'Spy rock' explodes near Iranian nuclear enrichment plant
September 23, 201210:29PM
Spies are fond of hiding espionage equipment in rocks - such as this device found by the Lebanese army in 2011. Picture: AP Source: AP
A MONITORING device disguised as a rock has been found near an underground Iranian nuclear enrichment plant, The Sunday Times reports.
Western intelligence sources told the newspaper the device exploded when it was disturbed by Iranian troops.
Revolutionary Guards were on a patrol checking data and telephone links at Fordo, near Qom in northern Iran.
They tried to move the rock, setting off its self-destruct mechanism.
Last week, the country's vice president Fereydoun Abbasi said power lines had been blown up near the facility on August 17 in an attempt to sabotage Iran's "peaceful" nuclear program.
But experts examined the rubble and found a device designed to intercept data from computers at the plant.
The accident signals the loss of an important source of intelligence for the West on Iran's progress towards making a nuclear bomb.
It is not the first time a fake rock has been used for espionage. In 2006 British officials admitted that a fake rock found in Moscow contained spying devices.
And last year a spying system camouflaged to look like a rock was discovered by the Lebanese army near the southern port city of Tyre, which they claimed was put there by Israel.
Meanwhile a prominent Iranian MP, Aladin Borujerdi, has accused German firm Siemens of having sold Iran equipment for its nuclear activities laced with mini-explosives, which were removed, Iranian media reported on Sunday.
Mr Borujerdi, who chairs the parliamentary national security and foreign policy commission, made the allegation in an interview with parliament's ICANA news website (Google translation here).
"Intelligence-security apparatus succeeded in discovering explosives in equipment which were provided to us for our nuclear activities. The explosives were to blow up when activated to disrupt the whole system. Domestic experts nullified the plot of the enemy, however," he was quoted as saying by ICANA.
"The company Siemens, which provided this equipment, must answer for its action," he said.
Iran's Press TV carried the story on its website, but no other state media reported on the claim.
Siemens spokesman Alexander Machowetz categorically denied the charge, telling AFP: "Siemens maintains no business dealings in connection to the Iranian nuclear program and delivers no equipment to this end."
Iran often alleges sabotage attempts by Western or Israeli intelligence services, but provides little in the way of evidence.
The Islamic republic, however, has suffered the assassination of four of its nuclear scientists in the past two years, attacks it has blamed on Israel, the United States and Britain.
It has also been targeted by sophisticated computer viruses, such as Stuxnet and Flame, that have spied on its activities, disrupted research or wiped out data.
- With AFP
