning out of control. Israel has allegedly assassinated Iranian nuclear scientists with “sticky bombs” planted on their cars.
Mr Netanyahu is anxious to draw attention back to Iran, which has begun to shirk its own obligations under the. It has exceeded both the deal’s limit on its heavy-water stockpiles and the cap on enriched uranium. It has also boosted enrichment to 4.5% purity, above the prescribed 3.67% threshold, though far below the 90% level at which it becomes weapons-grade.
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