Posted on 02/25/2008 1:47:33 AM PST by maquiladora
An explosion shook the nortwestern Iranian city of Tabriz on Monday, but the cause of the blast and whether there were any casualties were not immediately clear, the semi-official Fars news agency reported.
Fars said the blast occurred shortly after mid-day and was felt across the city. (Reuters)
Not sure if this is something major yet or not. It could be...
Let’s make your link clickable and thank you for starting this thread.
http://www.globalsecurity.org/wmd/world/iran/tabriz.htm
Head’s up.
Yep, I’ll watch and update.
Thank you Jet Jaguar.
Guess the satellite parts came down.
Heads up.
Interesting post from Feb 1
http://www.armscontrolwonk.com/1784/suspect-missile-facility-near-tabriz-iran
Situated approximately 10 kilometers southwest of Tabriz, Iran, is a missile facility unique outside of the world's nuclear powers. For the first time, such a nation has chosen to operationally deploy ballistic missiles inside of silos. Granted, some non-nuclear nations deploy silo-based missiles, but these are all defensive weapon systems. The Tabriz facility represents the first silo-based deployment of offensive weapons outside of the world's nuclear powers.
The Tabriz missile facility is a relatively expansive site consisting of four primary areas. Apart from the silo location, there are areas for both administrative and support functions, missile storage, and an unoccupied HQ-2 (CSA-1 GUIDELINE) SAM site.
The missile silos at Tabriz appear to be a new development, but the facility itself appears to have been home to Iranian surface-to-surface missiles for some time. The unoccupied HQ-2 site appears to be home to a number of SRBM TELs. These vehicles appear to be Shahab-1 or Shahab-2 TELs, based on the dimensions of the weapons they can be seen fitted with. A possible Shahab-3 TEL can also be seen in the area. The TELs are located adjacent to a large structure which appears to have sliding roof segments. A storage facility such as this would allow any TELs stored inside to raise and fire without leaving the facility, hiding any missile fueling or warhead mating activity from foreign reconnaissance assets. This is obviously advantageous, as it prevents an enemy from knowing the operational status of the missiles located inside the facility. The facility appears to be divided in half, with each half appearing to be long enough to house a Shahab-3 TEL. If needbe, the former HQ-2 launch rail revetments could also serve as launch sites for any TELs located at the facility as well.
The Tabriz SSM facility provides Iran with its first survivable missile base. The weapons inside the silos provide Iran with the ability to launch a potential retaliatory strike against aggressors in the region. It is likely that more silo complexes will be constructed in the near future, to allow Iran to possess a survivable missile deterrent against future aggression. The presence of a survivable, retaliatory missile force inside of Iran is something that must be taken very seriously by any nation considering military action against the Persian nation.
11:40 Explosion shakes northwestern city in Iran, cause unclear (Reuters)
” Not sure if this is something major yet or not. It could be... “
Probably not related, but, still, there’s the extra dimension that the Kurds and Turks are squabbling in the general area, too.....
http://www.iht.com/articles/reuters/2008/02/25/africa/OUKWD-UK-IRAN-EXPLOSION.php
Blast shakes northwestern city in Iran
IHT
Fars said the blast occurred shortly after midday and was felt across the city. It was not clear whether there were any casualties.
"The blast was very strong. It shook the city. But the reason behind the blast is still unknown," Fars said, without quoting a source.
Tabriz is the capital of Iran's Northeastern Azerbaijan province.
"The windows of many buildings were shattered from the blast," the agency said.
- http://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/news/international/Blast_shakes_northwestern_city_in_Iran.html?siteSect=143&sid=8778732&cKey=1203933302000&ty=ti
Thank you Jet Jaguar.
#
http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=tabriz&search_sort=video_date_uploaded
“The blast was very strong. It shook the city. But the reason behind the blast is still unknown,” Fars said, without quoting a source.
Tabriz is the capital of Iran’s Northeastern Azerbaijan province.
“The windows of many buildings were shattered from the blast,” the agency said.
Iran often blames blasts in outlying provinces on foreign agents.
The majority of the population in Tabriz are Azeris and speak a language closely related to Turkish. They make up about 25 percent of the population in the Islamic Republic of Iran.
http://www.iht.com/articles/reuters/2008/02/25/africa/OUKWD-UK-IRAN-EXPLOSION.php
Explosions almost appear to be routine. But, this one was larger?
This seems like a big explosion, not something small that could be attributed to a militant group.
Agreed.
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