Fire Hit IRGC Research Self-Sufficiency Center. US-Israeli ‘Plan B’ On Iran In Action?

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On the evening of September 26, a fire broke out at one of the Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) research center near the Iranian capital, Tehran.

As a result of the incident, three IRGC members were injured and taken to the nearby hospital. Two of the injured died as a result of injuries sustained in the incident.

The victims were identified as Seyed Mortaza Karimi and Hossein Abadi.

“On Sunday evening a fire broke out in one of the IRGC … research centers in the west of Tehran. Three people were injured and the fire has been contained.” – IRGC officials confirmed the reports on the incident.

The fire was later localized by rescue services.

Taking into account the high level of security in the IRGC facilities, no specific information of the center’s location or its tasks was revealed. The IRGC run many facilities on the outskirts of the capital. It was said that the fire erupted in a warehouse at the research center that was aimed on self-sufficiency of the IRGC.

The center hit by the fire may be a part of the IRGC Research and Self-Sufficiency Jihad Organization, involved in the Iran’s weapons development. The organization was sanctioned by the US Treasury back in 2017 for “researching and developing ballistic missiles.”

However, it is still not clear whether the facility was involved in the activities of Research and Self-Sufficiency Jihad Organization.

Illustrative Image: Iranian revolutionary guard soldiers march during the annual military parade.

Just after the incident, on September 27, Israel’s ambassador to the US and UN, Gilad Erdan, claimed that the US and other world powers were increasingly considering a “plan B” to stop Iran’s nuclear program.

“The international community and Americans are starting to talk to us more about a plan B on Iran,” Erdan claimed. “In the past, the estimate was that there was an 80 percent chance it [Iran] would return to the [2015 nuclear] deal, today that has dropped to around 30%.”

“If Iran doesn’t return [to the deal], this changes the whole picture for the world,” he added.

Earlier this month, top Israeli officials and the White House have resumed negotiations on the ‘Plan B’ and intelligence sharing initiative focused on Iran. There is still no official claims on what the alternative plan would entail.

Washington and Tel Aviv are planning ‘alternative’ actions against Iran in case nuclear talks in Vienna fail, before they are even resumed. The Iranian Foreign Ministry said that the negotiations would resume in the autumn, as the government of the new president Ibrahim Raisi, who won the elections in June, should be finally formed in Iran.

Meanwhile, Tel Aviv is not loosing a chance to threaten Tehran. Last month, Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz mentioned possible ramped-up sabotage operations in his speeches.

“The United States and Israel share intelligence information, and the cooperation with the United States in this field is only getting stronger. We are working with them in order to establish a Plan B and to demonstrate that if there is no deal, other activities will begin…”

At the same time, another scandal broke out between Iran and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), as the IAEA said its inspectors had been denied access to a centrifuge manufacturing site in Karaj, near the capital Tehran.

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