Huge blast reported near secret Iran nuclear site; City of Qazvin closed

Special to WorldTribune.com

NICOSIA — Iran has been rocked by huge explosion near a nuclear facility.

The Iranian media have reported an explosion in the northern Iranian city of Qazvin.

_49059969_iran_qazvin_sep10The blast, reported on May 6, was said to have taken place near a secret nuclear enrichment facility in Abyek.

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“The explosion took place in a storage facility,” Iran’s semi-official Fars News Agency, which reported at least 50 injured, said.

Officials said nobody was killed in the explosion. But they acknowledged a huge fire that was sweeping the industrial city, about 130 kilometers north of Teheran.

“Firefighters are trying to prevent the spread of the fire at a car oil storage facility,” Qazvin civil defense director Ali Ahani said.

Iranian opposition sources said scores of people were killed in the blast. They said Iranian Army and security forces closed much of Qazvin,
with a population of 1.1 million.

“It is not certain whether Abyek was the target,” an opposition source said. “But this incident will hamper access to the facility in the short-term.”

The opposition said Iran’s nuclear facilities have been repeatedly
targeted by Israel and the West.

In January 2013, Iran’s underground nuclear
facility in Fordow was said to have been bombed, and heavy damage was
reported by the opposition as well as Western intelligence sources.

“There could be a small facility in the [Qazvin] area, but it is not
regarded as major,” a Western intelligence source said.

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