Iran blast near military academy

While Iranian officials continue to deny any reports on the blast in Isfahan, other sources started to shed light on the mysterious incident. Iranian paper Farhang Ashti (Peace Culture) reported Monday that the explosion, which was initially reported by Iran's official news agency Fars, took place several streets away from the city's military academy, near the Shiraz Gate. The report's credibility remained unclear. Fars initially reported a loud blast at 2:40 pm local time, but removed the report shortly afterwards. Hours later, conflicting reports began to surface. Iran's Mehr news agency mistakenly quoted the deputy governor of Isfahan province as saying that there was no report of a major explosion in the province -- a quote given by him almost a year earlier, following a December 18, 2010 explosion in the city. However, the news agency also quoted another Iranian media outlet as saying that a blast took place at a petrol station in a nearby town. Iran's uranium conversion plant is located just outside Isfahan -- one of the country's largest cities.