Mysterious explosion in Iran, authorities evoke "industrial gas"

The images have toured social networks. An explosion illuminated the sky of Tehran during the night of Thursday to Friday, confirmed the Iranian news agency Fars. After two hours of great confusion, a spokesman for the Defense Ministry said that it was "the explosion of an industrial gas tank," reports Al Jazeera. But observers also note a proximity to the military site of Parchin.

بام تهران بودم یهو با این منظره روبرو شدم. همه ترسیدیم. یه آتیش نسبتا بزرگ بود که تا فیلم کرفته شد فروکش کرد. احتمال انفجار زیاده! # شرق_تهران # انفجار pic.twitter.com/0CKN291wUI

عاجل | المتحدث باسم وزارة الدفاع الإيرانية: إخماد النيران الناجمة عن انفجار خزان الغاز الصناعي في شرق # طهران

"In the hours after midnight Friday, many social media users reported seeing an orange light in the eastern part of Tehran," said Fars, an agency close to the ultra-conservatives. "On videos sent by readers, this light is visible for a few seconds," said the agency. The agency quoted a "well-informed source" as saying that the site of the incident did not belong to the military. "In front of the entrance to the Parchin military zone, there is no movement or comings and goings of fire and rescue vehicles," noted Fars. Another news agency, Mehr, reported that "terrible sound" had been heard.

Near a controversial military site

At first, a source from the Al Arabiya chain spoke of an explosion potentially located at the Parchin military site.

مصادر العربية: من المحتمل أن يكون الانفجار طال منشأة بارشين النووية الإيرانية # العربية_عاجل https://t.co/a1vIGVFnOW

Initial: The explosion occurred in one of the headquarters of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard pic.twitter.com/VxWVHla3Nx

Parchin (or Partchine, according to another writing) is a particularly sensitive site on which several explosions occurred in 2007 and 2014. After a long standoff, the International Atomic Energy Agency was able to inspect it in 2015 and concluded that “activities for the development of a nuclear device” had been carried out there before 2003. In 2017, the United States had demanded that the inspectors be able to go there again under the agreement on nuclear, this Tehran had refused.

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