Iran officer killed in blast 'was working on ICBM'
Moghadam was working on a "project related to intercontinental ballistic missiles," Iranian paper quotes brother as saying.
By JPOST.COM STAFFFuneral for Iranian officer killed in base explosion 311(photo credit: REUTERS)
The Iranian officer killed in an explosion at a munitions base outside Tehran last week was killed while working on a new intercontinental missile, AFP reported on Saturday, citing a state-run Iranian newspaper.Iran has denied reports that Israeli or US sabotage was to blame for the massive blast that killed 17 troops including the officer, Brig.- Gen. Hassan Moghadam, regarded as the architect of Iran's missile defenses.RELATED:Iran army tests defenses as nuclear tensions rise'US plans sanctions on Iran's petrochemical sector'Moghadam died while working on a "project related to intercontinental ballistic missiles," his brother, Mohammad Tehrani Moghadam, a Revolutionary Guards commander, told Saturday's Iran newspaper, according to AFP.
He added that his brother's missile project "was in its final phase" and was "completely hi-tech and secret." He stated that he believed the project would be completed despite his brother's death.Iranian armed forces chief of staff, Hassan Firouzabadi, was quoted by the student news agency ISNA on Wednesday as saying last week's explosion took place during research on weapons that could strike Israel."This recent incident and blast has no link to Israel or America but the outcome of the research, of which the incident happened as a consequence, could be a strong smack to the mouth of Israel and its occupying regime," he said.Click here for full Jpost coverage of the Iranian threat
