Iran’s defense ministry says a loud blast in Isfahan was caused by “botched” drone strikes.
Iran’s Defense Ministry has reported several drone strikes against a military factory in Isfahan, the country’s central city.
The attacks had “failed” and there were no casualties, the ministry said in a statement on Sunday.
“One of the [the drones] was hit by the…air defenses and the other two were caught in defensive traps and exploded,” the state news agency IRNA said in a statement. “Fortunately, this failed attack did not cost any human life and caused minor damage to the roof of the workshop,” the statement said.
The ministry would not say who is suspected of carrying out the attack.
The statement came shortly after Iranian media reported a loud explosion in Isfahan.
News agencies published a video showing a flash of light inside the factory, reportedly a munitions factory, and footage of emergency vehicles and fire engines outside the factory.
The ministry said the attack “has not compromised our installations and mission … and such blind measures will have no impact on the continued progress of the country”.
Reports of drone strikes in Isfahan also came as Iranian state television also said a fire had broken out at an oil refinery in an industrial area near the northwestern city of Tabriz.
It said the cause was not yet known as footage was shown of firefighters trying to put out the blaze.
There have been several explosions and fires around Iranian military, nuclear and industrial facilities in recent years.
They come in the midst of a long-running shadow war between Iran and Israel.
The two countries are at odds with Tehran’s nuclear program.
Israel says Iran is trying to develop nuclear weapons, a claim Tehran denies.
Last July, Iran said it had arrested a sabotage team made up of Kurdish fighters working for Israel who planned to blow up a “sensitive” defense industrial center in Isfahan.
Iran also blamed Israel for the 2020 assassination of its chief nuclear scientist, Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, as well as an April 2021 attack on its underground Natanz nuclear facility that damaged its centrifuges.
Israel has not claimed responsibility for the attacks.
Israeli officials rarely acknowledge operations carried out by the country’s covert military units or Mossad intelligence.