A loud explosion in Isfahan was caused by ‘failed’ drone strikes, Iran’s defense ministry said.
Iran’s defense ministry said several drones attacked a military plant in the central Iranian city of Isfahan.
The attacks “did not fail” and there were no casualties, the ministry said in a statement early Sunday.
“One [the drones] was hit by air defenses while the other two were caught in security traps and exploded,” said a report carried by state news agency IRNA. “Fortunately, there was no loss of life and minor damage to the roof of the workshop in this failed attack,” it said.
The ministry did not say who is suspected of carrying out the attack.
The statement came shortly after Iranian media reported a major explosion in Isfahan.
News outlets released video showing flashing lights at the plant, which is said to be an ammunition factory, and footage of emergency vehicles and fire engines outside the plant.
The ministry said the attack “has not affected our installations and work … and such indiscriminate actions will not affect the continuity of the country’s progress”.
Reports of drone strikes in Isfahan came as Iran’s state television said a fire had broken out at an oil refinery in an industrial zone near the northwestern city of Tabriz.
It said the cause was still unknown as it showed footage of firefighters trying to put out the fire.
Several explosions and fires have occurred around Iran’s military, nuclear and industrial complexes in the past few years.
They come amid a long-running shadow war between Iran and Israel.
The two countries have been at loggerheads over Tehran’s nuclear program.
Israel says Iran is trying to develop nuclear weapons, which Tehran denies.
In July last year, Iran said it had arrested a sabotage group made up of Kurdish fighters who were planning to blow up a “sensitive” defense industry center in Isfahan.
Iran has blamed Israel for the 2020 assassination of its top nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh and the April 2021 attack on its underground Natanz nuclear power plant that damaged its centrifuges.
Israel has not claimed responsibility for the attacks.
Israeli officials rarely acknowledge operations carried out by the country’s secret military units or its Mossad intelligence agency.
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