SpaceWar.com - Your World At War
Russia hopes Natanz 'incident' will not 'undermine' Iran talks
Moscow, April 12 (AFP) Apr 12, 2021
Russia's foreign ministry said Monday it hoped a power outage at Iran's Natanz uranium plant, which Tehran denounced as an attack by Israel, would not "undermine" progress on nuclear talks.

The Natanz site near Tehran was hit by a power outage on Sunday, a day after Iran said it started up advanced uranian enrichment centrifuges in breach of a hobbled 2015 agreement on curbing the country's nuclear ambitions.

On Monday, Tehran labelled the power outage "terrorism" and blamed it on arch-enemy Israel.

The Russian foreign ministry said in a statement that it was closely following the situation surrounding the "serious incident".

"If it is confirmed that someone's malicious actions are behind this incident, then such intent deserves strong condemnation," it said.

The ministry added that it is "alarming how this situation" could affect talks in Vienna on reviving the deal, which are set to resume Wednesday.

The signatories to the accord, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), are trying to keep it alive after former US president Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew in 2018 and reimposed sanctions on Iran.

"We hope that what happened will not become a 'gift' to the assorted opponents of the JCPOA and will not undermine the consultations that are gaining momentum... to revive these agreements," the Russian foreign ministry said.

Moscow has pushed for Washington and Tehran to return to the deal, which Israel strongly opposes.


ADVERTISEMENT




Space News from SpaceDaily.com
Maven stays silent after routine pass behind Mars
ICE-CSIC leads a pioneering study on the feasibility of asteroid mining
NASA JPL Unveils Rover Operations Center for Moon, Mars Missions

24/7 Energy News Coverage
Thorium plated steel points to smaller nuclear clocks
Solar ghost particles seen flipping carbon atoms in underground detector
Overview Energy debuts airborne power beaming milestone for space based solar power

Military Space News, Nuclear Weapons, Missile Defense
Autonomous DARPA project to expand satellite surveillance network by BAE Systems
IAEA calls for repair work on Chernobyl sarcophagus
Momentus joins US Space Force SHIELD contract vehicle

24/7 News Coverage
UAlbany Atmospheric Scientist Proposes Innovative Method to Reduce Aviation's Climate Impact
Digital twin successfully launched and deployed into space
Robots that spare warehouse workers the heavy lifting



All rights reserved. Copyright Agence France-Presse. Sections of the information displayed on this page (dispatches, photographs, logos) are protected by intellectual property rights owned by Agence France-Presse. As a consequence, you may not copy, reproduce, modify, transmit, publish, display or in any way commercially exploit any of the content of this section without the prior written consent of Agence France-Presse.