Report: In Latest Mysterious Blaze, Several Ships Burn in Iranian Shipyard

TEL AVIV — At least seven ships caught fire Wednesday at the Persian Gulf port of Bushehr in Iran which houses Iran’s only nuclear plant, the regime-affiliated Tasnim news agency reported.

It was the second blaze reported that day, with another breaking out at an aluminum factory in Lamerd in southern Iran.

No casualties were reported at the Delvar Shipyard in Bushehr, but firefighters struggled to bring the fires under control with thick smoke engulfing the city.

The cause of the blaze has not yet been determined, according to the Iranian Fars News Agency.

Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps Quds Force Commander Esmail Ghaani commented about the warship, “Americans shouldn’t blame others, this is the fire they lit.”

דיווח באיראן: לפחות שלוש אוניות עלו באש בנמל בושהר. לא דווח על נסיבות האירוע@GBrizman @yoavz pic.twitter.com/iYn2lAoiu1

— כאן חדשות (@kann_news) July 15, 2020

According to Iran’s Mehr News Agency, the fire at the South Aluminum Corporation in Lamerd was caused by an “oil leak” and inflicted minor damage.

The Bushehr and Lamerd incidents come amid a series of unexplained explosions and disasters in the Islamic Republic, including a July 2 fire that damaged the Natanz nuclear facility and an explosion at the Parchin military complex a week before.

According to a report in The New York Times which cited a Middle Eastern intelligence official, Israel was behind the Natanz explosion.

The official said the bomb caused “significant damage” and set back Tehran’s nuclear program by months.

A building used for producing centrifuges at the Natanz nuclear site was blown up with a powerful bomb, the official told the newspaper.

A member of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps also confirmed to the newspaper that an explosive was used. He ruled out cyberattacks as the cause.

The unnamed official said, however, that Israel was not responsible for the other fires occurring around the Islamic Republic.