Devastating Explosion At Key Iranian Nuclear Facility Confirmed By London Times

According to the London Times, the arch Conservatives at World Net Daily finally got one right. On Friday, WND reported the destruction of Iran’s top secret uranium enrichment facility at the Fordow nuclear installation. Fordow, buried deep under ground, is reported to have completely collapsed in a massive explosion, trapping 200 workers in the ruins of the facility.

WND published a report on the explosion written by a former Iranian Revolutionary Guard officer and CIA agent named Reza Kahlili, An author of several alarmist books and dozens of articles, Kahlili claims Iran intends to bring about a nuclear apocalypse in order to create an Islamic paradise on earth. For months now, critics have ridiculed his writings and claimed that WND is not a reliable source for news.

However on Monday, reports began to circulate in the mainstream media that there might be something to the story. Finally the London Times published an article confirming the story, citing Israeli intelligence officials in Tel Aviv, who discussed the story with the British newspaper.

“An explosion is believed to have damaged Iran’s Fordow nuclear facility, which is being used to enrich uranium, Israeli intelligence officials have told The Times. Sources in Tel Aviv said yesterday that they thought the explosion happened last week. The Israeli Government is investigating reports that it led to extensive structural damage and 200 workers had been trapped inside.

“One Israeli official said: “We are still in the preliminary stages of understanding what happened and how significant it is.” He did not know, he added, if the explosion was “sabotage or accident”, and refused to comment on reports that Israeli aircraft were seen near the facility at the time of the explosion.”

When asked about the explosion at Fordow, Home Front Defense Minister Avi Dichter, a former head of Israel’s Shin Bet security service, gave no hint of Israeli involvement but welcomed the news:

“Any explosion in Iran that doesn’t hurt people but hurts its assets is welcome.”

Iran claims that no explosion took place at Fordow and denies that Iran is pursuing a nuclear weapon. During last year’s failed P5+1 negotiations, Iran refused Western demands that they permanently abandon the Fordow facility. Israel remains convinced that installation is being used to enrich Uranium to the 20 percent level as a step towards producing a nuclear bomb.

“Washington and its Western allies accuse Iran of trying to develop nuclear weapons under the cover of a civilian nuclear program, while they have never presented any corroborative evidence to substantiate their allegations. Iran denies the charges and insists that its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes only.”

Friday’s article in WND contained specific details of the Fordow disaster. According to WND, the source was a former member of Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence and National Security.

“According to a source in the security forces protecting Fordow, an explosion on Monday at 11:30 a.m. Tehran time rocked the site, which is buried deep under a mountain and immune not only to airstrikes but to most bunker-buster bombs. The report of the blast came via Hamidreza Zakeri, formerly with the Islamic regime’s Ministry of Intelligence and National Security.

“The blast shook facilities within a radius of three miles. Security forces have enforced a no-traffic radius of 15 miles, and the Tehran-Qom highway was shut down for several hours after the blast, the source said. As of Wednesday afternoon, rescue workers had failed to reach the trapped personnel.

“The site, about 300 feet under a mountain, had two elevators which now are out of commission. One elevator descended about 240 feet and was used to reach centrifuge chambers. The other went to the bottom to carry heavy equipment and transfer uranium hexafluoride. One emergency staircase reaches the bottom of the site and another one was not complete. The source said the emergency exit southwest of the site is unreachable.”

It is quite possible the full story about Fordow may never be known, as Iran refuses to allow International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors access to all of their nuclear facilities. The IAEA also believes that Iran may have several top secret nuclear installations buried deep underground in remote areas that are still undetected by United Nations inspectors and US spy satellites.

While many observers of the world’s political scene take news from WND with a grain of salt, it appears that something serious occurred in Fordow. Newspaper around the world are now quoting Friday’s WND article as a source and recent satellite photos show a rather extensive hole in the ground where a large building used to exist. The Inquisitr will continue to follow the story and update our readers as new information becomes available.