Two weeks ago, a mysterious explosion at a missile base in the village of Bigdeneh, some 40 kilometers (25 miles) west of Tehran, killed 17 people, including a senior commander described as the architect of the Islamic Republic's missile program. On Monday, satellite images on Washington's Institute for National Security Studies' website showed the extent of the damage caused by that blast. Perhaps two weeks from now (or sooner) another satellite image will show us the damage caused by the explosion that took place (according to one Iranian report) or didn't take place (according to a different Iranian report) in the central Iranian city of Isfahan on Monday, near the country's sensitive nuclear facilities. Get the Israel Hayom newsletter sent to your mailbox! So what really happened in Isfahan? What prompted Iranians to scramble to erase any memory of a report about an explosion from the website of one of its news agencies? The Iranian response probably makes people imagine worst-case scenarios. These are tense times and the Iranian response makes it look like they have something to hide.
Iranian news agency Fars, linked to the Revolutionary Guard and considered reliable, initially reported a powerful explosion in Isfahan, Iran's third-largest city. The report was accompanied by eyewitness accounts. The state-run Islamic Republic News Agency was quick to deny the reports. IRNA, as opposed to Fars, has never been described as a reliable news source. Iran's opposition calls IRNA the "national liar."
So whom should we believe? Perhaps a third news agency, the Iranian Students' News Agency, which quoted the head of the Isfahan district legal system as saying that he had heard an "explosion-like noise" in the city. There is no indication that the man is deaf.
The Iranians have a fourth news source, the Mehr news agency, which only serves to compound the confusion. Mehr quoted the deputy governor of Isfahan province, who also serves as director of security, as saying that he had heard nothing. Several hours earlier, the same person had admitted to Fars that there had in fact been an explosion and that the events were under investigation. Mehr went even further, saying that several "unknown" news sites had reported an explosion at a gas station.
It is very possible that something serious happened in Isfahan as part of a covert war being waged against a dark and dangerous regime, even if the Pentagon and the International Atomic Energy Agency officially reported that they hadn't heard anything.
In the meantime, Iranian Press TV also rushed to deny reports of the explosion, careful not to credit Fars. One thing is certain: We have a news agency war on our hands. The question remains whether this war is limited just to the news agencies.
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