US President Donald Trump on Tuesday shared a video of a massive explosion in Iran’s Isfahan in the early hours of the day. The video shows a series of explosion, followed by large fires lighting up the night sky in bright orange, leaving behind plumes of smoke. However, Trump did not provide detailed context for the video, but the visuals showed a US-Israeli strike on an ammunition depot in Isfahan, a city home to 2.3 million people and Iran’s Badr military airbase.
US forces have hit the ammunition depot in Isfahan
The US forces have hit the ammunition depot in Isfahan with 2,000-pound (approximately 907-kilogram) bunker-buster bombs. “A high volume of bunker busters, or penetrator munitions, was used for the strike,” an official was quoted as saying by The Wall Street Journal.
Amid the escalating conflict, Iran has shot down a US-made MQ-9 Reaper long-range unmanned aerial vehicle over the city of Isfahan on Tuesday. However, the drone was successfully intercepted, Russia’s TASS news agency reported, citing sources from Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
Trump did not provide any context to the video
Trump did not provide any context to the video, but media reports claim it's of the US and Israeli joint strikes on a major ammunition depot in Isfahan, an Iranian city with a population of 2.3 million and home to the Badr military airbase.
As per the US official cited by The Wall Street Journal, US forces hit the ammunition depot in Isfahan with 2,000-pound (approx. 907-kilogram) bunker buster bombs.
Attack triggers a series of powerful explosions
Reports suggested that the attack triggered a series of powerful explosions that sent towering fireballs and shockwaves across the area. The strike has also heightened fears of escalation as the war entered its second month, even as Pakistan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Turkey met to seek a diplomatic off-ramp.
Iran may have moved highly enriched uranium stockpiles to Isfahan
The development comes as reports suggested that Iran may have moved highly enriched uranium stockpiles, estimated to be around 540kg, to an underground facility in Isfahan. The city of Isfahan had also been targeted previously during a US strike last year in the summer under Operation Midnight Hammer, which focused on its nuclear facilities.
The reports of the strikes comes just a day after Trump threatened widespread destruction of Iran's energy resources and other vital infrastructure, including nuclear facilities and water plants, if a deal to end the war is not reached "shortly". Earlier, Trump had also said the US would destroy Iranian energy sites if discussions with a "new and more reasonable regime" didn't amount to a deal and the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz.
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