This archive report was first published on 10 July 2020.
On July 10, 2020, a major explosion rocked western Tehran, causing widespread power failures in two residential areas and unnerving Iranians awakened for the third consecutive week by an early-morning blast.
The precise location of the explosion was unclear, but analysts pointed to several military and training facilities in the area that could be the target of sabotage.
There are two underground facilities in the area, a site associated with chemical weapons research and an unidentified military production site, according to Fabian Hinz, an Iran military expert and research associate at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies.
This was the third major explosion to have occurred in Iran between midnight and 3 a.m. over three consecutive weeks, following explosions at key military and nuclear bases in Khojir and Natanz.
Iran described the Khojir explosion as a gas tank explosion, but independent analysts questioned whether the cause was an accident, sabotage, or something else.
The Natanz explosion, which occurred at a building that housed centrifuge assembly, has not been publicly disclosed to be under investigation due to national security concerns.
However, a Middle Eastern intelligence official with knowledge of the episode stated that Israel was responsible for the attack on the Natanz nuclear complex, using a powerful bomb.
