Iranian officials claim Israel behind series of mysterious fires, explosions
Iranian officials quietly claim that many of the recent mysterious explosions and fires that have broken out in the last two weeks were acts of sabotage by Israel, The New York Times reported on Wednesday.
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and the Iranian government officials believe these acts of sabotage come directly from Israel, but, according to the report, are not permitted to discuss it publicly. In public, officials have claimed the events are coincidences or attributed them to old infrastructure.
NYT cited three Iranian officials, including a member of the IRGC, who said they believe that many of the fires were "acts of sabotage." However, the officials did not provide evidence to back up suspicions, and NYT noted that officials who spoke publicly blamed gas leaks, garbage fires, and old infrastructure for the explosions.
Iranian authorities are hesitant to openly accuse Israel of involvement, fearing it could force them into a position where they would have to retaliate, according to the report.
Mahdi Mohammadi, the senior advisor to Iran's head of Parliament, said, 'If anyone thinks we are dealing with linear events that we can predict, they are naïve, We are not even in a cease-fire now; we are in a fragile suspension, and any minute it can end, and we are back at war.'
The report also cited a European official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity and who deals with Iranian affairs, and he also believed that the attacks were sabotage and suspected Israel was behind the fires.
Mossad says they will continue to operate in Iran
These claims follow the 12-day war between Israel and Iran, including the Mossad's promise to continue intelligence operations within Iran, leading regime officials to believe Israel is behind the incidents.
Mossad chief David Barnea, in a rare public address following the war with Iran, said, "We will be there, just as we have been up to now."
A Persian-language X/Twitter account that styles itself as Israel's Mossad, but has never been publicly acknowledged by the agency, addressed the explosions in a post.
"Explosion after explosion. Someone needs to check what's going on there. Too many random incidents are happening."
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