On Saturday, U.S. media reported about an explosion at an underground uranium enrichment facility at Fordo, where more than 200 people were trapped under the ground. Today it was announced that Tehran denies the fact of the explosion, while Israel supports it, the Sunday Times reports.
News site WDN, that published the information about the explosion on January 24th, refers to former Iranian intelligence officer Reza Kahlili. The officer reportedly received the information from a guard of the underground facility, whose employees were engaged in uranium enrichment. According to Kahilil, the explosives were delivered directly to the site. "The Iranian authorities declared the explosion sabotage," he said. It is reported that the explosion destroyed buildings in a radius of five kilometers.
Meanwhile, Tehran denies the fact of the explosion, calling news reports about it "Western propaganda." In particular, it was said by deputy head of the Atomic Energy Seyed Shamseddin and the head of the Majlis committee on foreign policy and national security, Aladdin Burujerdi, who were quoted by the Iranian news agency IRNA.
British newspaper The Times reported that, according to Israel, the explosion at the underground plant occurred about a week ago. The affected area was not cordoned off, probably to hide the fact of the explosion; more than 200 workers were trapped under the ground as a result of the blast. Perhaps, the evacuation is simply not needed.