17 killed in massive explosions at munitions depot near Tehran

TEHRAN, Nov. 13 (MNA) -- Seventeen personnel of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps were killed by two huge explosions that occurred on Saturday at an IRGC munitions depot near the town of Malard in Alborz Province, about 30 kilometers west of Tehran. “Seventeen official servicemen of the Sepah (IRGC) were martyred due to explosions which occurred during the transportation of ammunition,” the director of the IRGC public relations office told the Mehr News Agency. A number of IRGC personnel were also critically injured in the incident, Brigadier General Ramezan Sharif said. He also dismissed the reports by certain foreign media outlets that claimed the explosions were the result of a nuclear experiment. A team of experts has launched an investigation into the incident, he added. The blasts caused panic in nearby towns and were heard in Tehran and Karaj. The impact of the explosions shattered windows of buildings in Shahriar and Shar-e Qods in Alborz Province. Major General Hassan Tehrani Moqaddam, the director of the IRGC Jihad Self-Sufficiency Organization, was also martyred in the incident.