For the first time since Saturday's deadly blast in a military base outside Tehran that killed 17 people, Iranian sources say that Israel was behind the explosion, which also claimed the life of a senior Revolutionary Guards officer.
According to a report in the Guardian, a source with close links to the Iranian regime said Israel's Mossad was involved in the blast outside Tehran, which rattled windows in Iran's capital Saturday.
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The source, who spoke to the Guardian on condition of anonymity and was identified as a former director of a state-run organization, was quoted as saying: "I believe that Saturday's explosion was part of the covert war against Iran, led by Israel."
- The ex official said the mysterious explosion was similar to a blast in October 2010 at a Revolutionary Guards missile base located near the city of Khorramabad, the source said.
"I have information that both these incidents were the work of sabotage by agents of Israel, aimed at halting Iran's missile program," the former official was quoted as saying.
'More bullets to come'
Earlier Monday, a Western intelligence source told Time Magazine that he estimates the Mossad was behind Saturday's explosion.
"Don't believe the Iranians that it was an accident," the official said, referring to official accounts of the incident.
According to the Time report, the same anonymous source said that more sabotage is being planned to impede Iran's ability to develop and deliver a nuclear weapon.
"There are more bullets in the magazine," he said.
Saturday's blast killed at least 17 people and wounded 16 others, some of them gravely. Earlier reports put the number of fatalities at 27, but a Revolutionary Guards spokesman said the numbers were inflated as result of a "fax error."
A senior officer in Iran's weapons industry was killed in the explosions, officials in the country said. The officer, identified as Hassan Tehrani Moqaddam, held a rank parallel to brigadier general in Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards, the Fars news agency said.
Dudi Cohen contributed to the report
First published: 01:02, 11.15.11