Special to WorldTribune.com

LONDON — Satellite images have confirmed that a leading Iranian nuclear facility was bombed.

Images taken by the French satellite Pleiades showed considerable damage at the Parchin military complex near Teheran. The satellite showed that an explosion confirmed by the Iranian regime took place in the facility closed to the International Atomic Energy Agency for nearly a decade.

On Oct. 5, Iran’s Defense Industries Organization said a fire erupted in a factory that produced explosives in Teheran and killed two employees. Later, the Iranian opposition said the explosion took place near Parchin, located 30 kilometers southeast of Teheran.

The satellite images, taken 24 hours after the blast, showed that Parchin was the target of the bombing. The images, analyzed by an Israeli specialist, Ronen Solomon, disclose the destruction of several buildings at Parchin, including that of a purported nuclear weapons testing site.

“The explosion wiped several testing units off the face of the earth while inflicting collateral damage on adjacent buildings, with traces of fire clearly visible in a section located in a sparsely afforested area,” Solomon said in the Israel Defense magazine on Oct. 8.

IAEA has raised the prospect that Parchin was used to test fuzes for nuclear warheads. Iran has denied the suspicions but refused access to the United Nations agency.

“Before and after images indicate that a complete section of structures was simply eliminated by an unexplained explosion,” Solomon said.

Later, the Washington-based Institute for Science and International Security confirmed that Parchin was damaged by the explosion. In a statement on Oct. 8, the institute said the southern section of Parchin was believed to have been targeted.

“Two buildings that were present in August 2014 are no longer there, while a third building appears to be severely damaged,” ISIS said. “In total at least six buildings appear damaged or destroyed.”

  Defense Industries Organization, IAEA, Satellite images show damage to Parchin buildings believed used for nuclear weapons