Iran Suffers Another Mysterious Accident at Power Plant

Another explosion – the latest in a series of mysterious mishaps that have taken place in Iran over the past two weeks – occurred Saturday in a power plant near the city of Ahvaz in southwest Iran. According to local media, the ensuing fire that broke out throughout the complex was quickly extinguished, and no casualties were sustained. Also on Saturday, an Iranian news agency reported that a chlorine leak in a petrochemical plant in the city of Mahshahr caused limited damage and lightly injured 70 workers who were treated for poisoning and burns. These accidents follow a series of curious explosions and fires that have broken out over the country during the past two weeks. On Thursday, a fire in the Natanz nuclear facility – one of the main uranium enrichment sites in Iran – was blamed by government officials on a foreign cyberattack, with some state-run newspaper editorials pointing the finger at Israel. Two days earlier, 19 people were killed in an explosion at a medical clinic north of Tehran. Another explosion occurred east of the capital near an underground weapons development compound. Authorities blamed both incidents on gas leaks.