Breaking: Seven foreigners killed in explosion at Iran steel factory

Does the mysterious blast in Iran's steel factory have any connection to attempts to sabotage the Iranian nuclear program? Foreign reports suggesting Iran received North Korean steel used for uranium enrichment and the production of exhaust systems of missile engines may indicate that there is such a connection,Yent news reported.

A blast in a factory in the central Iran province of Yazd claimed seven lives and wounded 12 others Sunday evening, the Iranian authorities confirmed on Monday.

According to IRNA, Yazd Governor Azizollah Seifi added that the explosion occurred in Ghadir-e Yazd Steel factory at 19:15 local time Sunday evening. According to him, seven foreign nationals residing in Yazd province were among those killed in the explosion. The other was an Iranian national.

Seifi stressed that the incident is currently under thorough investigation.

last week, an explosion took place in the city of Isfahan, which is home of uranium conversion plant operational since 2004.

The London Times reported that the explosion had damaged the nuclear facility but the Institute for Science and International Security in the United States published satellite images which showed extensive work underway at the facility but not damage from an explosion.

On November 12th, two blasts hit an ammunition depot near the Shahriyar town, some 30 km west of Tehran. According to the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), the incident occurred when troops unloaded projectile from the depot. The number of victims reached 17 people, while 15 people were injured.

Among the dead was a senior officer at the Revolutionary Guard. General Hasan Tehrani Moqaddam was hailed for "his efforts in launching and organizing the Guard's artillery and missile units," according to the semi-official Fars news agency.

UPDATE

Iranian officials claimed that the cause of the blast was the penetration of water into the steel's melting pot, but later said that ammunition brought to the factory had exploded but an Iranian parliament member claimed it was triggered by exploded ammunition.

The death toll from an explosion in a steel factory in the Iranian province of Yazd earlier this week has increased to 16, after nine people seriously hurt in the blast died from their wounds in the hospital.