Satellite image of Iran's Parchin nuclear facility. The IAEA suspects it to have military elements and is concerned about clean up efforts to hide intentions of nuclear program. Photo: Institute for Science and International Security.

JNS.org – A deadly explosion has occurred at Iran’s secretive Parchin military base just outside of Tehran, according to reports.

Iran’s semi-official Iranian Students News Agency (ISNA) said that a fire was ignited in an “explosive materials production unit,” resulting in the deaths of two workers.

Citing the Iranian opposition website Sahamnews, the BBC reported that the huge blast came near the Parchin military site, located southeast of Tehran. The explosion was so intense that it blew out windows nearly nine miles away, and the glare from the blast could be seen from a great distance, the opposition website said.

The West has long suspected that Iran has used the Parchin military base as the site for secret tests of technology that can be used for its nuclear weapons program.

In a statement in late September, Israeli Intelligence Minister Yuval Steinitz citing “highly reliable information” said that Iran had conducted implosion tests at Parchin, involving neutron sources that would include nuclear material. The International Atomic Energy Agency, whose inspectors have been denied access to Parchin by Iran, has via satellite observed suspicious construction activity that could be related to Iran covering up evidence of its nuclear program there.