man came in the middle of work on a new missile development but set back the facility’s work “only by two weeks,” say Iranian officials.
The Pasdaran had previously said the explosion came while ammunition was being moved. That explanation raised some eyebrows, as people asked why a two-star general would be present for the moving of ammo stocks.
Last week, the Pasdaran acknowledged that work on missile plans was being undertaken at the base when the explosion erupted. It did not say what kind of missile work was being done or how the explosion occurred, however. It is unlikely a test-firing of a missile was underway. Missile are fired from a base in the desert in Semnan province, not from bases in built-up areas.
Major General Hasan Tehrani-Moqaddam, who held the highest-rank in the military, was among those killed in the blast November 12.
The explosion—which came amid speculation that Israel or the US might attack Iran—initially fueled talk that Iran was under attack. But Iranian officials were quick to reject any American or Israeli involvement.
“The recent incident and blast is not related to Israel or America,” Major General Hasan Firuzabadi, chief of the joint staff of the Armed Forces, told reporters.
“The incident set back the manufacture of the Pasdaran’s researched product, which could be a punch in the mouth of global arrogance and the occupying (Israeli) regime, for only two weeks,” he said.
He added that work would soon be resumed at the facility with greater vigor. But he didn’t say what that work was.
The director of the Pasdaran Public Relations Department, General Ramazan Sharif, said an investigation is ongoing to determine the cause of the explosion. However, he denied the possibility of an act of sabotage originating from abroad.
One newspaper, Iran, cited Moqaddam’s brother, Muham-mad Tehrani-Moqaddam, also a general in the Pasdaran, as saying that his late brother was involved in developing an intercontinental ballistic missile for Iran.
“He lost his life while doing a final test of the missile,” the newspaper quoted him as saying. “The project was in the final testing phase. It was related to an intercontinental ballistic missile. …It was a completely high-tech, confidential process.”
Those remarks set off a political explosion because the Islamic Republic has constantly denied any plans for an intercontinental ballistic missile that could reach the United States. Work on such a missile would raise whole new questions about Iran’s political goals and could increase the number of people in the United States advocating war with Iran.
But Muhammad Moqaddam swiftly came out swinging at the paper, denying he had said anything about intercontinental missiles. “Quotes about intercontinental ballistic missile are their creation [the newspaper’s],” he was quoted by the Fars news agency as saying. “I am sending a letter to the Iran newspaper denying the quotes,” he said.
Hassan Moqaddam was deeply involved in Iran’s missile development, having been in charge of the Pasdaran’s missile program since 1983. In that capacity, he helped develop the flagship Shahab missile series.
He was someone who was “constantly preparing himself for the probable upcoming conflict with America,” according to a eulogy by a fellow Pasdar general, Hossain Alaie, published on the website Tabnak.
“During a time when Israel and America are threatening Iran, his presence is sorely missed,” Gen. Alaie said.
