20080630

Mysterious explosion at Iranian military facility - DEBKAfile reports

DEBKAfile’s Iranian sources report that an explosion Monday, June 30, at Bidganeh near the town of Shahriar 40 kilometers east of Tehran occurred at a military installation, not a civilian building as Tehran claimed. At first, the Iranian authorities reported 15 people were killed, correcting this later to no casualties. The precise function of the targeted facility is not known. While Iran claimed the blast was caused by a gas leak, Western military sources are skeptical and believe the authorities are trying to cover up some sort of sabotage. In separate news, Iran sentenced an Iranian electronics distributor to death for allegedly spying for Israel.
Ali Ashtari, 43, of Tehran, who was found guilty of spying for the “Zionist regime” for money, may appeal the death sentence handed down by a Iranian Revolutionary Court Monday, June 30, the Fars news agency reports. According to his “confession,” Ashtari was a salesman of telecoms equipment which he used to help the Israeli Mossad access information from Iranian officials. He is said to have been given $50,000 to buy Internet cables and satellite phones and then sell them to “special customers” to enable Israel to hack into their communications.
The condemned man is cited as admitting he had meetings in Thailand, Turkey and Switzerland with Mossad agents “Jacques, Charles and Tony,” who gave him equipment including a laptop for sending encrypted emails. DEBKAfile’s Iranian sources report Iranian official circles have beome obsessed with suspicions of Israeli and American undercover infiltrators preparing impending attacks on Iran’s nuclear facilities. There have been claims in the past of spies hiding in strategic places ready to guide incoming heavy American bombers to targeting those facilities. Iran also fears enemy agents have penetrated its nuclear research centers to gather “crucial” strategic data. These alarms have raised concerns for the safety of the 4,000-years old Jewish community of Iran, whose numbers have dwindled to 17,000 to 20,000.

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