Explosions were reported across parts of southern Iran on Thursday, including areas near the Bushehr nuclear power plant, prompting fresh concerns over regional security. While Iranian state media linked one of the strikes to a US-Israeli projectile, Washington rejected any involvement in the latest attacks. The developments come amid heightened tensions in the Middle East, with Israel warning it could launch further military operations against Iran if it considers them necessary. The blasts also occurred shortly after Iran held the burial ceremony of its late Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
According to Iranian state media, cited by AFP, a US-Israeli projectile struck a military command post on the outskirts of Bushehr, home to Iran's only civilian nuclear power plant.
Bushehr Deputy Governor Ehsan Jahanian said several locations across the province came under attack on Thursday. The impacted sites included areas surrounding the Bushehr nuclear facility, a military installation in Choghadak and a fishing dock in the southern part of the province.
Authorities said no fatalities had been reported following the attacks.
Iran's Mehr News Agency also reported three separate explosions in the southern city of Konarak, indicating that multiple locations were affected during the latest wave of strikes.
A US official told Al Jazeera that American forces had no role in the latest round of attacks, distancing Washington from the explosions reported in southern Iran.
At the same time, Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz signalled that Israel remained prepared for additional military action if required.
Addressing troops during a military ceremony, Katz said Israeli forces stood ready to resume operations against Iran "with even greater force" if necessary. He said the military was prepared to restore air superiority and eliminate perceived threats, adding that any future campaign would be more powerful than previous operations.
The latest developments unfolded only hours after Iran buried its late Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, at the Imam Reza shrine in Mashhad, one of the country's most significant religious sites.
Earlier this week, the United States launched what it described as a "series of powerful strikes" against Iran, saying the operation was in response to Iranian attacks on three commercial vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz.
US Central Command said the strikes were intended to impose significant costs on Iran for targeting commercial shipping and described Tehran's actions as a serious violation of the ceasefire.
According to an Axios report, the US operation targeted Iranian air-defence systems, coastal surveillance facilities, surface-to-air missile batteries, anti-ship cruise missile positions, drone launch sites and port infrastructure. A US official reportedly said the scale of the operation was four to five times larger than strikes conducted in the Hormuz region around ten days earlier.
