Explosion in Tehran province kills 1, damages buildings: media

The blast occurred at 5:15 pm (1245 GMT) on the ground floor of a three-storey residential building, local fire brigade chief Iraj Torkamani told IRNA.

The fire from the explosion "was so severe that a worker immediately died and 10 of the residents from 25 apartments in the building were lightly injured", he said.

More than 20 cars and some buildings in the vicinity of the blast were also damaged, he added.

Torkamani told Tasnim news agency that the cause of the explosion was still unclear and investigations were underway.

The incident is the latest in a series of fires and explosions that have hit military and civilian sites across Iran since June.

Last week, a chlorine gas canister being transported by a truck in western Iran exploded, injuring more than 200 people.

Two explosions rocked Tehran in late June, one near a military site and the other in a health centre, the latter killing 19 people.

Fires or blasts also hit a shipyard in southern Iran, a factory south of Tehran with two dead and the Natanz nuclear complex in the center of the country.

Iranian authorities later said the Natanz explosion was a result of "sabotage".

The string of fires and explosions have prompted speculation in Iran that they may be the result of sabotage by arch enemy Israel.

Israel accuses Iran of seeking to acquire a nuclear bomb while Tehran insists its nuclear programme is entirely peaceful.

Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram to stay connected