Iran nuclear attack: Mystery surrounds nuclear sabotage at Natanz - BBC News

Within hours of Iran proudly announcing the launch of its latest centrifuges, a power blackout damaged some of the precious machines at its site in Natanz.

In Israel, some reports have suggested a cyber-attack might have been responsible but Iran has talked of "infiltrators" amid reports of an explosion linked to the power generator.

One thing reports seem to agree on is that an "incident" affected the power distribution network at Natanz, leading to a blackout until emergency power systems kicked in.

Ensuring the power supply reaching a centrifuge is perfectly balanced is vital?

Which means sabotage of that supply can be catastrophic.

The question is: what caused it - a cyber-attack or a physical act of sabotage, like a bomb.

But Stuxnet - the name given to the incident that targeted Iran's nuclear programme over a decade ago - is not just one of the few exceptions but arguably also the first demonstration of what such a cyber-attack looks like.

But that does not mean that a cyber-attack has to be responsible this time.

Iran invested heavily in cyber-defence and offense after Stuxnet making such an attack much harder and doing more to protect its systems, including the power supply.

And a physical act of sabotage might be accompanied by a cyber-intrusion to black out the power or alarm systems.

Many at the time assumed Israel was involved in some way, not least because the country has also been linked to the assassination of Iranian nuclear scientists.

The details are likely to become clearer in the coming days, with more reports pointing towards an explosion at the power supply rather than simply a cyber-incident.

But whatever the cause, previous incidents of either online or physical sabotage have only led to temporary setbacks for the Iranian nuclear programme.

US joins talks aimed at reviving Iran nuclear deal.