Yesterday's Failed Iranian Nuclear Facility Sabotage Using Quadcopter Drone

Iran's Bushehr nuclear facility. (Wikimedia Commons/Tasnim News Agency/Hossein Heidarpour)

JAKARTA - An attempt to sabotage one of the buildings of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) on Wednesday, June 23, was reported by Israeli media as causing damage, although Iranian authorities said they succeeded in thwarting the attempt.

Reporting The Jerusalem Post Thursday, June 24, the sabotage attempt is said to have inflicted great damage, although Tehran claims the attempt was thwarted.

The Israeli media claimed to have strong indications that damage had occurred, although it could not independently confirm. The incident is said to be under investigation by Iranian authorities. So far it is not clear how the attack was carried out.

Iran's Mehr News Agency reported on Wednesday that a quadcopter drone was used in an attempt to sabotage a building in AEOI, but failed and was eventually shot down.

Earlier in the day, Iran's ILNA news agency reported that a drone strike targeted the Barakat Pharmaceutical Industry complex in Karaj, which is developing a coronavirus vaccine. However, the report was later removed from their website.

ILNA editor Fatemeh Mahdiani wrote on Twitter that the report was removed after security agents called the news agency and informed them that the target was the AEO building located next to the Barakat complex, and that no damage had been done.

An informed source from the Khatam al-Anbia Joint Air Defense Base later denied that the incident was a drone strike, telling Iranian media it was likely an act of sabotage.

The incident came just days after Iran's Bushehr nuclear power plant underwent an emergency shutdown. As of Tuesday, repairs at the Bushehr power plant were still ongoing.

As previously reported, the sabotage operation against one of the AEOI buildings failed and caused no damage or casualties, Iranian media reported on Wednesday.

"Thanks to the tight security measures predicted for the AEOI premises, the sabotage attempt that took place on Wednesday morning failed before causing any damage. The case is currently being investigated to identify the culprit," Iran's IRNA News Agency quoted the Iranian news agency as saying, Wednesday 23 June.

"Sabotage acts aimed at disrupting the activities of Iran's nuclear facilities have not been able to disrupt the continuation of Iran's nuclear program," the media continued, without specifying the targets in the sabotage attempt.