Iran air strike reports 'psychological warfare'
Iran’s Security Council chief said today that media reports blaming an enemy air strike for an explosion in the region of an Iranian nuclear facility were “psychological warfare”.
Iranian officials have given contradictory accounts of what caused yesterday’s explosion near the south-western town of Deilam, about 110 miles from a nuclear facility, but all have ruled out a foreign attack.
“Earlier, reports were circulated that there were US commandos in Iran. But these reports were false,” Security Council chief Hasan Rohani said after arriving in Moscow last night. “The reports about an air strike against Iran likewise are false and are psychological warfare.”
Iranian state television reported that the explosion may have been caused by a fuel tank dropping from an Iranian plane. A government spokesman said the blast may have been caused by friendly fire. A top security official also suggested the blast was caused during the construction of a dam.
Deilam, a port city in south-western Iran, lies north of the Bushehr nuclear power facility.
Russia has completed construction work on the Iranian reactor, but it is not yet operational. The United States has expressed fears that the €612.8m Bushehr deal could help Tehran build nuclear weapons.
Russia says that having Iran ship spent nuclear fuel back to Russia will make any such projects impossible, and Iran insists that its nuclear programme is only for peaceful means.
Rohani is in Moscow for talks with his Russian counterpart, Igor Ivanov, on bilateral relations and international security issues.
The talks are taking place amid international pressure on Iran to abandon uranium enrichment efforts and a week before a Russian-US summit during which Iran’s nuclear programme is likely to be among the main topics for Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President George Bush.
