Mysterious explosion at Iranian power plant kills one, injures 4

Explosion reported in power plant near Tehran; Iran downplays incident, blaming it on ‘negligence’ of facility’s workers.

By World Israel News Staff

An explosion was reported at a power plant in central Iran Sunday evening, according to Iranian media outlets.

A report by the semi-official Fars agency said that the incident occurred at the Parand power plant, located in Robat Karim County, about 30 miles (50 kilometers) southwest of Tehran.

According to Fars, one person was killed in the explosion and four more injured.

The blast is said to have occurred at a pipeline used to transfer fuel to the plant’s turbines.

Iranian officials downplayed the incident, with regional governor Omid Ahmadi claiming the explosion was the result of “staffers’ negligence,” with no mention of sabotage.

Ahmadi added that the explosion damaged only a small part of the gas line, claiming that the blast did not interrupt the power plant’s operation nor the supply of electricity.

Last Thursday, the Tehran region’s electrical grid was partially disabled for roughly two hours, apparently the result of a cyber attack.

A group of Israeli hackers, known as “WeRedEvils” claimed responsibility for the attack.

In a message issued to the group’s Telegram channel, the hackers threatened a “harder” strike against Iran’s power grid.

“We cut off their electricity, and we left tens of thousands of residents without a means of communication and electricity for two hours until this moment. This is a message from us to Iran: don’t play with fire. The next strike will be harder with many more harmed, and it will be different from the cyber attacks that you’re familiar with.”

Israel and Iran have long engaged in cyber warfare, including targeting each other’s infrastructure.

In addition, a string of explosions at Iranian power plants in the summer of 2020 – resulting in regional blackouts – were widely speculated to have been the work of Israeli saboteurs.