Iran’s Defense Ministry says a loud blast heard in Isfahan was caused by “unsuccessful” drone strikes.
Iran’s Defense Ministry has reported multiple drone strikes on a military facility in the country’s central city of Isfahan.
The attacks were “unsuccessful” and there were no casualties, the ministry said in a statement early Sunday.
“One of [the drones] was hit by … air defenses and the other two were caught in defense traps and blown up,” state news agency IRNA said in a statement. “Fortunately, this unsuccessful attack did not cause any fatalities and caused minor damage to the roof of the workshop,” it said.
The ministry did not say who is suspected of carrying out the attack.
The statement came shortly after Iranian media reported a loud explosion in Isfahan.
News outlets released video showing a flash of light inside the facility, which is said to be a munitions factory, and footage of emergency vehicles and fire engines outside the facility.
The ministry said the attack “did not affect our facilities or our mission… and such blind measures will have no impact on the continued progress of the country.”
Reports of the drone strikes in Isfahan also came as Iranian state television also said a fire broke out at an oil refinery in an industrial area near the northwestern city of Tabriz.
It said the cause was not yet known as it showed footage of firefighters trying to put out the blaze.
In recent years there have been several explosions and fires near Iranian military, nuclear and industrial facilities.
They come amid a long-running shadow war between Iran and Israel.
The two countries are at odds over Tehran’s nuclear program.
Israel says Iran is trying to develop nuclear weapons, a claim Tehran denies.
In July last year, Iran said it had arrested a sabotage team composed of Kurdish fighters working for Israel who were planning to blow up a “sensitive” defense industrial center in Isfahan.
Iran also blamed Israel for the 2020 assassination of its leading nuclear scientist Mohsen Fachrizadeh, as well as an attack on its underground nuclear facility at Natanz in April 2021 that damaged its centrifuges.
Israel has not accepted responsibility for the attacks.
Israeli officials rarely acknowledge operations conducted by the country’s clandestine military units or its intelligence agency Mossad.