The Bid Kaneh arsenal explosion was a large explosion that occurred about 13:30 local time, 12 November 2011 at the Modarres

garrison A garrison is any body of troops stationed in a particular location, originally to guard it. The term now often applies to certain facilities that constitute a military base or fortified military headquarters. A garrison is usually in a city ...

missile base in

Tehran Province Tehran province () is one of the 31 provinces of Iran. Its capital is the city of Tehran. Tehran province covers an area of and is located to the north of the central plateau of Iran. It was made a part of the First Region with its secretar ...

, Iran. The facility is also referred to as Shahid Modarres missile base,Mysterious explosions pose dilemma for Iranian leaders
. ''The Washington Post''. 23 November 2011 and the Alghadir missile base. Seventeen members of the Revolutionary Guards were killed in this incident,Iran exile group claims blast near Tehran hit closely guarded missile base
''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

''. 13 November 2011. including Major General Hassan Moqaddam, described as "a key figure in Iran's missile programme".Iranian missile expert killed in explosion
''The Guardian'', 13 November 2011 The

Iranian Revolutionary Guard The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), also known as the Iranian Revolutionary Guards, is a multi-service primary branch of the Iranian Armed Forces. It was officially established by Ruhollah Khomeini as a military branch in May 1979 i ...

garrison is located near Shahriar, Tehran Province, about 30 miles west of Iran's capital of

Tehran Tehran (; , ''Tehrân'') is the capital and largest city of Iran. It is the capital of Tehran province, and the administrative center for Tehran County and its Central District (Tehran County), Central District. With a population of around 9. ...

. Residents of

Karaj Karaj (; ) is a List of cities in Iran by province, city in the Central District (Karaj County), Central District of Karaj County, Alborz province, Alborz province, Iran, serving as capital of the province, the county, and the district. Earl ...

heard the sound of the explosion and breaking glass in buildings that were near the scene. Initial reports indicated that the explosion happened at a

CNG Compressed natural gas (CNG) is a fuel gas mainly composed of methane (CH4), compressed to less than 1% of the volume it occupies at standard atmospheric pressure. It is stored and distributed in hard containers at a pressure of , usually in c ...

station, but this was later denied. Revolutionary Guard officials stated the accident occurred while military personnel were transporting munitions. Officials denied the possibility of any foreign sabotage in the explosion despite the "fivefold increase in explosions" since 2010 at Iranian refineries and gas pipelines reported by industry experts. According to

CNN Cable News Network (CNN) is a multinational news organization operating, most notably, a website and a TV channel headquartered in Atlanta. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable ne ...

, senior defense officials indicated that the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

believed the explosion was an industrial accident which took place while mixing volatile fuel for a large ballistic missile. Commercial satellite imagery captured on November 22 showed extensive damage at the military base and some buildings appeared to have been completely destroyed.

Possible Israeli sabotage

According to an unnamed Western official quoted by ''

Time Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...

'' magazine, the blast was no accident and there are "more bullets in the magazine", implying the explosion was deliberate. Israeli Defense Minister

Ehud Barak Ehud Barak ( ; born Ehud Brog; 12 February 1942) is an Israeli former general and politician who served as the Prime Minister of Israel, prime minister from 1999 to 2001. He was leader of the Israeli Labor Party, Labor Party between 1997 and 20 ...

was asked about the explosion and replied, "May there be more like it."

References

{{Iran–Israel proxy conflict Explosions in 2011 Explosions in Iran History of Tehran province 2011 industrial disasters 2011 in Iran Iran–Israel proxy conflict

Possible Israeli sabotage

See also

References