(JTA) — Iran accused the German electronics company Siemens of implanting "tiny explosives" in equipment purchased for its nuclear program.
Siemens denied the charge, which was made over the weekend by Iranian lawmaker Alaeddin Boroujerdi.
Boroujerdi said the explosives were discovered and removed before damaging the nuclear program’s infrastructure, The Associated Press reported.
Siemens told the AP that its nuclear division has not done business with Iran since 1979.
On Sunday, the Sunday Times of London reported that a monitoring device disguised as a rock hidden near the underground Fordow nuclear enrichment plan exploded when Iranian troops tried to move it in order to check data and telephone lines.
The explosion, which blew up power lines between the Qom and the Fordow nuclear facilities, reportedly occurred on Aug. 17. The explosion had been kept secret until Fereydoun Abbasi, the country’s vice president and head of its nuclear energy agency, disclosed the explosion, according to the Sunday Times story.
Iranian experts determined from the remains of the device that it was capable of intercepting data from computers at the plant, according to the Sunday Times.
Some 3,000 uranium-enriching centrifuges are thought to be operating at Fordow.
