Ahmadinejad: Incompetent Intelligence Officials Must Be Put on Trial

Former Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has called for the heads of the Islamic Republic's security services to face judicial proceedings over the explosion at the Natanz nuclear enrichment facility.

Speaking to his supporters in Hormozgan province, the ex-premier sharply criticized the intelligence service’s record in going after ordinary citizens instead of its own officials. "A young man stands up and criticizes,” he said. He is arrested and taken away, he is imprisoned for nine months, and he is not allowed to come out.

“They go to ordinary people and interrogate them: Where do they go? Why do they go there? Why do they say this? Why did they call someone?”

Ahmadinejad called for the situation to be “completely reversed”, and "the managers of the security agencies should be prosecuted". Addressing the intelligence services directly, he said: “The nation is giving you 40, 50 trillion tomans a year to take care of the wealth of the Iranian nation.

“They [the Natanz saboteurs] destroyed several billion dollars’ worth of the nation's wealth. Nobody cares at all! No one will be questioned and no report will be presented."

Last week an Iranian-born man named Reza Karimi was named on Iranian state television in connection with the blast at Natanz. Earlier, Mohsen Rezaei, secretary of the Expediency Council and former commander-in-chief of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, had said that classified documents from the Islamic Republic had been clandestinely removed from Iran to Israel. Of course, he later backtracked on these comments.

For his part, Ahmadinejad said naming the perpetrator after the fact was a “tasteless and repetitive” strategy, adding: “You have to be careful and watch before it happens. They come and take the secret documents of the nation from the heart of Tehran. Where are the security agencies?"

The incident at Natanz last week came just a day after repair works to the centrifuges had been completed following a huge fire last year. The incident was initially said to have been an electrical fault, and was later described as a “controlled explosion” and “sabotage”.

The next day, Alireza Zakani, director of the Parliamentary Research Center, told the media that most of Iran's enrichment facilities had been “destroyed".

"A damaged part of the Natanz facility was taken abroad and returned to Natanz with 300 pounds (150 kg) of explosives embedded in it," he said on a television program.

Related coverage:

Iran Feels Humiliated After Latest Nuclear Sabotage

What Will 60 Percent Nuclear Enrichment Do to Iran’s Future?

What is Iran Hiding About the Explosion Near a Nuclear Facility?