October 10-14
A huge explosion and resulting fire at the Parchin military complex south of Tehran has killed two people.
Iran’s Defense Industries Organization confirmed that a fire had broken out Sunday evening at an explosive manufacturing plant and confirmed two deaths, but gave no other details—not even the location.
An opposition website, Sahamnews, said the huge blast was at Parchin.
Parchin has been linked to Iran’s controversial nuclear program.
Sahamnews said the explosion was so intense that windows of buildings 15 kilometers (nine miles) away were shattered.
The glare from the blast could also be seen from a great distance, it said.
Parchin has become well-known internationally because the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) suspects some nuclear work was done at the complex and has been seeking for years to visit the small part of Parchin where that work is believed to have been conducted.
There is no reason to believe that the explosion has anything to do with nuclear work, however. The suspicious area the IAEA wants to inspect has been unused for years.
Parchin is an immense and sprawling complex about 30 kilometers (20 miles) southeast of Tehran. It is a testing zone and manufacturing area for military explosives. Even if the IAEA’s worse suspicions are true, the bulk of Parchin is still devoted primarily to conventional explosives.
Three years ago, the government said a massive explosion at a military base 45 kilometers (30 miles) west of Tehran, understood to be the main location for missile work, killed 17 Pasdaran including the general who headed the country’s missile program.
There was widespread spec-ulation at the time that Israel had set off the explosion, but the government, which is never reluctant to blame Israel for anything, said the explosion was an accident that occurred while explosives were being moved at the base.