Factory blast raises tension
Spate of incidents targeting Iran infrastructure fuel media speculation
AMID ONGOING tensions between Washington and Tehran over Tehran’s nuclear programme, blasts have occurred in Iran near Tehran’s Parchin military complex at the Natanz Fuel Enrichment Plant and a power plant in Ahvaz, with reports claiming that Iranian officials regard the incidents as “sabotage”.
A large explosion at the Sepahan Boresh factory in the city of Baqershahr near Tehran on Monday night left at least two people dead and three injured, according to Iranian and foreign reports.
The incident was caused by “negligence in filling oxygen tanks”, according to the Kahrizak district governor, cited by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty yesterday.
Saipa Press company, situated nearby, suffered damage to its walls in the blast.
According to the IntelliTimes intelligence blog, the Sepahan Boresh factory belongs to the Iranian automotive manufacturer Saipa, which reportedly has links with the Iranian Ministry of Defence and the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps.
The site of the blast is claimed by The Jerusalem Post to be not far from the warehouse in the Shurabad commercial area where Israel’s intelligence agency ostensibly found Iran’s nuclear archive in 2018.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu insisted at the time that nuclear equipment and material was stored there, with the International Atomic Energy Agency subsequently discovering traces of uranium at the warehouse in 2019 and launching an investigation into their origin, according to Reuters.
The current blast is the latest in a spate of explosions and fires reported at infrastructure sites across Iran.
On June 26, an explosion was reported at a gas storage facility about 30km from Tehran, with Iranian authorities saying the it was a result of “leaking gas tanks”, amid reports of satellite photographs suggesting the blast occurred at a nearby missile production facility.
Iranian media refuted the speculations, saying the incident happened in a “public area” in Parchin.
A few days later, on June 30, 19 people were killed in another explosion, at a medical facility in Tehran. Initial reports also attributed that blast to an issue with the oxygen tanks.
A July 2 blast at the Natanz nuclear power plant, which remains Iran’s primary uranium processing facility, 270km south of Tehran, significantly damaged the above-ground part of the building.
The incident sparked reports citing unnamed Iranian officials suggesting that Israel was behind the blast.
The New York Times reported, citing an unnamed source described as a Middle East intelligence official, that Israel was responsible for the explosion at Iran’s Natanz nuclear site, by means of a “powerful bomb”, adding, however, that the incident was not connected with other explosions that took place in Iran earlier, in particular a blast near Tehran’s Parchin military complex.
The developments come against the backdrop of simmering Iran-US tensions ever since the Trump administration unilaterally withdrew from the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), commonly known as the Iran nuclear deal, on May 8, 2018, claiming Tehran was in violation of its commitments.
The US subsequently reimposed tough sanctions against Iran’s banking and energy sectors.
A year later, Tehran announced that it had suspended some of its obligations under the JCPOA.
Iran has consistently stated that it does not aim to develop a nuclear weapon, outlining that the goals of the country’s nuclear programme are exclusively peaceful.