2021 Natanz incident

In 2010, [[Operation Olympic Games]], an [[black operation|unacknowledged]] US and Israeli campaign of [[Cyberwarfare|cyber disruption]] directed at Iranian nuclear facilities,{{Cite news |last=Sanger |first=David E. |date=2025-06-13 |title=Israel’s Ambition: Destroy the Heart of Iran’s Nuclear Program |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/12/world/middleeast/iran-nuclear-program-israel.html |access-date=2025-06-14 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331|quote=Over nearly 20 years, Israel and the United States have targeted the thousands of centrifuges that spin inside the Natanz facility, in hopes of choking off the key ingredient Iranian scientists needed to build a nuclear arsenal. Together the two countries developed the Stuxnet worm, the cyberweapon intended to make the centrifuges spin out of control. That operation, code named Olympic Games, was born in George W. Bush’s administration and flourished in Barack Obama’s until the operation was exposed.}} used a sophisticated [[computer virus]] called [[Stuxnet]] to disrupt Iran's uranium enrichment at the [[Natanz Nuclear Facility|Iranian nuclear facility at Natanz]], located in the [[Isfahan province|Isfahan]] province of [[Central Iran]] and Iran's longtime main enrichment site.{{cite web |last1=Sen |first1=Ashish Kumar |title=Iran’s Growing Cyber Capabilities in a Post-Stuxnet Era |url=https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/new-atlanticist/iran-s-growing-cyber-capabilities-in-a-post-stuxnet-era/ |website=atlanticcouncil.org |publisher=Atlantic Council |access-date=16 April 2026}} Over several years, Olympic Games altered the computer code of Iran’s industrial equipment, destroying around 1000 centrifuges and setting back Iran's nuclear program a year or more.

In 2010, [[Operation Olympic Games]], an [[black operation|unacknowledged]] US and Israeli campaign of [[Cyberwarfare|cyber disruption]] directed at Iranian nuclear facilities,{{Cite news |last=Sanger |first=David E. |date=2025-06-13 |title=Israel’s Ambition: Destroy the Heart of Iran’s Nuclear Program |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/12/world/middleeast/iran-nuclear-program-israel.html |access-date=2025-06-14 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331|quote=Over nearly 20 years, Israel and the United States have targeted the thousands of centrifuges that spin inside the Natanz facility, in hopes of choking off the key ingredient Iranian scientists needed to build a nuclear arsenal. Together the two countries developed the Stuxnet worm, the cyberweapon intended to make the centrifuges spin out of control. That operation, code named Olympic Games, was born in George W. Bush’s administration and flourished in Barack Obama’s until the operation was exposed.}} used a sophisticated [[computer virus]] called [[Stuxnet]] to disrupt Iran's uranium enrichment at the [[Natanz Nuclear Facility|Iranian nuclear facility at Natanz]], located in the [[Isfahan province|Isfahan]] province of [[Central Iran]] and Iran's longtime main enrichment site.{{cite web |last1=Sen |first1=Ashish Kumar |title=Iran’s Growing Cyber Capabilities in a Post-Stuxnet Era |url=https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/new-atlanticist/iran-s-growing-cyber-capabilities-in-a-post-stuxnet-era/ |website=atlanticcouncil.org |publisher=Atlantic Council |access-date=16 April 2026}} Over several years, Olympic Games altered the computer code of Iran’s industrial equipment, destroying around 1000 centrifuges and setting back Iran's nuclear program a year or more.

In June 2020, a fire damaged centrifuges at the Natanz facility. Sources in the Middle East and the West, quoted by ''[[The New York Times]]'', attributed the fire not to a cyberattack, but a bomb planted in the facility by Israel.{{cite web |last1=Fassihi |last2=Pérez-Peña |last3=Bergman |first1=Farnaz |first2=Richard |first3=Ronen |title=Iran Admits Serious Damage to Natanz Nuclear Site, Setting Back Program |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/05/world/middleeast/iran-Natanz-nuclear-damage.html |website=nytimes.com |date=5 July 2020 |publisher=The New York Times}}{{cite web |last1=Harel |first1=Amos |title=Experts: Natanz Explosion Set Back Iran’s Nuclear Program by More Than a Year |url=https://www.haaretz.com/middle-east-news/iran/2020-07-08/ty-article/.premium/experts-natanz-explosion-set-back-irans-nuclear-program-by-more-than-a-year/0000017f-e549-d568-ad7f-f76ba3a30000 |website=haaretz.com |publisher=Haaretz |access-date=17 April 2026}} Amid ongoing sanctions, and in response to the [[Mohsen_Fakhrizadeh#Assassination|assassination of Mohsen Fakhrizadeh]], in December 2020, the [[Islamic Consultative Assembly|Iranian parliament]] passed a law enabling the Iranian administration to enrich uranium to 20% purity, breaking the 3.67% limit under the JCPOA. Iran repeatedly said those measures would be reversed as soon as the United States provided sanctions relief, including those the United States had been obligated to reverse under the JCPOA.{{cite web |last1=Wintour |first1=Patrick |title=Iran nuclear talks to continue next week after breakthrough |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/apr/09/iran-nuclear-talks-to-continue-next-week-after-breakthrough |website=theguardian.com |publisher=The Guardian |access-date=16 April 2026}}

In June 2020, a fire damaged centrifuges at the Natanz facility. Sources in the Middle East and the West, quoted by ''[[The New York Times]]'', attributed the fire not to a cyberattack, but a bomb planted in the facility by Israel.{{cite web |last1=Fassihi |last2=Pérez-Peña |last3=Bergman |first1=Farnaz |first2=Richard |first3=Ronen |title=Iran Admits Serious Damage to Natanz Nuclear Site, Setting Back Program |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/05/world/middleeast/iran-Natanz-nuclear-damage.html |website=nytimes.com |date=5 July 2020 |publisher=The New York Times}}{{cite web |last1=Harel |first1=Amos |title=Experts: Natanz Explosion Set Back Iran’s Nuclear Program by More Than a Year |url=https://www.haaretz.com/middle-east-news/iran/2020-07-08/ty-article/.premium/experts-natanz-explosion-set-back-irans-nuclear-program-by-more-than-a-year/0000017f-e549-d568-ad7f-f76ba3a30000 |website=haaretz.com |publisher=Haaretz |access-date=17 April 2026}} Amid ongoing sanctions, and in response to the [[Mohsen_Fakhrizadeh#Assassination|assassination of Mohsen Fakhrizadeh]], the [[Islamic Consultative Assembly|Iranian parliament]] passed a law in December 2020 enabling the Iranian administration to enrich uranium to 20% purity, breaking the 3.67% limit under the JCPOA. Iran repeatedly said those measures would be reversed as soon as the United States provided sanctions relief, including those the United States had been obligated to reverse under the JCPOA.{{cite web |last1=Wintour |first1=Patrick |title=Iran nuclear talks to continue next week after breakthrough |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/apr/09/iran-nuclear-talks-to-continue-next-week-after-breakthrough |website=theguardian.com |publisher=The Guardian |access-date=16 April 2026}}

In April 2021, just days before the incident, the [[European Union]] convened indirect talks between Iran and the United States in Vienna, with the goal of readmitting the United States into the nuclear deal and ensuring Iran's cooperation. [[United Kingdom|Britain]], [[France]], [[Germany]], [[China]] and [[Russia]] also participated, with the latter two blaming the United States' withdrawal from the JCPOA and failure to lift sanctions as the root cause of the diplomatic impasse.{{cite web |title=New Talks: World Statements |url=https://iranprimer.usip.org/blog/2021/apr/05/new-talks-world-statements#:~:text=In%20April%202021%2C%20the%20European,June%2012%20to%20June%2020 |website=iranprimer.usip.org |publisher=United States Institute of Peace |access-date=16 April 2026}} Israel strongly opposed the talks.{{cite web |last1=Wintour |first1=Patrick |title=Natanz nuclear plant attack 'will set back Iran's programme by nine months' |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/apr/12/iran-blames-israel-attack-natanz-nuclear-plant |website=[[The Guardian]] |date=12 April 2021 |access-date=2021-07-16 |archive-date=2021-06-14 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210614053022/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/apr/12/iran-blames-israel-attack-natanz-nuclear-plant |url-status=live }}

In April 2021, just days before the incident, the [[European Union]] convened indirect talks between Iran and the United States in Vienna, with the goal of readmitting the United States into the nuclear deal and ensuring Iran's cooperation. [[United Kingdom|Britain]], [[France]], [[Germany]], [[China]] and [[Russia]] also participated, with the latter two blaming the United States' withdrawal from the JCPOA and failure to lift sanctions as the root cause of the diplomatic impasse.{{cite web |title=New Talks: World Statements |url=https://iranprimer.usip.org/blog/2021/apr/05/new-talks-world-statements#:~:text=In%20April%202021%2C%20the%20European,June%2012%20to%20June%2020 |website=iranprimer.usip.org |publisher=United States Institute of Peace |access-date=16 April 2026}} Israel strongly opposed the talks.{{cite web |last1=Wintour |first1=Patrick |title=Natanz nuclear plant attack 'will set back Iran's programme by nine months' |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/apr/12/iran-blames-israel-attack-natanz-nuclear-plant |website=[[The Guardian]] |date=12 April 2021 |access-date=2021-07-16 |archive-date=2021-06-14 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210614053022/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/apr/12/iran-blames-israel-attack-natanz-nuclear-plant |url-status=live }}