January 16, 2025
A Russian news agency has claimed that a pager-style attack on an Iranian nuclear facility was foiled.
Russia's official Tass news agency, citing Iranian Vice President Javad Zarif, said that a bomb was installed on a gas centrifuge platform used for uranium enrichment, which was deactivated.
According to the news agency, Javad Zarif also hinted at Israel's involvement behind the operation.
Javad Zarif, in an interview with Iranian media, discussed the pager explosions in Lebanon. He said that it took Israel a long time to prepare for the pager explosions, but perhaps the sanctions made these explosions possible.
He said that due to sanctions, it is not possible to purchase directly from a manufacturing company, which means that purchases have to be made through a third party. If Israel enters the supply chain, it can do whatever it wants and install whatever it wants.
He gave the example of the Iranian Atomic Energy Organization purchasing a centrifuge, only to find that it had explosives installed inside, which experts discovered.
Javad Zarif said that this incident occurred due to the sanctions that Iran has to avoid, which have caused financial losses as well as harm to Iran's security.
However, Javad Zarif did not clarify when the incident occurred.
It should be noted that on September 17, 2024, hundreds of pagers exploded in Lebanon, killing 12 people and injuring thousands.
The day after these explosions, several walkie-talkie sets and mobile phones exploded in Lebanon, killing another 25 people and injuring 608.
The Lebanese resistance organization Hezbollah blamed Israel for the bombings, and the Israeli Prime Minister later accepted responsibility for the attacks
