UPDATE 4: LOUD EXPLOSIONS ROCK IRANIAN CITY | CONFLICTING REPORTS CAUSE CONFUSION

November 28, 2011 - IRAN - Two mysterious explosions shook the city of Isfahan (or "Asfahan") in western Iran today, reports Ya Libnan, which quotes the semi-official Fars News Agency. The explosions are thought to have happened at or very near the Shahab-4 Ballistic missile facility.

"Two explosions have been reported in the Iranian town of Isfahan," reports JewishPress.com. "The first occurred at around 2:30 AM and was originally reported by Farsnews, until the report was taken down. Israel’s Channel 10 is reporting that a second explosion occurred not long ago at a Shahab-4 ballistic missile facility, also in Isfahan. Isfahan hosts a nuclear technology center and a uranium conversion facility, as well as a production plant which make alloys for nuclear reactors."

www.globalsecurity.org/wmd/world/iran/shahab-4.htm

It is still not clear what exploded or what caused the explosions. The only thing that is certain is that there are conflicting reports and a lot of confusion about the incident, as the Israel Matzav blog reports.


This may be significant because a uranium conversion plant not far from Isfahan went became fully functional in 2004. Today's blast comes as tensions between Israel and Iran are at an all-time high, and there is much speculation that Israel will attack Iran's nuclear facilities in an effor to prevent Iran from achieving nuclear weapons.

An updated item from Haaretz highlights how confusing this story really is. Some of the confusion is intentional. "Speaking with Fars news agency," reports Haaretz, "Isfahan’s deputy mayor confirmed the reports and said the authorities are investigating the matter. However, after the incident was reported in Israel, the report was taken off the Fars website." (My emphasis added.)

According to The Telegraph UK, "some sources told news agencies there had been a blast on military facilities, [but] others said there had been a fireball at a petrol station. Residents of the city were independently telling relatives and friends overseas that the city had been shaken by a massive blast in the early afternoon."

Fox News is also referring to the Fars report, and added "the Pentagon and the International Atomic Energy Agency both said they had no reports of an explosions in the city, which has a uranium conversion plant nearby."

Meanwhile, Haaretz (Israel) is also reporting that North Korea has supplied Syria and Iran "with a special kind of steel used to upgrading missiles and building centrifuges for uranium enrichment, the German newspaper Die Welt reported over the weekend."

And, just as a footnote, it will be 64 years ago tomorrow that the United Nations created the modern nation of Israel. On November 29, 1947 the U.N. passed Resolution 181, which divided the British-ruled Palestine into a Jewish state and an Arab state.