Nitrogen tank explosion causes blast, smoke at Iran's Tabriz refinery, state media says
A blast and smoke rising at Iran's northwestern Tabriz refinery were caused by the explosion of a
nitrogen tank
,
Iranian state media
said on Sunday.
There were no casualties in the incident and the refinery continues to operate normally, the report added.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Boston Globe
31 minutes ago
- Boston Globe
Iran releases death toll of Israel's Evin prison attack as officials remain suspicious of ceasefire
While officials did not provide a breakdown of the casualty figures, the Washington-based Human Rights Activists in Iran said at least 35 were staff members and two were inmates. Others killed included a person walking in the prison vicinity and a woman who went to meet a judge about her imprisoned husband's case, the organization said. The June 23 attack, the day before the ceasefire between Israel and Iran took hold, hit several prison buildings and prompted concerns from rights groups about inmates' safety. Advertisement It remains unclear why Israel targeted the prison, but it came on a day when the Defense Ministry said it was attacking 'regime targets and government repression bodies in the heart of Tehran.' The news of the prison attack was quickly overshadowed by an Iranian attack on a U.S. base in Qatar later that day, which caused no casualties, and the announcement of the ceasefire. Advertisement On the day of the attack, the New York-based Center for Human Rights in Iran criticized Israel for striking the prison, seen as a symbol of the Iranian regime's repression of any opposition, saying it violated the principle of distinction between civilian and military targets. Prison attack came near the end of 12 days of strikes Over the 12 days before the ceasefire was declared, Israel claimed it killed around 30 Iranian commanders and 11 nuclear scientists, while hitting eight nuclear-related facilities and more than 720 military infrastructure sites. More than 1,000 people were killed, including at least 417 of them civilians, according to the Washington-based Human Rights Activists group. In retaliation, Iran fired more than 550 ballistic missiles at Israel, most of them intercepted, but those that got through caused damage in many areas and killed 28 people. Abbas Araghchi, Iran's foreign minister, said in a Saturday letter to United Nations officials — obtained by The Associated Press — that the international body should recognize Israel and the U.S. 'as the initiators of the act of aggression' against Iran over the war and that their targeting of a sovereign country should require 'compensation and reparation.' At the same time, advocates have said that Iran was legally obligated to protect the prisoners held in Evin, and slammed authorities in Tehran for their 'failure to evacuate, provide medical assistance or inform families' following the attack. The judiciary spokesperson said some of the injured were treated on site, while others were taken to hospitals. Iran had not previously announced any death toll at the prison, though on Saturday, it confirmed that top prosecutor Ali Ghanaatkar — whose prosecution of dissidents, including Nobel Peace Prize winner Narges Mohammadi, led to widespread criticism by human rights groups — had been killed in the attack. Advertisement He was one of about 60 people for whom a massive public funeral procession was held Saturday in Tehran. He was to be buried at a shrine in Qom on Sunday. Iran worries whether the ceasefire will hold While Israel and Iran have been adhering to the truce, Iranian officials raised suspicions Sunday about whether the other side would continue to keep its word. Abdolrahim Mousavi, the chief of staff for Iran's armed forces, said in a conversation with Saudi Arabia's defense minister that the country is prepared if there were another surprise Israeli attack. 'We did not initiate the war, but we responded to the aggressor with all our might, and since we have complete doubts about the enemy's adherence to its commitments, including the ceasefire, we are prepared to give them a strong response if they repeat the aggression,' Mousavi said, according to Iranian state TV agency IRNA. It's unclear how much damage was done to the nuclear program Much remained unclear about the status of Iran's nuclear program, which incited the initial Israeli attack. U.S. President Donald Trump says American strikes 'obliterated' the program, while Iranians say that he's exaggerating. Rafael Grossi, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, told CBS' 'Face the Nation' in an interview airing Sunday that Iran's capacities remain, but it is impossible to access the full damage to the nuclear program unless inspectors are allowed in, which Iranian officials have not allowed. 'It is clear that there has been severe damage, but it's not total damage, first of all. And secondly, Iran has the capacities there, industrial and technological capacities. So if they so wish, they will be able to start doing this again,' Grossi said. Associated Press writer Sarah El Deeb in Beirut contributed to this report. Advertisement
Time of India
31 minutes ago
- Time of India
CIA chief told lawmakers Iran nuclear programme set back years with strikes on metal conversion site
CIA Director John Ratcliffe told skeptical US lawmakers that American military strikes destroyed Iran's lone metal conversion facility and in the process delivered a monumental setback to Tehran's nuclear programme that would take years to overcome, a US official said on Sunday. The official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive intelligence, said Ratcliffe laid out the importance of the strikes on the metal conversion facility during a classified hearing for US lawmakers last week. Details about the private briefings surfaced as President Donald Trump and his administration keep pushing back on questions from Democratic lawmakers and others about how far Iran was set back by the strikes before last Tuesday's ceasefire with Israel took hold. "It was obliterating like nobody's ever seen before," Trump said in an interview on Fox News Channel's "Sunday Morning Futures". "And that meant the end to their nuclear ambitions, at least for a period of time." Live Events Ratcliffe also told lawmakers that the intelligence community assessed the vast majority of Iran's amassed enriched uranium likely remains buried under the rubble at Isfahan and Fordo, two of the three key nuclear facilities targeted by US strikes. But even if the uranium remains intact, the loss of its metal conversion facility effectively has taken away Tehran's ability to build a bomb for years to come, the official said. Rafael Grossi, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, said Sunday on CBS' "Face the Nation" that the three Iranian sites with "capabilities in terms of treatment, conversion and enrichment of uranium have been destroyed to an important degree". But, he added, "some is still standing" and that because capabilities remain, "if they so wish, they will be able to start doing this again". He said assessing the full damage comes down to Iran allowing in inspectors. "Frankly speaking, one cannot claim that everything has disappeared, and there is nothing there," Grossi said. Trump has insisted from just hours after three key targets were struck by US bunker-buster bombs and Tomahawk missiles that Iran's nuclear program was "obliterated." His defence secretary, Pete Hegseth, has said they were "destroyed". A preliminary report issued by the US Defence Intelligence Agency, meanwhile, said the strikes did significant damage to the Fordo, Natanz and Isfahan sites, but did not totally destroy the facilities. As a result of Israeli and US strikes, Grossi said that "it is clear that there has been severe damage, but it's not total damage". Israel claims it has set back Iran's nuclear program by "many years". The metal conversion facility that Ratcliffe said was destroyed was located at the Isfahan nuclear facility. The process of transforming enriched uranium gas into dense metal, or metallisation, is a key step in building the explosive core of a bomb. Secretary of State Marco Rubio in comments at the NATO summit last week also suggested that it was likely the US strikes had destroyed the metal conversion facility. "You can't do a nuclear weapon without a conversion facility," Rubio said. "We can't even find where it is, where it used to be on the map. You can't even find where it used to be because the whole thing is just blackened out. It's gone. It's wiped out." The CIA director also stressed to lawmakers during the congressional briefing that Iran's air defence was shattered during the 12-day assault. As a result, any attempt by Iran to rebuild its nuclear programme could now easily be thwarted by Israeli strikes that Iran currently has little wherewithal to defend against, the official said. Ratcliffe's briefing to lawmakers on the US findings appeared to mesh with some of Israeli officials' battle damage assessments. Israeli officials have determined that Iran's ability to enrich uranium to a weapons-grade level was neutralised for a prolonged period, according to a senior Israeli military official who was not authorized to talk publicly about the matter. Tehran's nuclear programme was also significantly damaged by the strikes killing key scientists, damage to Iran's missile production industry and the battering of Iran's aerial defence system, according to the Israeli's assessment. Grossi, and some Democrats, note that Iran still has the know-how. "You cannot undo the knowledge that you have or the capacities that you have," Grossi said, emphasising the need to come to a diplomatic deal on the country's nuclear programme.
Indian Express
35 minutes ago
- Indian Express
‘US must rule out more strikes before new talks,' says Iran minister amid Israel-Iran ceasefire
The United States must eliminate any possibility of further strikes on Iran if it wants to resume diplomatic talks, Tehran's Deputy Foreign Minister Majid Takht-Ravanchi said amid a ceasefire in hostilities between Israel and Iran announced last week, which was brokered by US President Donald Trump and Qatar. Ravanchi said that the Trump administration conveyed its message to Tehran via mediators that it wants to return to the negotiation table regarding Iran's nuclear program but had 'not made their position clear' on the 'very important question' as talks take place between the two countries, reported BBC. In the last couple of months, the US and Iran have had at least five rounds of mainly indirect talks regarding the Islamic Republic's nuclear program and the sanctions imposed by Washington. The sixth round of talks were scheduled to take place on June 15 in Muscat but Israel launched its offensive against Tehran on June 13 and the plan for further talks were foiled. The United States also got directly involved in the conflict between Tel Aviv and Tehran, when its 125 military aircrafts, including B-2 Stealth bombers dropped bombs and targeted three Iranian nuclear sites, namely Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan. America codenamed the operation as 'Midnight Hammer'. Ravanchi reiterated Iran's stance of allowing to enrich uranium as they are for 'peaceful purposes' and rejected the accusations of the West that Tehran was secretly developing a nuclear weapon. Iran's deputy foreign minister said 'The level of that can be discussed, the capacity can be discussed, but to say that you should not have enrichment, you should have zero enrichment, and if you do not agree, we will bomb you, that is the law of the jungle,' BBC reported. The extent of damage to Iran's nuclear program due to strikes by the US and Israel remains unclear and the minister refused to give an exact assessment of the situation.
