BICOM

An explosion was reported yesterday in the western Iranian city of Isfahan, which hosts one of Iran’s main facilities for refining uranium in its nuclear programme. The blast occurred at 2:00pm (Iranian time) and was heard throughout the city. The FARS news agency said that the deputy mayor of the city confirmed the reports of a blast and said that the authorities were investigating the matter. There were mixed reports and retracted statements from various different agencies as to whether and where the explosion took place. While some sources told news agencies there had been a blast on military facilities, others said there had been an explosion at a petrol station.

Iran operates a uranium conversion plant near the city of Isfahan, that started operating in 2004 and is an integral part of its nuclear development programme. The plant converts yellowcake-chemically treated raw uranium into gas containing uranium. This gas is then fed into the centrifuge facility at Natanz, where the uranium is enriched. The conversion plant was established with Chinese knowledge and assistance, despite protests from Israel and the US, and it is considered one of the four central components of Iran’s nuclear programme.

Isfahan is also home to Iran’s largest facility for research and development of ballistic missiles.

Multiple reports have said the blast did not emanate from either facility, but at this point it is still unclear where the explosion occurred. Nevertheless, the huge explosion immediately fuelled speculation that Iran had suffered another sabotage attack. Just two weeks ago a massive explosion was reported at an arms depot west of Tehran that killed 17 Revolutionary Guards, including General Hasan Moghaddam, the head of research and development of missiles in the Revolutionary Guard.