Two days after Iranian officials said there was an “incident” in an industrial shed at the Natanz uranium enrichment facility, Iranian authorities have admitted serious damage has occurred.

Ali Akbar Salehi, head of Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization, spoke to parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Commission behind closed doors about the incident. According to the commission's spokesman, Abufazl Amouee, Salehi said “multiple scenarios about this incident are being studied.” According to Salehi, Amouee said, “Expert groups from security and intelligence sectors have reviewed all aspects” of the fire at Natanz. Iran’s Supreme National Security Council knows the “reasons for the incident but will not state it due to security reasons,” he added. 

IAEO spokesperson Behrouz Kamalvandi said the shed will be rebuilt “with larger dimensions and better and more advanced equipment.” On the impact of the damage, Kamalvandi said, “It’s possible that this incident will create slowdowns in the medium term in the production and development of advanced machines.” He said they will work day and night to create “more capacities than before.”  

According to Kamalvandi, the damaged shed was designed to make advanced centrifuges. He said Iran began work inside the shed after the United States exited the nuclear deal known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). The capacities for the shed would still have been within the limits of the JCPOA, Kamalvandi added. In response to the US exit of the JCPOA in 2018, Iran restarted segments of its nuclear program.