Iran authorities investigating large explosion near key military site
Iran blast
Iranian authorities said they were investigating an explosion in the early hours of Friday at a Defense Ministry facility east of Tehran, near a site that has been crucial for Iran’s development of missiles and munitions.
The Iranian Defense Ministry said the blast was caused by an explosion in an industrial gas tank in a civilian area of Parchin. The fire was brought under control and the blast caused no casualties, a spokesman for the ministry, Davoud Abdi, said on state television.
A 2004 satellite image showing the military complex at Parchin, Iran. Photograph: AFP
“Our colleagues are present on the ground and investigating the incident carefully,” Abdi said.
Videos and pictures posted on social media that were picked up by local news outlets showed a bright light flaring out across the sky over the city early on Friday, followed by a large plume of smoke. Witnesses said the blast came from the direction of Parchin, a major military site.
Parchin is home to a sprawling military base where Iranian technicians were alleged to havetested high explosive components for a nuclear warheadin the early 200s, a claim Iran has denied.
In 2014, the military site was suspected to have been damaged by a fire or explosion but investigations by the International Atomic Energy Agency were hampered by a lack of access.