Iran on fire? Explosions, factory blazes, and secret compounds raise alarming questions

A series of particularly unusual fires, incidents, and explosions have plagued Iran over the past 10 days, raising many questions about the possibility of foreign involvement.

Yesterday (Monday) there were reports of unusual explosions at underground ammunition facilities of the Revolutionary Guards, but this was just one of many other incidents. So far, no external source is known for this series of incidents, and there is no proof that there is a connection between the incidents.

Media outlets affiliated with the Iranian opposition reported yesterday that explosions and a fire broke out at an isolated facility in the city of Kazeroun, west of the city of Shiraz. According to reports, the fire broke out at an underground ammunition facility of the Revolutionary Guards. The Iranian media did not report on the incident and no official explanation was given.

Even before that, on Sunday, the Iranian media, including media outlets affiliated with the opposition, reported a widespread fire at a factory in the city of Mashhad. According to the official media statement, the fire broke out at the motorcycle factory and burned many tires that were in the area, causing thick and heavy clouds of smoke.

In this case, the opposition media also adopted the administration's position, reporting that the fire broke out at a motorcycle factory. Hours later, speculation and various reports began to circulate on social media, which could raise suspicions about the factory that burned down.

Khosrow Isfahani, an exiled journalist affiliated with the Iranian opposition, published satellite photographs and claimed that the site of the "motorcycle factory" that burned down was in fact a security factory. Another user raised the possibility that the motorcycle engines are actually the engines installed in the Iranian Shahed drones. One of the photographs shows the flags of the United States, Britain and Israel on the ground, apparently intended for them to be stepped on.

All of these events were preceded by the huge explosion at the Shahid Rezai port in the port of Bandar Abbas in southern Iran last Saturday. According to all the evidence, reports and assessments, the powerful explosion, which caused the death of many dozens of people and the injury of more than 1,200, was caused by the inadequate storage of chemicals that were dismantled for Iran's missile project.

Yesterday, another fire broke out at the port, according to the authorities' announcement, for a completely different reason, at a site near an oil facility at the port. The fire was reportedly extinguished within a short time.

So far, there is no evidence of a connection between the two incidents, nor is there any proof that any of the events that were defined as accidents occurred due to other external causes. In general, Iran is a country that is not sufficiently advanced, and its infrastructure is sometimes at a low level and without proper maintenance, which often causes malfunctions, fires, and explosions as a result, and not necessarily due to an attack or seemingly mysterious events. Despite all this, even for Iran, this is a large and relatively unusual sequence that raises many question marks.