The wave of explosions and fires has targeted diverse locations including apartment complexes, oil refineries, roads near major airports, and even a shoe factory. While Iranian officials have publicly attributed the incidents to aging infrastructure, gas leaks, and coincidental malfunctions, they privately suspect a coordinated campaign designed to create instability, The New York Times reported.

Iranian authorities have focused their suspicions on Israel, citing its extensive history of covert operations within Iran, including previous explosions and assassinations. A European official who deals with Iran independently assessed the attacks as sabotage and suspected Israeli involvement, according to The New York Times. The officials spoke anonymously because they were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly.

A senior Israeli intelligence official had vowed to continue operating in Iran following Israel's 12-day bombing campaign against the country last month. The incidents have occurred at a rate of one to two explosions per day across Iran, creating what officials describe as widespread anxiety among both government personnel and the general population.

Among the most significant incidents was a fire at a major oil-producing refinery in the southern city of Abadan on Saturday that killed one person, injured several others, and disabled a production line. Other explosions have struck residential buildings with such force that they sent massive plumes of smoke into the air while collapsing walls and ceilings.

Iranian officials have not provided evidence to support their sabotage suspicions, and authorities who spoke publicly continued to cite alternative explanations including gas leaks, garbage fires, and deteriorating infrastructure. However, they have also failed to provide convincing explanations for why gas explosions are occurring at such an unprecedented rate across the country, The New York Times noted.

The Iranian authorities remain hesitant to publicly declare their suspicions about potential Israeli involvement because they fear being cornered into having to retaliate against Israel. Iran's air defense systems, missile launchers, military bases, and nuclear facilities sustained significant damage during last month's conflict, leaving the country's military capabilities weakened.

Although Iran maintained its ability to launch ballistic missiles into Israel until the final hours before a ceasefire ended the conflict, officials worry that restarting hostilities could further compromise Iran's military strength. This strategic vulnerability has influenced Iran's decision to maintain public silence about potential Israeli involvement while privately investigating the incidents.

Iran: A fire broke out at the refinery facilities in the city of Abadan, in the southwest of the country.
Gas leak? pic.twitter.com/jSVfzoLbfE

— daniel (@LionsOfZion_ORG) July 19, 2025

Some explosions have targeted strategically sensitive locations beyond basic infrastructure. One blast occurred at a high-rise compound in Tehran that provides discounted housing to judiciary employees, blowing out walls and windows. The three Iranian officials told The New York Times they believe saboteurs might have deliberately targeted the location to create panic among judges and prosecutors, similar to Israel's previous campaign of assassinating nuclear scientists.

In another case in Qom, an apartment building explosion was so powerful it resembled the aftermath of a bomb blast, with first-floor walls brought down and windows shattered. A yellow taxi parked on the street was crushed under rubble, and the blast injured seven people while covering the entire surrounding block in debris, according to videos published on social media and BBC Persian.

The unit that exploded appeared to have been rented by operatives who left the building after turning on stove and oven gas, seemingly to deliberately spark a blaze, two Iranian officials told The New York Times. This pattern suggests a level of planning and coordination that contradicts official explanations of accidental gas leaks.

For over a decade before the recent war, Israel and Iran conducted their battles primarily through covert operations spanning air, land, sea, and cyberspace. Israel has repeatedly carried out clandestine operations in Iran, including explosions and drone strikes targeting nuclear facilities and military figures. Iran has responded by attacking Israeli-owned ships in the Persian Gulf, launching missiles at Israel-linked structures in Iraq, and funding armed groups like Hamas in Gaza.

Publicly, Iranian officials have attempted to explain away the fires through various means. In cases such as the blaze near Mashhad International Airport in northeast Iran, officials claimed they were conducting "controlled burning of weeds," while attributing a Tehran fire to garbage burning. For most blazes, however, Iranian officials have blamed gas leaks caused by what the director of Tehran's fire and public safety departments, Ghodratollah Mohammadi, described to state media as "worn-out equipment, the use of substandard gas appliances and disregard for safety principles."

The Revolutionary Guards member interviewed by The New York Times stated that the cumulative effect of near-daily explosions has created a growing sense of anxiety among both officials and Iranian citizens more broadly, regardless of whether some incidents were genuine accidents. "The Iranian government's long record of cover-ups and lack of transparency, along with its vague responses, have only deepened public fear and suspicion," said Omid Memarian, an Iran expert at DAWN, a Washington-based foreign policy research institute. "People are aware the regime often downplays or denies Israeli attacks."

Without public acknowledgment of what many Iranian residents perceive as coordinated attacks, some citizens have questioned whether the war truly ended. "A lot of us think that it is Israel's doing and that war is going to start again," said Mohammed, who runs a cafe and art gallery in Kashan. He requested anonymity over fears of repercussions for speaking to foreign news media, adding that he felt "scared and paranoid," particularly because Kashan is located near nuclear sites and missile bases.

Mahdi Mohammadi, a conservative politician and senior advisor to Iran's head of Parliament, described the situation with Israel as unpredictable. "If anyone thinks we are dealing with linear events that we can predict, they are naïve," Mohammadi said in one of his regular recorded speeches distributed on Telegram. "We are not even in a ceasefire now; we are in a fragile suspension, and any minute it can end, and we are back at war."

Many Iranians have also questioned the circumstances surrounding the death last week of Brig. Gen. Gholamhossein Gheybparvar, a deputy commander of the Revolutionary Guards who oversaw a Tehran military base responsible for crackdowns on women-led protests in 2021. According to a state media announcement, he died from complications related to chemical weapons injuries sustained during Iran's 1980s war with Iraq, which had flared up amid stress from the recent conflict with Israel.

Officials have attempted various approaches to address public anxieties about the ongoing incidents. The national gas company released statistics arguing there was no notable increase in explosions from gas leaks this year compared to last year's figures. The Tehran City Council invited the gas company and ministry of energy to present reports regarding "recent measures and developments," describing the discussion as addressing the situation under "normal circumstances."

To cope with mounting stress, many Iranians have turned to dark humor on social media, sharing photoshopped images of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wearing the uniform of Iran's national gas company.

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Another fire started to spread near communities west of Jerusalem on Thursday for the second day in a row.

The rapid pace that the fire spread on Thursday forced evacuations from Tzur Hadasah and Beitar Illit, as well as various industrial plants and a gas station, a day after many fires were took hold of forested area in Judea and Samaria.

The road leading the two communities was also blocked, with 25 fire-fighting teams and 12 extinguishing air tankers trying to contain the flames.

The fires on Wednesday were suspected arson, as firefighters report finding no obvious natural cause of blaze. It is unclear what caused the fire on Thursday.

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Multiple firefighting squads were battling out-of-control forest fires outside Jerusalem on Wednesday afternoon.

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One fire broke out on Har Haruach outside the city and spread to nearby communities Neve Ilan, Kibbutz Maaleh Hachamisha, Abu Ghosh, and other locations, aided by the hot and dry June weather, combined with strong winds.

Meanwhile, firefighters were also working to contain another large fire that started on Har Eitan.

Video: Roy Haimoff

Commanders of the Jerusalem District Fire and Rescue Services issued orders for residents of Kibbutz Maaleh Hachamisa who live in the homes closest to the fire to evacuate.

Four firefighting aircraft were helping the ground crews, and backup forces have been scrambled from other districts.

The KKL-JNF called the fire at Maaleh Hachamisha a "major event," and its own personnel were helping firefighters from the Fire and Rescue Services.

Highway 1 has been closed in both directions starting at the Hemed interchange. Highway 425 toward Nataf has also been closed in both directions, as has the road between Har Adar and Maaleh Hachamisha.

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Firefighters in southern Israel were able to contain large wildfires triggered by a heatwave on Monday.

The temperature spike, which was felt throughout Israel, peaked on Monday afternoon.

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Further east, a fire near Ramat Beit Shemesh forced the evacuation of residents and damaged two buildings. Blazes were also reported in Gedera, Haifa, and along Route 6.

The National Fire and Rescue Authority asked citizens not to add to the dangerous situation by lighting any fire in open areas.

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As violence raged in Jerusalem throughout the weekend, arson balloons released over the Gaza border fence toward southern Israel caused at least four fires in the western Negev on Saturday.

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The Southern District of Israel's Fire and Rescue Services reported that its personnel, along with the JNF, the Israel Nature and Parks Authority, and local volunteers, had been battling fires at a few locations in the Eshkol Regional Council and gotten the flames under control.

"Most of the fires were small and not dangerous. A wheat field in the Eshkol Regional Council was damaged," the Fire and Rescue Services reported.

Video: Newsenders

Saturday marked the third day straight that arson balloons flown over the border by terrorist factions in Gaza had caused fires in the western Negev.

On Friday afternoon, balloons caused eight separate fires, and on Friday evening another fire was reported near Kibbutz Sa'ad. Seven fires caused by arson balloons from Gaza were reported on Thursday.

Security officials in the western Negev say the balloon attacks are linked to the ongoing tension in Jerusalem and Judea and Samaria, and call the attacks an attempt to "light up the area."

Meanwhile, explosives-laden balloons weren't the only things that terrorist operatives in Gaza were sending toward Israel. The IDF confirmed that a rocket was fired at southern Israel from the Gaza Strip overnight between Saturday and Sunday, triggering an alert in open areas. No injuries or damage were reported. Local residents said they heard the rocket explode when it landed.

In response to the attack, IDF aircraft carried out strikes against Hamas targets in southern Gaza.

Earlier Saturday, Palestinians in Gaza rioted near the border fence, throwing rocks and Molotov cocktails at the border and at Israeli security troops, who used crowd deployment tactics. A few Palestinians were wounded.

Hamas said that it would activate its "nighttime disruption units" – operatives who deliberately set off alerts, keeping residents of western Negev communities running to shelters during the night – as a response to the wave of violence in Jerusalem.

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In California, Diablo winds in the north and Santa Ana winds in the south were stoking unprecedented numbers of fires that have already grown explosively. In Washington, more acres burned in a single day than firefighters usually see all year. Fires also forced people to flee in Oregon and Idaho.

A temperature plunge of as much as 60 degrees helped contain wildfires that spread in Colorado and Montana in the hot, windy weather. But no such respite was in the immediate forecast for California.

On Tuesday, 14 firefighters were forced to deploy emergency shelters as flames overtook them and destroyed the Nacimiento Station, a fire station in the Los Padres National Forest on the state's central coast, the US Forest Service said. They suffered from burns and smoke inhalation, and three were flown to a hospital in Fresno, where one was in critical condition.

In the past two days, helicopters were used to rescue hundreds of people stranded in the burning Sierra National Forest, where the Creek Fire has destroyed 365 buildings, including at least 45 homes, and 5,000 structures were threatened, fire officials said.

Flames threatened the foothill community of Auberry between Shaver Lake and Fresno.

A team of Israeli firefighters has also been helping combat the fires that are engulfing huge swathes of the state.

The Israeli delegation, which includes rescue workers and experts in forest and brush fires, as well as Foreign Ministry representatives, is expected to spend some two weeks helping.

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Earlier overnight, IDF aircraft and tanks carried out a series of strikes against Hamas positions and underground infrastructure in Gaza in response to continued arson balloon terrorism perpetrated against western Negev communities. Palestinians reported on Friday that three Hamas targets had been hit, including a weapons manufacturing facility.

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An IDF statement issued Friday said: "The IDF takes any terrorist activity directed at Israeli territory very seriously, and is ready and willing to do whatever needs to be done against attempts to harm Israeli civilians or Israeli sovereignty.

"The Hamas terrorist organization is responsible for what happens in the Gaza Strip and comes out of it, and it will bear the ramifications of terrorist activity against the citizens of Israel," the IDF said.

Shortly before 1 a.m. Friday, a member of Hamas' international affairs bureau, Bassam Naim, said it appeared unlikely that Hamas and Israel would be able to reach a ceasefire.

"We were surprised by the rejection from [Nikolay] Mladenov, the UN special coordinator for the Middle East, who recently spoke about events in the Palestinian territories and the Gaza Strip in a manner that tried to lay things out to Israel's benefit. According to international law, Gaza is an occupied territory and Israel is responsible for the lives of the residents," Naim said.

According to Naim, the Hamas leadership is "making major efforts to contain the situation and prevent escalation."

"Mr. Mladenov has been part of these efforts. But Israel dismisses all understandings and commitments. We will not die in silence, or anything less than life with dignity. We demand that the international community intervene immediately to end the complicated tragedy that the Gaza Strip experiences at the hands of Israel, the siege, and coronavirus," Naim said.

On Thursday, Lebanon's Al-Midan, identified with Hezbollah, reported that attempts to secure a ceasefire between Israel and the terrorist organizations in Gaza had failed "as a result of Israel's stubbornness." The report quoted a source in one of the Gaza-based terrorist groups.

The Al-Midan report said that the balloon units would be "sending Israel a message." According to the source, Israel needed to understand these "messages" before the situation got out of control and developed into a widespread escalation.

"The field groups have the possibility to escalate their popular resistance tactics," he said.

On Thursday, explosives-laden balloons released over the Gaza border fence into Israel caused 26 fires in the western Negev, most of which broke out in brush land in the Shaar Hanegev, Hof Ashkelon, and Eshkol regional councils. Most were small and posed no danger to residents or property.

Israel's Fire and Rescue Services noted that the "full cooperation" between all first responders and the optimal deployment of resources on the ground allowed Israel to contain the fires quickly and prevent them from spreading.

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Hamas made its demand this week as party of efforts by Egypt and the UN to calm escalating security tensions between Hamas and Israel. Currently, Qatar sends $30 million to Gaza each month, in cash.

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Israel allows the money to be transferred after it reviews a detailed list of the residents and projects for which it is earmarked, although it believed that some of the money finds its ways into the hands of Hamas, which uses it to build up its military capabilities.

Qatar starting sending funds to the Gaza Strip less than two years ago. At first, the amount stood at $5 million monthly. It was increased to $10 million, than $20 million, and this past year the amount has grown to $30 million.

Now, in addition to asking for another $10 million per month, Hamas is demanding that the money be transferred on a regular basis and for a pre-determined "long-term" period.

Video: Israel Police Spokesperson

Qatar has yet to respond to Hamas' demand – among other reasons, because it wants to know where the money will go. Israel is also deliberating about how to respond, and the top diplomatic and military echelons have a few different ways to approach the issue.

One official has said that Israel must accede to Hamas' demand as part of a long-term truce with Gaza, whereas another official said that there were options other than sending Hamas money, such as approving projects Hamas sees as important, particularly in the fields of health care and infrastructure. The second official said that by seeking alternatives to infusions of cash, Israel would reduce the risk of the Qatari money "reaching places that could put Israel's security at risk."

Some officials think that a green light for the Qatari money should be hinged on progress in negotiations with Hamas to return to Israel the bodies of fallen soldiers Lt. Hadar Goldin and Staff Sgt. Oron Shaul, as well as captive civilians Avera Mengistu and Hisham al-Sayed. However, the prevailing assessment is that there is little chance of solving that issue given the high price Hamas wants Israel to pay.

Officials said that in any case, progress on all issues would be possible only if and when Hamas puts a complete stop to arson balloon attacks on Israel. They stressed that until that happens, the Qatari envoy will not be allowed into the Gaza Strip to deliver the money. Hamas has been informed of Israel's decision, and Israel is hoping that Hamas will meet the conditions, especially given the pressure Israel has been putting on the organization in recent days.

"We want quiet. The moment the fires stop, we will move ahead on the rest of the issues," a high-ranking official said.

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A record number of blazes are ravaging the rainforest, many of them thought to have been started deliberately in Brazil, drawing international concern because of the Amazon's importance to the global environment.

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"We will straightaway offer Amazonian countries that signal to us their needs, financial support of at least up to 20 million euros [$22 million]," said Macron, who is locked in a war of words with Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro.

Macron last week accused Bolsonaro of lying about his environmental commitments.

The Brazilian president hit back, accusing Western countries of interfering in his country's affairs and mocking the looks of the French leader's 66-year-old wife on Facebook.

"It's sad, it's sad first of all for him and for Brazilians," Macron said in response on Monday.

Standing alongside Chilean President Sebastián Piñera, who was invited to join the wealthy-nation leaders in the French seaside resort of Biarritz, Macron said G-7 countries were ready to provide concrete support to the region.

"France will do so with military support in the coming hours," he said, without giving further details.

The plan decided at the G-7 will be implemented in two stages, said Piñera. "Countries urgently need firefighters and specialized water bombers. This will be the first step that will be implemented immediately.

"The second phase is to protect these forests, protect the biodiversity they contain and reforest this region of the world," he added.

Macron added that the G-7, which comprises the United States, France, Germany, Japan, Italy, Britain, and Canada, would draw up an initiative for the Amazon that will be launched at next month's UN General Assembly in New York.

Bolsonaro, a right-wing leader who wants to open the Amazon to more farming and mining, said on Twitter that Macron's initiative treated Brazil like "a colony or no-man's land" and an attack on its sovereignty.

US President Donald Trump was absent from the talks on climate change and biodiversity at a G-7 session on Monday, and Macron said he had been busy holding bilateral meetings.

"He wasn't in the room, but his team was," Macron said. "You shouldn't read anything into the American president's absence. … The US are with us on biodiversity and on the Amazon initiative."

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Residents of Beit Shemesh and Mashhad who were ordered to evacuate were allowed to return home.

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Earlier Monday, 10 teams of firefighters from the Beit Shemesh fire station, as well as firefighting aircraft, were battling a wildfire that broke out on Hagefen Street in the city. Beit Shemesh residents living to the east of Hagolan Street were instructed to close their windows and remain indoors.

בית שמש - 5 צוותי כיבוי והצלה מתחנת בית שמש פועלים בשריפת חורש טבעי ברחוב הגפן בעיר. לוחמי האש נאבקים בחזית האש על מנות לעצור את התפשטותה. המשטרה ביצעה פינוי תושבים מקו בתים ראשון.
קרדיט: סטורי בית שמש pic.twitter.com/aNlNDUuCtb

— כבאות והצלה לישראל (@102_IL) August 26, 2019

Footage of the Beit Shemesh fire, courtesy of the Israel Fire and Rescue Services via Twitter

Two other major wildfires – one at Moshav Mata in the Jerusalem hills and the second in Mashhad, northeast of Nazareth – also broke out on Monday.

Firefighters from all over Israel were scrambled to the scene of the Moshav Mata fire, while eight firefighting teams and two aircraft were battling the Mashhad fire. Occupants of Mashhad living closest to the fire line were temporarily evacuated, but by 5:30 p.m. were allowed to return to their homes.

No injuries were reported as a result of any of the fires.

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