Iran buried on Monday a senior military officer it called the "architect" of its missile defenses, killed in a massive explosion at a Revolutionary Guards' arms depot that authorities said was an accident.
Officials said the accident happened as troops were moving munitions at the base west of Tehran and have denied suggestions that it may have been sabotage. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad called for better observance of safety standards at military sites.
"Martyr Moqaddam was the main architect of the Revolutionary Guards' canon and missile power and the founder of the deterrent power of our country," Hossein Salami, the deputy head of the Revolutionary Guards, said in a eulogy at the funeral, state broadcaster IRIB reported
Western intelligence source told TIME magazine Monday that the Mossad was behind the explosion at the Iranian missile base. "Don't believe the Iranians that it was an accident," the official was quoted by the the US magazine as saying.
TIME: 'Mossad' Behind Iran Explosion
"Mossad," the Israeli international intelligence agency, was behind Saturday's explosion at a missile base next to Tehran, in the estimation of an official Western intelligence source cited by TIME magazine on Monday. The official said, "Don't believe the Iranians that it was an accident."
Iran has insisted that the explosion was accidental and occurred at an ammunition depot, but evidence suggests otherwise. Several sources asserted that the base was home to the Fifth Ra'ad Missile Brigade, responsible for medium-range Shahab-3 ballistic missile.
Western Official: Israel is behind recent Iran explosion
Israel stands behind the recent explosion at an Iran missile base, a Western intelligence source told Time Magazine on Sunday.
"Don't believe the Iranians that it was an accident," the Western official told Time, insisting that widespread assumptions that Israel's Mossad was responsible for Saturday's blast, which killed 17 and wounded 15, were correct.
The official also said that more plans to sabotage Iran's nuclear program exist, telling Time, "There are more bullets in the magazine."
Obama: US will consult China, Russia on Iran
No wonder Israel is planning on ignoring the US with their plans. Russia and China are firmly in Iran's camp and we now 'officially' know that Russia is building Iran's nuclear plants. Why would they be consulted before any "action" is taken against Iran?
"We will be consulting with them carefully over the next several weeks to look at what other options we have available to us," Obama said at a press conference after the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit where he met with the leaders of China and Russia.
Obama said his strong preference was to resolve the Iran issue diplomatically but he was "not taking any options off the table."
On Friday, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said its business ties with Iran should not be targeted by any new sanctions, repeating that in any case sanctions were not the solution to the nuclear issue.
'Arab League suspension extremely dangerous'
The Arab League's suspension of Syria is "an extremely dangerous step," Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Moallem said Monday.
He added that Washington's welcoming of the Arab League suspension amounts to incitement, a statement echoed by Moscow.
Despite its suspension from the Arab League, a "Libya scenario will not be repeated in his country," the Syrian foreign minister said.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Monday also spoke out against the Arab League suspension of Syria, accusing Western nations of inciting opponents of Assad to seek his removal, Russian news agencies quoted him as saying.
Lavrov also underlined Russia's opposition to imposing new sanctions on Iran over its nuclear program and said nations were whipping up tension over Tehran to impose additional unilateral sanctions against it, the reports said.
Iran opposition to unite with government should Israel attack
Iran's opposition would unite with the government in case of an Israeli attack on its nuclear sites, former president Mohammad Khatami said on his website Monday.
"If there should one day be any military interference in Iran, then all factions, regardless of reformists or non-reformists, would get united and confront the attack," said the cleric, who is a harsh critic of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
Also see:
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