Despite vehement denials by Iran, new details emerged Tuesday regarding the alleged blast in the Fordo nuclear website.
The website reported Saturday that Fordo, which is considered to be Iran's second-largest uranium enrichment facility, has suffered a massive explosion, which has razed a significant part of it, trapping over 200 people underground.
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The credibility of the report has been questioned mostly due to the fact that the Qom-adjacent facility has been carved into a mountain and as such it is believed to be virtually unassailable by neither air strikes nor bunker-buster bombs.
According to a Tuesday report by WND, the Revolutionary Guard has set up a 15km security zone around the site, cordoning it off completely.
Video courtesy of jn1.tv
The website said that among those now trapped in the belly of the mountain are 16 North Koreans, including 14 technicians, and two top military officers.
Iran insists the reports are "Western propaganda," but WND claims that the Times of London and the Germany's Die Welt both have sources that corroborated that a blast has crippled the Islamic Republic's most important nuclear site.
The US, however, questioned the report's validity: White House Spokesman Jay Carney said Monday that, "We have no information to confirm the allegations in the report and we do not believe the report is credible."
The Islamic regime’s media, in a coordinated effort, reflected a similarly short response Sunday night in its denial, and Monday remained silent.
Minute by minute account?
Still, WND quoted Dr. Ali Reza Nourizadeh, director of the Center for Arab and Iranian Studies in London, as confirming that the explosion had trapped many inside.
The US-based website further alleged to have a source that saw, first hand, CCTV footage of the blast.
The account was as follows: "On January 21, 14 members of the North Korean team and two military officers now stationed at Fordo, along with Iranian scientists, started the process of feeding uranium gas into the newly set-up cascades at 9:15 am (Tehran time)."
Map of Iranian nuclear sites
"At 10:43 am, due to a drop in power pressure, system warning signs went off, but everything went back to normal after two minutes. At 11:36 am, five explosions occurred concurrently in the centrifuge chambers, two explosions in the uranium reserve enclosures and a subsequent explosion in the main hallway close to the exit.
"At the time of the explosions, a very bright red and purple light distorted the image and an extremely loud noise could be heard," the account continues. "Before the explosions knocked out the cameras, interior walls could be seen coming down within the centrifuge chambers. All the explosions seemed to have been initiated from the ceilings."
The force of the blast knocked out all of the cameras on the facility's lowest level, which is about 300 feet underground, as well as those on the floor above it, WND claimed.
Other cameras soon malfunctioned, and according to the website, "The last images show eight personnel in anti-radiation clothing trying desperately to secure one of the rooms."
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