TEHRAN – Iran’s uranium-enrichment program has been the target of sabotage, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Monday, but he refused to say whether the Stuxnet computer virus had been responsible for the problems.
“They had been successful in making problems for a limited number of our centrifuges, with software they had installed in electronic devices,” Ahmadinejad told a news conference, referring to Iran’s enemies. He said the sabotage has been solved.
“Fortunately, our experts have discovered the origins of the problems, and today they [Iran’s enemies] are unable to repeat these acts,” Ahmadinejad said.
His acknowledgment came after a report Tuesday by the International Atomic Energy Agency said that as of Nov. 16, Iran had stopped feeding hot uranium gas into its thousands of centrifuges and that the shutdown could have lasted as long as seven days.
When asked specifically, Ahmadinejad refused to comment on whether a computer worm known as Stuxnet had been responsible.
“Write this down,” Ahmadinejad said. “The Iranian president’s answer to this question is: silence. That’s it.”
