Huge plume of black smoke towers over Tehran as major blaze breaks out at Iranian refinery (VIDEOS)

A serious fire erupted at a refinery in the southern part of Tehran on Wednesday, with eyewitnesses sharing dramatic footage of huge plumes of black smoke billowing into the skies and red flames at the base of the blaze.

“The fire has started at the liquefied gas line of Tehran’s Tondguyan refinery,” a local official told Iranian state TV.

There have so far been no reports of fatalities or injuries, with firefighters and rescue teams deployed on site to contain the blaze, according to local reports.

A live broadcast from Tehran shows the fire still burning after darkness fell, with the blaze visible from kilometers away.

The cause of the blaze is being investigated, but a spokesman for the refinery has already denied the possibility of sabotage, Iran’s semi-official ISNA news agency reported.

Earlier on Wednesday, the largest vessel in the Iranian Navy, the IRIS Kharg, sank in the Gulf of Oman after a fire raged on board for 20 hours.

Iranian infrastructure has been plagued by damaging incidents in recent months, with fires and explosions reported at refineries, factories and medical facilities.

Early May saw a major blaze at the port of Bushehr and, just hours later, a blast and fire were reported at a chemical plant in the city of Qazvin, adding to a string of such events.

Explosions rocked the Natanz nuclear site in April and June last year, delivering significant damage to the facility, but not leading to radioactive leaks. Tehran blamed those incidents on Israel, which strongly opposes Iran's nuclear program, but the Jewish state denies any involvement.

“The country has been widely exposed to security violations,” Momeen Rezaei, the secretary of the Expediency Discernment Council, said following the blasts and called for a swift overhaul of protective systems.

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