Americans played Dutch over Stuxnet: Report
According to the investigative journalists of the newspaper Volkskrant, the Dutch intelligence services knew they were participating in the sabotage of the Iranian nuclear program in 2008 but not that their agent was bringing in Stuxnet. “The Americans used us,” one intelligence source told the Volkskrant.
In 2008, a Dutchman played a crucial role in the United States and Israeli-led operation to sabotage Iran’s nuclear program. The then 36-year-old Erik van Sabben infiltrated an Iranian nuclear complex and released the infamous Stuxnet virus, paralyzing the country’s nuclear program.
A few years ago, Volkskrant revealed that the Dutch intelligence services AIVD and MIVD had recruited the infiltrator in this sabotage operation. But at the time, it was believed to have been an Iranian engineer.
Dozens of people involved, including 19 employees of the AIVD and MIVD told the newspaper that Dutchman Van Sabben infiltrated the underground nuclear complex in the city of Natanz and installed equipment infected with the highly sophisticated Stuxnet virus.
Van Sabben immediately left Iran after sabotaging the country’s nuclear program, the researchers concluded. He died two weeks later in a motorcycle accident near his home in Dubai. Nothing points to foul play, the Volkskrant said.
Iranian and Dutch officials did not immediately respond to the report, and Iran Daily cannot independently verify claims made by the report.