Shahran oil depot in north west Tehran has been likened to a “hydrogen bomb”
The subterfuge and sabotage, particularly after the August 4, 2020 Beirut, Lebanon blasts 1 , in which around 181 people died, more than 3,00,000 rendered homeless and property worth billions of USD gutted, has become the new normal. There are many theories about who perpetrated the blasts but Lebanese former interior minister has openly blamed Israel to have done it 2, but now an absolute different angle has come forward, which has been till date remained outside the human purview, i.e. that seismological imbalances suggest that there were six-blasts with an 11-second intervals, which preceded the main explosion 43 seconds later. This startling revelation has come from Boaz Hayoun, a former military engineering officer of Israeli’s Tamar Group 3. There is an elaborate report published in Reuters on August 13, 2020 which gives a glimpse as to where the world is heading. No wonder, so intimated the Gulf-states have become, that UAE, within a fortnight of the blasts has succumbed to normalise relations with Israel. Israel has denied its involvement and US president has said that blast was not an accident but may be through a bomb 4.
This small report is enough to bring the actual nightmares to the world, ‘“I cannot say categorically what caused this, but I can say these blasts were at the same location,” has said Hayoun. Lebanon President Michel Aoun has said investigators would also look into the possibility of “external interference” such as a bomb, as well as negligence or an accident as causes. Hayoun (has) assessed that the Beirut incident involved underground explosions. The 43-metre (140-foot) deep crater at the port could not have been left by the explosion of the amount of ammonium nitrate reported by Lebanese authorities, he said: “It would have been shallower, maximum 25 or 30 metres.” The main explosion, of the ammonium nitrate warehouse, was preceded by a nearby fire. Israel Defense, a leading private online journal with close ties to the Israeli military establishment and which first reported Hayoun’s findings, described his analysis of a possible blast sequence as consistent with munitions detonations. Such a sequence could be consistent with “weapons systems that are activated in a chain” and which might have been stored in the port and set off accidentally or deliberately, said Israel Defense. However, it did not provide evidence to suggest sabotage’ 5. Why would anyone claim a sabotage?
It may be known that , in the past few months, there has been a spurt, in mystery fires in Iran ( July 6, 2020) 6 , Kingdom of Saudi Arabia ( August 6, 2020) 7 , Dubai ( August 5, 2020) 8 , Iraq ( August 15, 2019) 9 etc and it is yet to be detected as to who is behind such fires, and the world is just baffled over it, thus, owing to such diabolic designs, and also the dangerously placed situation in Iran, ( the prime target of Gulf-states, US and Israel) Tehran City Councilor Majid Farhani has warned that immediate steps are warranted from Iran or else Iran might witness a far greater blast than what has happened in Beirut.
A report published in The Daily Star on August 29, 2020 10 has spelled the dangers ahead. Farhani has said, what may be termed as the biggest warning to Iran as Iran is at risk of a huge explosion 300 times a day that could be deadlier than Beirut. In the said report Farhani has referred that ‘Tehran, the capital city of Iran, is also located near an active earthquake fault line placing it at risk of a devastating earthquake. This, along with oil tankers surrounding it, could cause severe devastation, ( as ) millions could die in Iran as the country is at high risk of suffering a “tragedy even worse than Beirut” due to oil tankers being situated in an earthquake zone, Tehran, could one day experience a devastating quake as it stands on a fault line – which coupled with an explosion – could be disastrous, it has been warned. But in Tehran, with a capacity of 30,000 litres of oil spread across 300 tankers, an accidental explosion at the Shahran facility could cause widespread damage – especially as it’s right in the middle of an earthquake zone. He further stated that “Shahran faces danger 300 times a day and nobody is paying any attention” and likened the danger to a hydrogen bomb. The city of Tehran is located on an active fault called Mosha-Fasham’ . God forbid, if an earthquake (engineered or real) strikes Iran it would be a human disaster of unimaginable magnitude.
The US attitude for Iran is well known for the last half a century and has recently added more heart-burns to it, Gulf-states and Israel, when Iran entered into a 25 years 400 billion USD deal with China on July 13. 2020 11 as Iran is only stumbling block to Israel rising power-status in the Gulf-region, and no wonder US secretary of state Mike Pompeo on his latest visit to Israel, on August 24, 2020, has warned that one day Iranians will also normalise with Israel 12 , in the same visit, he sat in the backdrop of old Jerusalem city where Jews want to construct the ‘third-temple’ by demolishing Al-Aqsa mosque, one of the holiest sites to Muslims.
Thus, in the wake of ultimate technological advancements by Israel and US, it may be considered that artificial rains can be forged, weathers can be delayed, droughts manufactured, or even earthquakes may be brought, and no doubt, the world has become extremely susceptible after the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic to all such maneuvers. How this latest COVID-19 has brought (man-made) havoc or has benefited a few billionaires in the world, will be a part of research for tomorrow, but owing to the way how dangerously the world is treading, in terms of a war like situation between India-China, India-Pakistan, China-US, Turkey-Greece or for that matter US-Iran, it tends to become very extremely vulnerable not only for Iran but in fact for the whole world.
The writer is a former UP State Information Commissioner. He is also a lawyer based in Lucknow.
References:
1-https://www.hindustantimes.com/world-news/two-explosions-rocks-lebanon-s-beirut-dozens-wounded-videos-surface-online/story-wkCeUkZGBqxMPVtrneAnNI.html
2-https://asiatimes.com/2020/08/lebanon-ex-interior-minister-israel-blew-up-port/
3-https://www.reuters.com/article/us-lebanon-security-blast-seismology/seismic-data-suggests-string-of-blasts-preceded-beirut-explosion-israeli-analyst-idUSKCN2591S2
4-https://www.thehindu.com/news/international/trump-says-beirut-explosion-seems-to-be-bomb-of-some-kind-cites-generals/article32273316.ece
5-https://www.reuters.com/article/us-lebanon-security-blast-seismology/seismic-data-suggests-string-of-blasts-preceded-beirut-explosion-israeli-analyst-idUSKCN2591S2
6-https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-53305940
7-https://gulfnews.com/world/gulf/saudi/fire-erupts-at-saudi-fodder-market-1.73020443
8-https://www.timesnownews.com/international/article/uae-massive-fire-breaks-out-in-ajman-market-watch/632570
9-https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2019/aug/15/iraq-burning-problem-mysterious-fires-destroy-crops-and-livelihoods
10-https://www.dailystar.co.uk/news/world-news/iran-risk-huge-explosion-300-22572873
11-https://www.financialexpress.com/defence/iran-china-strategic-agreement-and-its-implications-for-india/2022453/
12-https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/pompeo-to-post-i-hope-one-day-iran-will-normalize-ties-with-israel-639768
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