Acts of sabotage or mere coincidence? Mysterious fires and explosions in Iran raise suspicions - Here's what officials suspect

Iran has witnessed a string of mysterious fires and explosions for more than two weeks, raising suspicions among Iranians. Apartment complexes, oil refineries, a road near a major airport, as well as a shoe factory, were set ablaze, creating panic among people. All this comes just over a month after the Israel-Iran war ended with several casualties.

Publicly, the Iranian officials have tried to play down the events, calling them mere coincidence, and have blamed the aging infrastructure for it.

However, in private, three Iranian officials, including a member of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), told The New York Times that they believed that many of these incidents were acts of sabotage.

The officials have been pointing at Israel as it has a history of covert operations in Iran, including explosions and blasts. Moreover, Iran also does not want to “corner itself into having to retaliate against Israel.”

Series of blasts

There were several explosions and blasts in Iran in the last two weeks, which included a blaze in northeast Iran near Mashhad International Airport, which authorities said was “controlled burning of weeds“.

The authorities blamed the worn-out infrastructure for the gas explosions.

Moreover, a European official who deals with Iran, told the New York Times that he assessed the attacks as "sabotage" and suspected Israel to be behind it. According to the official, Israel could be using such attacks as a "psychological warfare and to take out targets.”

However, Israel has not reacted to it. Moreover, Iranian officials also hesitated to publicly blame Israel for the blasts. In June, according to a local newspaper, Mossad chief David Barnea said, “We will continue to keep a close watch on every project in Iran, which we know thoroughly. We will be there, just as we have been up until now.”