SULAIMANI (ESTA) — An Iranian interior ministry official said loud blasts heard in several cities in western Iran early on Sunday were the result of thunderstorms that caused panic among some residents.
“After liaising with the relevant security and military agencies, it was determined that the sounds were caused by thunder and lightning and no special incident occurred,” Majid Mirahmadi told the state news agency IRNA, according to Reuters.
Earlier, the governor of the western town of Asadabad had ruled out the possibility of thunderstorms as the source of reported loud blasts heard in several Iranian cities and towns.
After several similar incidents in recent months, authorities said that the Iranian military was holding unannounced air defence drills amid rising tensions over Iran’s nuclear programme with Israel and the United States.
“The intensity of the sound in some places was such that doors and windows of houses shook and people left their houses,” the Rokna news website said on its Telegram channel.
