TEHRAN – Iran’s atomic energy organisation on Sunday said that the Natanznuclear facility was hit by a terrorist act, hours after it said an”accident” had caused a power failure there.

Iran stresses the need “for the international community and theInternational Atomic Energy Agency to confront this anti-nuclear (act of)terrorism,” said Ali Akbar Salehi, the head of the Iran Atomic EnergyOrganisation (IAEO), in a statement carried by state television.

Iran’s vice president and atomic energy chief, Ali Akbar Salehi, toldIranian television called it an act of “nuclear terrorism”.

“While condemning this dastardly act, Iran stresses that the internationalcommunity and the International Atomic Energy Agency must counter thisnuclear terrorism,” Salehi said.

IAEO spokesman Behrouz Kamalvandi had said earlier there had been “anaccident in part of the electrical circuit of the enrichment facility” atthe Natanz complex.