Zarif Threatens Israel After ‘Very Bad Gamble’

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif on Tuesday continued to sound off on Sunday’s mysterious explosion at the Natanz nuclear facility, again blaming Israel for the incident and warning the Jewish state it had made a “very bad gamble.” During a joint press conference with his Russian counterpart, Zarif said Israel “thought the attack will weaken Iran’s hand in the nuclear talks” currently held in Vienna between Tehran and world powers, but that “on the contrary, it will only strengthen” Iran’s position. On Monday, Zarif promised to exact revenge for the alleged strike on the Natanz site, which led to the crash of the plant’s electric grid and was estimated by unnamed Western intelligence officials to set the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program back by close to a year. “I assure you that in the near future more advanced uranium enrichment centrifuges will be placed in the Natanz facility,” Zarif said Tuesday. Last week’s round of indirect negotiations between Tehran and Washington was said to be “constructive” by all sides.