Siemens denies Iranian nuclear sabotage claims

FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Germany's Siemens on Sunday denied allegations by an Iranian lawmaker that it planted explosives in equipment sold to Iran for use in its nuclear programme.

"Siemens does not have any business ties with Iran's nuclear programme and does not supply any technical equipment for it," a spokesman for the Munich-based multinational company said.

Alaeddin Boroujerdi, head of the Iranian Parliament's national security and foreign policy committee, said on Saturday that intelligence and security officials had detected explosive material inside devices supplied for Iran's nuclear activities.

"It was planned that these devices would explode once used and damage all of our systems, but in the end with the knowledge of our experts, this enemy conspiracy was foiled," Boroujerdi was quoted as saying by ICANA, Iran's parliamentary news agency.

"The Siemens company must be held accountable for its actions," he said.

Iran has previously accused Israel and Western governments of attempting to sabotage its atomic programme by assassinating nuclear scientists and planting computer viruses.

Tehran says it is developing nuclear energy in order to generate electricity, and denies Western accusations it is bent on acquiring atomic bombs. (Reporting by Maria Sheahan and Yeganeh Torbati, Editing by Mark Trevelyan)