Iran accuses Siemens of selling sabotaged nuclear equipment

Iranian MP Aladin Borujerdi has accused the German firm Siemens of having sold Iran nuclear equipment rigged with mini-explosives, which were allegedly discovered and removed by the Iranians, Press TV reported on Sunday.

Borujerdi, who chairs the parliamentary national security and foreign policy commission, made the allegation in an interview with parliament's ICANA news site.

"[The] intelligence-security apparatus succeeded in discovering explosives in equipment which were provided to us for our nuclear activities," he was quoted saying by ICANA. "The explosives were to blow up when activated to disrupt the whole system. Domestic experts nullified the plot of the enemy, however."

"The company Siemens, which provided this equipment, must answer for its action," he added.

The story, which ran on Iran's Press TV, was not carried by any other state media.

There was no immediate response from Siemens regarding Borujerdi's charge as of Sunday.

The Islamic republic 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, which have spied on its activities or wiped out data.

Last week Iran raised suspicions that members of the UN atomic watchdog had sabotaged one of its nuclear facilities as explosive blasts cut its power lines.

(AFP, Al-Akhbar)