An “earthquake” that rocked northeastern Iran late last week may have been a blast from a suspected nuclear silo, experts tell The “An explosion that rattled Iran’s capital came from an area in its eastern mountains that analysts believe hides an underground tunnel system and missile production sites, satellite photographs showed Saturday,” the AP reported Sunday, adding that the blast’s location is suspiciously close to where Iran has tested powerful nuclear weapons triggers before.The blast is the second concerning, potentially nuclear event in as many days. State TV later aired a segment from what it described as the site of the blast,” the AP said. State TV later aired a segment from what it described as the site of the blast.One of its journalists stood in front of what appeared to be large, blackened gas cylinders, though the camera remained tightly focused and did not show anything else around the site. Iran long has denied seeking nuclear weapons, though the IAEA previously said Iran had done work in “support of a possible military dimension to its nuclear program” that largely halted in late 2003.Western concerns over the Iranian atomic program led to sanctions and eventually to Tehran's 2015 nuclear deal with world powers. DUBAI, United Arab Emirates -- An explosion that rattled What exploded in the incident early Friday that sent a massive fireball into the sky near Tehran remains unclear, as does the cause of the blast.The blast shook homes, rattled windows and lit up the horizon early Friday in the Alborz Mountains. The U.S. under President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew from the accord in May 2018, leading to a series of escalating attacks between Iran and the U.S. and Tehran abandoning the deal's production limits.Iran's missile and space programs have suffered a series of explosions in recent years.
“Satellite photos of the area, some 20 kilometers (12.5 miles) east of downtown Tehran, showed hundreds of meters (yards) of charred scrubland not seen in images of the area taken in the weeks ahead of the incident. Tuesday, January 7, 2020 - Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a - The state TV report did not answer that.Satellite photos of the area, some 20 kilometers (12.5 miles) east of downtown Tehran, showed hundreds of meters (yards) of charred scrubland not seen in images of the area taken in the weeks ahead of the incident. Initially, authorities described the blast as an accident, though a former prisoner later said the Guard interrogated him on suspicion Israel caused the explosion.Follow Jon Gambrell on Twitter at www.twitter.com/jongambrellAP.Turn on desktop notifications for breaking stories about interest? Bloomberg & Associated Press], by Staff Original Article. Iran’s nuclear site hit by 4.9 magnitude earthquake Basit Mahmood Wednesday 8 Jan 2020 9:19 am Share this article via facebook Share this article via twitter Share this article via messenger https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Alert-UN-atomic-watchdog-Iran-continues-to-15542907.php The region near Iran’s Bushehr nuclear power plant was hit by an earthquake early Wednesday.The 4.9 magnitude temblor struck about 6 miles southeast of Borazjan and 40 miles from the site tied to Iran’s controversial nuclear program.Earlier on Wednesday, a Ukrainian passenger jet crashed in flames shortly after leaving Tehran’s international airport, likely killing all 170-plus people aboard. The explosion appears to have struck a facility for the Shahid Bakeri Industrial Group, which makes solid-propellant rockets, said Fabian Hinz, a researcher at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies in Monterey, California.The Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies identified Khojir as the “site of numerous tunnels, some suspected of use for arms assembly.” Large industrial buildings at the site visible from satellite photographs also suggest missile assembly being conducted there.The U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency says Iran overall has the largest underground facility program in the Middle East.Such sites “support most facets of Tehran’s ballistic missile capabilities, including the operational force and the missile development and production program,” the DIA said in 2019.Iranian officials themselves also identified the site as being in Parchin, home to a military base where the International Atomic Energy Agency previously said it suspects Iran conducted tests of explosive triggers that could be used in nuclear weapons.