Factory Run by Iranian Defense Ministry Hit by Fire – Again

A fire broke out at an Iranian Defense Ministry’s factory north of Tehran for the second time in less than a week, state media reported.

No one was injured in the fire, which erupted in an area where plastic waste is stored, state TV said on September 28. 

Iranian news outlets and media users circulated video footage of black smoke rising into the sky.

#BREAKING: Fire or explosion in Tehran. Video coming in below. This is third such incident in days, especially in MODAFL facilities in #Iran. pic.twitter.com/hACqDArlFK

— Jason Brodsky (@JasonMBrodsky) September 28, 2023

“As we revealed a few days ago, this is not an innocent factory but a complex that produces  batteries under the auspices of a commercial company that appears on the sanctions list and is related to military applications such as missile systems, drones, communications, electrical explosives and backup systems for strategic facilities,” Israel’s Intelli Times blog said on X.

Incidents at the country’s defense industry sites have increased in recent years, with the authorities blaming the Islamic Republic’s foreign foes for attacks or sabotage.

In August, Iran accused Israel of trying to sabotage its ballistic missile program through faulty foreign parts that could explode, damaging or destroying the weapons before they could be used.

Last year, an explosion at a military and weapons development base east of Tehran killed an engineer and wounded another.

Iran has been under heavy Western sanctions for several years that prevent it from importing a range of machinery and replacement parts, forcing it to build its own or source them on the black market.