including a two-star general who ran Iran’s missile program, and setting off speculation over just what caused the blast.
The blast damage appeared confined to the Pasdaran base, with nothing more than broken windows reported from off base.
The Pasdaran insisted from the start that the explosion was an ordinary accident that happened while troops were in the process of moving ammunition stocks at an ammo storage site.
Alireza Jafarzadeh, the longtime spokesman for the Mojahedin-e Khalq in Washington, said the explosion did not happen at an ordinary ammunition dump but at a garrison belonging to the Pasdaran’s missile force. He said the blast “resulted from the explosion of the [Pasdar] missiles.” He did not assert that the explosion was some form of sabotage.
The Pasdaran said nothing about any missiles. But later they announced that one of the 17 dead was Major General Hassan Tehrani-Moqaddam. Major general is the highest rank conferred in the Pasdaran. And Moqaddam was the commander of Iran’s missile development program.
The Pasdaran continued to insist the explosion had nothing to do with missiles and involved only conventional explosives.
Normally a missile base would store its missiles, its explosive warheads and its flammable fuel in three separate sites on the base. So it would not be unreasonable for explosives to detonate with no involvement with or damage to the missiles at the base.
However, in this case, the presence of Moqaddam fed speculation that something other than a routine transfer of explosives was underway. A two-star general would not normally attend an ordinary movement of explosives. But he might well be in attendance for a test of some kind.
It is unlikely any missile was being test-fired, however. Test firings are normally done from desert sites where no one can see the launch. The base is located in a built-up area.
The explosion led to some conspiracy theories. Time magazine cited a “Western intelligence source” as saying the explosion was the work of the Israeli Mossad intelligence agency. “Don’t believe the Iranians that it was an accident,” Time quoted he source, who said other plans were underway to prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapons capability.
That assertion appeared to be a stretch to many analysts. An explosion of conventional munitions means nothing. Even if a batch of stored missiles was damaged or destroyed, it would not be of great significance. The death of Moqaddam might, however, impede Iran’s missile program if he really was as central to it as many asserted.
But if the explosion was an assassination, no one explained how the explosion was executed inside a guarded Pasdar base and timed for Moqaddam’s presence. “It is much more normal to strike a target on a public street, where everyone has access, than deep inside a military base,” one said.
The Islamic Republic has never been slow about blaming the United States or Israel for untoward acts that happen inside Iran. It has also been blaming its “enemies” for the assassinations of nuclear scientists. But no blame for the latest explosion was laid at the feet of foreigners.
The official explanation that the explosion was an accident actually is more embarrassing for the Pasdaran since it feeds questions about its professionalism and safety procedures. This explosion comes just 13 months after another massive blast struck a Pasdar ammunition depot in Khorramabad. That explosion killed 10 Pasdaran.
The explosion occurred about 1:30 p.m. Saturday at the Amir Al-Momenin base in Bid Ganeh near the town of Malard 50 kilometers (30 miles) directly west of downtown Tehran and 20 kilometers (12 miles) directly south of Karaj.
The explosion produced an immense fireball that could be seen for miles. Some residents of Tehran said they felt the ground tremble and thought it was an earthquake. The fire was still burning two hours after the explosion.
The rumor mills were active after the blast. One Karaj resident, who gave only her first name, Farshid, told the Financial Times, “I heard in my yoga class today that it was a missile attack, but we do not know if it was the US or Israel.”