A large explosion rattled Tehran's sky late Thursday night, with Iranian officials and Arab media giving conflicting reports as to its cause. At this time, it also remains unclear if there were any casualties in the explosion.
Saudi media outlet Al Arabiya reported that the explosion took place at a military base in Parchin, east of Tehran, hedging it may have been a gas explosion, but speculation on social media soon run rampant, with some claiming that the blast was the result of a power plant outage or a malfunction in the process of disposing of a large number of munitions.
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Other reports speculated that something else could have happened in Parchin, where the local military base is suspected of housing a nuclear facility.
Iranian Defense Ministry spokesman Davoud Abdi told state TV on Friday that the explosion took place at an Iranian gas storage facility in an area that "houses a sensitive military site" near Tehran.
He insisted the explosion took place in the "public area" of Parchin, as opposed to the military site in the city, adding that the fire was under control and there were no casualties. He did not give any information about the cause of the blast.
But videos and photos posted on social media and aired by Arab media showed a massive explosion sending a bright orange flash into the night's sky and followed by large plumes of smoke, suggesting there may be more to the incident.
Nour News, a news agency associated with the Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) reported that that the explosion took place at an industrial gas storage facility near a military base east of Tehran.
Iran's Mehr news agency could not provide details about the event, reporting only that "a terrible sound and bright lights" were seen in the sky east of the Islamic republic's capital.
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