An explosion rocked the Parchin nuclear facility in Iran this morning.  The facility is a military base, long known to be involved in the development of sophisticated explosive devices that can detonate a nuclear warhead.  Iran has denied International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspectors access to the facility since 2005.

The blast killed two and shattered windows up to 12 kilometers away.  The flash could be seen from a great distance.   Parchin is located east of Iranian capital, Tehran, along with several other similar facilities.

Prepare now for the conspiracy theories to fly!  Over the past decade or so, Iran has been plagued by unexplainable occurrences of attacks on their nuclear facilities or high ranking nuclear scientists.  Almost always, the accusatory finger is pointed at Israel.  Just as frequently, Israel remains silent!  Is it incompetence among Iranian nuclear leadership, or is it sly, covert operations involving Israel’s intelligence community?  Perhaps a little bit of both…but Israel is not telling!

Israel has allegedly deployed hitmen, sabotage, front companies, and double agents to work covert magic in disrupting or slowing progress of development of nuclear weapons in Iran.  Here is a brief sample of unaccounted actions, thought to be perpetrated by Israel and/or the US:

• Ardeshire Hassanpour, a top nuclear scientist at Iran’s Isfahan uranium plant, died in 2007 of mysterious circumstances from reported “gas poisoning.”  (Many other top-ranking scientists have either died mysteriously or were targeted by hitmen.)
• Alleged Israeli front companies have been used to infiltrate the Iranian purchasing network.  By using “dual use” items, such as metals, valves, electronics, and machinery, these companies initially supply Iran with legitimate material, winning Tehran’s trust, and then start to deliver faulty or defective items that “poison” the country’s atomic activities.
• Spies such as Reza Kahlili have provided “insider information” regarding the inner workings of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards.
• Stuxnet and other computer viruses have wrecked havoc on Iran’s centrifuges and other nuclear electronics.
• In 2012, a spying device disguised as a rock exploded near the Fordow nuclear plant in Iran.

Wars are certainly not fought like they once were!  Covert and cyber warfare are definitely on the rise, and those bring their own challenges…namely, the “good guys” have to stay ahead of the “bad guys” in development and use of such “weaponry.”  I read an interesting article a couple years ago, and it details the dilemma we face.  Ponder The Lessons of Stuxnet.

Despite Iran’s nuclear ambitions, and despite covert operations going on all over the world, our Lord Jesus is still in control!  We can trust a God who is supreme and sovereign over all things.  He is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and indeed:

The Lord has established His throne in the heavens,
and His sovereignty rules over all.
~Psalm 103:19