An explosion was reported at an office building in western Tehran on Wednesday night, causing heavy damage to part of the building, according to Iranian media.
A spokesman for the fire department in Tehran told the Iranian Labour News Agency (ILNA) that the explosion took place in one of the units at a five-story building used for offices, commercial and residential purposes. He stated that the explosion was caused by a gas leak.
"There was a relatively severe explosion on the second floor of the building," the fire department spokesperson told ILNA. "The blast was so intense that the walls of the unit and the two units next to it were destroyed. Also, part of the façade of the building outside the building was destroyed. Fortunately, the blast did not cause much damage to the upper floors and adjacent buildings."
A 35-year-old woman was injured in the explosion and was treated by emergency services. It is unclear what her condition is.
Footage from the scene showed emergency services, including ambulances, operating at the site. A heavily damaged building could be seen in the footage.
A series of explosions and fires have hit industrial sites and government facilities across Iran, including a number of petrochemical plants and nuclear facilities, in recent weeks and over the past year. Iranian officials have referred to most of the cases as incidents or accidents, although some of the incidents have been blamed on Israel by Iranian officials or were reported to involve foul play.⚡️ کاربران در شبکههای اجتماعی از شنیدن صدای انفجار در حوالی «شهران» در غرب تهران خبر میدهند. در تصاویر منتشر شده نیز نیروهای امنیتی، و خودروهای آمبولانس و آتشنشانی در محل دیده میشوند. تا این لحظه اخبار رسمی درباره جزئیات این حادثه منتشر نشده است. pic.twitter.com/Z1JkaO6j5I
— VOA Farsi (@VOAIran) July 14, 2021
Aging infrastructure in Iran has also been blamed for at least some of the incidents. Frequent blackouts have been plaguing the Islamic Republic recently amid the summer heat.
Last month, a sabotage operation against a building likely used to produce centrifuges for Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization (IAEO) in Karaj caused major damage, The Jerusalem Post learned.
In April, thousands of centrifuges were reportedly damaged in an explosion at a nuclear facility in Natanz. The explosion was the fifth such incident at Natanz in the past 15 years, according to former IAEO head Fereydoon Abbasi-Davani.