James Delahunty
7 Feb 2011 3:44
An Iranian official said that the country must investigate claims that the Stuxnet worm could have caused major harm to its first nuclear power station.
Mohammad Ahmadian, head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organization, said that reports of damage to the country's Bushehr plant were a malicious campaign by countries hostile to Tehran's nuclear program.
"Many of these discussions raised in the media and world public opinion about the Stuxnet virus are an effort to create concern among the Iranian people and people of the region and delay the work of the nuclear power plant," he said.
"Therefore it is necessary that experts in the field investigate to see how much truth there is in these discussions."
Analysts believe that Stuxnet was a successful attack by the United States and/or Israel on the Iranian nuclear program, which both suspect has a goal of creating nuclear weapons. Iran has given mixed reports on the true impact of Stuxnet on its systems since the story emerged publicly.
Russia's NATO ambassador created headlines recently when he said the virus could potentially lead to a "new Chernobyl". Russia supplied the fuel for the Bushehr plant, and despite the alarming comment on a new Chernobyl-like incident, Ahmadian indicated that there is no significant delay as a result in the start-up of the plant, which will supply electricity to the country's national grid.