Mystery fire in Tehran may be linked to nuclear capabilities
A fire that broke out in the Shadabad iron market in Tehran on Saturday and left four people killed and seven others injured was allegedly at a location linked to Iran’s nuclear industry, according to Israeli intelligence research center Intelli Times.
According to Israeli intelligence analyst, Ronen Solomon, of the Intellitimes blog, the fire “consumed two metal factories that were engaged in the production of chips for parts of centrifuges and valves that can be used by Iran's nuclear industry”.
It is cited as Block D, the fires across two manufacturing plants for valve parts, compressors and pipes used in the gas industry, but which can also support uranium conversion and enrichment plants, Solomon assessed.
Iran's government-controlled media extensively reported the incident, but made no reference to any sensitive work being done in the "iron market" district.
The analysis came from satellite imagery and details on the companies operating in the complex.
Solomon cited the companies that operated in the complex as “Claniz”, a company that provides engineering design and engraving services for the production of centrifugal compressors and valves, and the "Easy Pipe" company for the production of valves and pipes for the gas industry.
Jason Brodsky, head of policy at United Against Nuclear Iran, said “there is a history of sabotage operations against AEOI workshops in the Shadabad area”.
Andrea Stricker, deputy director and research fellow at the Foundation for the Defense of Democracy’s Nonproliferation & Biodefense Program, noted that it comes amid the growing fears that Israel will attack Iran’s nuclear facilities.
US President Joe Biden has said he will not support such an attack, even in retaliation for the 181 ballistic missiles rained down on Israel earlier this month, but the latest findings suggest the Jewish state may have found a way round the issue.
"Israel reportedly not targeting Iranian nuclear sites in [an] upcoming counter-strike may simply mean no aerial bombing. Supply chain facilities mysteriously catching fire, exploding, sudden unexplained damage, might be a different story,” she wrote on X.
Stricker pointed to a powerful explosion that destroyed an advanced centrifuge assembly plant in Iran in July 2020, an event which was believed to be the result of Israeli sabotage.
“An attack by Jerusalem on one of Tehran’s key nuclear assets could foreshadow a covert action campaign designed to set back Iran’s nuclear program. The timing for such a campaign is opportune, since Tehran may hesitate to respond with force, lest it provoke the final collapse of the 2015 nuclear deal,” she wrote at the time.
The July 2020 attack destroyed the Iran Centrifuge Assembly Center (ICAC), located within the Natanz nuclear complex. The ICAC produces advanced centrifuges capable of enriching uranium at much faster rates than Iran’s older centrifuge design models. Today, this is being produced in increasing numbers, against the limits established by the 2015 nuclear deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).
In 2021, according to a report by London’s The Jewish Chronicle, Israel used an Iranian network of agents to conduct sabotage operations against Iran’s nuclear facilities.
A large explosion in April that year inflicted major damage to the Natanz uranium enrichment site and was conducted by recruiting several Iranian scientists working in the complex, the report said. They had smuggled explosives into the highly secure facility and at the chosen moment the explosion was triggered remotely.
According to the report, 90 percent of the centrifuge machines enriching uranium were destroyed and the facility was put out of action for nine months.
In September that year, a weekly publication in Iran reported another fire incident in a military research center, calling it an “attack” by Israel to exert pressure on Iran.
The little-known Sobh Sadegh publication of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) mentioned that a “self-reliance research center” west of Tehran was targeted by Israel in an operation similar to other attacks since July 2020, including the two explosions in the Natanz uranium enrichment facility.
The IRGC reported that a fire damaged one of its research facilities and three personnel were injured. Hours later, the announcement was deleted from its website and another version appeared saying that the fire was in the depot of the facility. Later, the IRGC said that two of its personnel died in the incident.
Israel has a history of totally destroying enemy nuclear capabilities, succeeding in both Iraq and Syria. But now, the Iran issue remains elusive in the face of a reluctant US battling to calm a hawkish Israel.