Residents of Karaj, outside Iran’s capital Tehran reported Thursday night that several explosions were heard there, followed by the activation of the air defense system, the Farsi-language BBC channel reported. Official Iranian media claim that the source of the explosions was a military exercise.
דיווחים באיראן: מספר פיצוצים נשמעו מזרחית לעיר כראג’ – מערכת ההגנה האווירית הופעלה@gilicohen10 @AmichaiStein1 @Yoav__Zehavi pic.twitter.com/0HVbCCgLqd
— כאן חדשות (@kann_news) February 23, 2023
In June 2021, a nuclear facility was attacked in Karaj, and Iran claimed Israel was behind it. A government spokesman in Tehran said the attack had damaged the roof of the building, which had to be removed for renovation, but damage to the equipment was limited. According to reports, the site that was attacked is one of the main facilities in the country for producing centrifuges to enrich uranium. It was included in the bank of targets Israel submitted to the US in early 2020.
Karaj was one of several cities where hundreds of people took to the streets on February 16 to mark 40 days since the execution of two protesters, with participants chanting slogans against the Ayatollahs’ regime. The rally ended with a brutal crackdown by security forces on the demonstrators.
