Iran claims Revolutionary Guards thwarted Israeli "sabotage" attempt at a nuclear plant

There have been tensions between Israel and Iran over Tehran’s nuclear program. This week, Iran’s state media claims that its Revolutionary Guard has successfully thwarted an Israeli plot to “sabotage” its nuclear plant.

Iranian state television said Monday that the Revolutionary Guard Corps was able to intercept an Israeli plot to “sabotage” the Fordow uranium enrichment plant. The two-minute broadcast detailed a supposed attack by an agent paid by Israel who was trying to approach a person working with an advanced IR-6 centrifuge at the facility.

The supposed agent was reportedly provided with secure communications and was paid in cash and cryptocurrencies. The alleged agent attempted to approach the employee using a contact of an unnamed Hong Kong-based company as a mediator, according to the report. The supposed attack took place before Nowruz, which is the end of the Iranian year, on March 20.

The intelligence arm of the Revolutionary Guard and a unit referred to as the IRGC Nuclear Command reportedly found out about the plot and thwarted the attempt.

This incident comes amidst the final round of negotiations between Iran and the West in an attempt to revive the 2015 nuclear deal. If the deal is revived, the severe sanctions imposed on Iran by the US after withdrawing in 2018 will be lifted while scaling down its nuclear program. Iran has insisted that its nuclear program was to be used for peaceful purposes.

This also follows another incident in which the Revolutionary Guards claimed to be responsible for the ballistic missile attacks in Iraq’s Kurdish region of Erbil. In a statement, the IRGC claimed that it was targeting an Israeli “strategic center” in the country. The clash also followed the killing of two IRGC guards by Israeli forces in Syria.

Erbil Governor Omed Khoshnaw at the time said that a terror attack took place against the US Consulate. A spokesperson for the US State Department condemned the attack but noted that no Americans were hurt and there was no damage to US government facilities in Erbil.

The Kurdish Interior Ministry said that the missiles only caused material damage but injured one civilian.