Explosion rocks Iran nuke city

Guardian:

Conflicting reports have emerged from Iran over an explosion heard in the central city of Isfahan, close to the country's sensitive nuclear facilities.

Iran's semi-official Isna news agency quoted a judiciary official in Isfahan, saying that an explosion had been heard.

"We heard a sound similar to that of an explosion but we have received no reports about its causes and the consequences so far," said Gholamreza Ansari, in quotes carried by Isna. He said the explosion did not appear to be of any significance.

According to Rajanews, a website affiliated to the country's elite revolutionary guards, the governor of Isfahan, Alireza Zaker-Isfahani, said the blast was part of a military exercise in the north-east of the city.

Zaker-Isfanai denied reports that the explosion was related to the nuclear facilities, situated in the same area of the city. "There is no such a thing, the sound of the explosion was from the military exercise," he said.

Iran's semi-official Fars news agency was one of the first media organisations to report the explosion, saying it was heard at 2.40pm local time (1110 GMT). Fars quoted the deputy governor, Mehdi Ismaili, as confirming a sound that the news agency reported was loud enough to be heard across the city. The agency, however, removed the article from its website sometime later.

Ismaili then spoke to another semi-official agency, Mehr, denying his quotes as reported by Fars. "I have heard no sound whatsoever in Isfahan," he said. Ismaili also told the Irna state news agency that he had not spoken to Fars in the first place.

Several residents of Isfahan told the Guardian that they had heard a loud blast. One said that it rattled the windows of their home.

Isfahan is home to Iran's uranium conversion facility (UCF), which operates under IAEA surveillance. Iran's main uranium enrichment facilities are situated in the city of Natanz to the north-east of Isfahan, where many of the country's centrifuges are installed. In recent years, Iran's nuclear activities at Natanz have been at the centre of an international dispute.

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The people who control media statements seem confused about how to describe what happened.  It suggest to me they are trying to downplay the event in hopes that the people will not think them incompetent.  If that is the plan it is not working.  There have been several other explosions in Iran besides the two reported here, some of which were coordinated.  Some involved sabotage of oil and gasoline production facilities.

It would not surprise me to see explosions at some of her other weapons production facilities.