Two unexplained explosions target Iranian factories within a single hour

Sunday’s incidents followed a serious fire on Saturday night at a cardboard factory in Karaj, near Tehran’s capital.

By Vered Weiss, World Israel News

On Sunday night, two explosions mysteriously targeted Iranian factories within an hour.

The blasts follow a series of inexplicable explosions and fires that raise safety concerns and could be a sign of sabotage.

The first explosion injured five people at a petrochemical plant in the industrial section of the Iranian city of Qom. No cause was identified.

The second blast followed less than an hour later. It occurred at a motorcycle factory in the northern city of Mashhad, where it set fire to supplies of cardboard and tires.

Firefighters extinguished the blaze at the Mashhad factory, but they have not yet reported the number of casualties or the cause of the explosion.

Sunday’s incidents followed a serious fire on Saturday night at a cardboard factory in Karaj, near Tehran’s capital.

Last week, 70 people were killed and hundreds were injured following an explosion at Shahid Rajaee port in the southern city of Bandar. Initially, this explosion was blamed on lax safety measures used when storing chemicals, but some Iranian officials suspect a deliberate attack.

According to another report, the chemicals that caused the explosion were imported from China and intended for use in the production of ballistic missiles.

A few days after the port explosion, a blast at a warehouse in the city of Isfahan killed one person and injured two. A Saudi media outlet reported that it occurred at a chemical plant used to produce gunpowder and was under the supervision of Iran’s National Security Council.

The presence of combustible materials in many of these recent incidents may point to lax safety measures. In contrast, others are firmly convinced that foreign or domestic sabotage is responsible for the explosions.

However, Iranian authorities have not officially linked the incidents, which are still under investigation.