In a briefing on Nov. 23, Salehi, also Iran's vice president, said the
Stuxnet plot failed. He said the virus did not infect the 1,000 megawatt
Bushehr plant.
"The country's young experts stopped the virus exactly at those points
that the enemies had intended to infiltrate," Salehi said.
In September 2010, Iran acknowledged the presence of Stuxnet, saying
that 30,000 computers had been infected. Stuxnet, meant to disable large
computer systems, including centrifuges, was first reported in Europe.
In late November, Western diplomats asserted that Stuxnet forced
the shutdown of thousands of centrifuges in Iran's Natanz uranium enrichment
plant. The diplomats also said Stuxnet infected the control system of
Bushehr.
"Fortunately, Stuxnet has faced a deadlock, and enemy wishes and
objectives did not materialize," Salehi said.
The diplomats also reported the suspension of uranium enrichment at
Iran's facility in Natanz. Natanz was said to contain more than 8,000
centrifuges, which could have been damaged by Stuxnet.
Iranian officials, including Salehi, said Stuxnet has not disrupted
Bushehr's operational schedule. They said the nuclear facility would be
linked to the national electricity grid in early 2011.
"We are used to Trojans and viruses roaming the Internet harming
computers and causing financial damage, but Stuxnet is in a league of its
own," Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehman-Parast was quoted as
saying by Iran's semi-official Fars News Agency.
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