A blast heard in several cities of western Iran early in the morning of January 16 seemed the result of a thunderstorm which caused the sudden panic among residents as per the statement of an Interior Ministry official.

According to Majid Mirahmadi, “after collaborating with the relevant security and military agencies, it was estimated that the sounds were caused by thunder and lightning. However, no strange incident took place.”

Before, the governor of the western town of Asadabad had ruled out the possibility of thunderstorms as the source of reported noisy blasts heard in several Iranian cities and villages.

According to authorities behind several equivalent incidents that happened in recent years, the Iranian military had sudden air protection drills amid growing tensions over Iran’s nuclear programme with Isreal and the United States.

According to sources, “the intensity of that thunderstorm was that much high that people left their homes because their home windows and doors were shaking.”

Isreal has a long, strong-armed military that took action against Iran. Indirect talks with Washington and Tehran failed to rescue a 2015 nuclear agreement that then US President Donald Trump left in 2018 and reimposed boycotts on Tehran.