Explosions heard in southern Iran cities, eyewitnesses say

Explosions were heard across central, southern and western parts of Iran on Sunday morning, while low-flying fighter jets were reported in multiple areas, eyewitnesses told Iran International.

Witnesses said blasts were heard in cities including Arak and Isfahan in central Iran, Ahvaz in the southwest, and Bandar Abbas and Bushehr along the southern coast, as well as Parsian, Karaj, Konarak, Mohammadshahr and Yazd.

Residents in Ilam, Qeshm, Malekshahi and Hamadan said fighter jets were flying at low altitude.

Witnesses reported early-morning strikes and air activity across several parts of Iran, including Chabahar, Ahvaz, Bushehr, Yazd and Rasht.

Messages sent to Iran International said fighter jets were heard over Chabahar around dawn, while repeated jet activity and several explosions were reported in Ahvaz later in the morning.

In Bushehr, residents reported multiple overnight explosions, followed by two more blasts near daybreak, one of them near a Revolutionary Guards site.

A missile base in Yazd was also reported bombed in the morning. In Rasht, an explosion was heard before dawn and electricity was briefly cut in some areas.

Missile strikes and explosions were reported in Tehran and several other parts of Iran early on Saturday, according to eyewitness accounts sent to Iran International.

In Tehran, multiple areas were hit between about 3:30 a.m. and 4:35 a.m. Shahrak-e Rah Ahan was reportedly struck by four missiles at 3:45 a.m. The Ferdows Boulevard area was hit around 3:30 a.m., while three explosions were heard in District 22 and four more from the direction of Tehransar. Loud blasts were also reported in Lavizan and Shahr-e Ziba, and in Bidkaneh, west of the capital, attacks were said to have continued from 4:00 a.m. at roughly 10-minute intervals.

Elsewhere, two explosions were heard at 3:32 a.m. in Ahvaz, in southwestern Iran. In Isfahan, in central Iran, explosions were reported at 2:00 a.m., 3:00 a.m. and 5:00 a.m., with the 3:00 a.m. blast described as the strongest. Shahreza, south of Isfahan, was reportedly hit by a missile at 3:00 a.m. In Yazd, in central Iran, several points in the mountains around the city were bombed at about 10:40 a.m. In Dezful and Andimeshk, in the southwest, five heavy explosions were reported between 11:40 a.m. and 11:48 a.m., shaking buildings, with the Dokouheh area said to have been targeted.

Explosions and military activity were reported in several parts of Iran early on Saturday, according to eyewitness accounts sent to Iran International.

In Fardis, west of Tehran in Alborz province, a Basij base and an old prayer site were said to have been turned into a base for special forces. Witnesses in Isfahan reported the sound of fighter jets overhead and several large explosions before dawn.

In southern Iran, Bandar Abbas on the Persian Gulf was rocked by repeated explosions from around 8 a.m., with blasts heard about every 10 minutes. On Qeshm Island in the Strait of Hormuz, witnesses reported the sound of several fighter jets at about 5 a.m.

A village in Ramsar, a city on the Caspian Sea coast, was hit at 3:37 a.m., with a strong explosion heard and a residential unit struck. In Astaneh-ye Ashrafiyeh, also in the north near the Caspian Sea, an area was targeted around 4 a.m. and a large blast was heard.

Messages sent to Iran International and posts on social media were divided over Wednesday’s strike on the South Pars gas field in southern Iran, with some welcoming the hit on state-linked assets and others warning of civilian costs.

US President Donald Trump said Israel had struck Iran’s South Pars gas field “out of anger” over developments in the Middle East, describing the damage as limited and warning there would be no further attacks unless Iran targeted Qatar again.

The strike marked a shift in a conflict that has spread across the Persian Gulf, disrupting energy flows after Iranian missiles targeted facilities in Qatar and Saudi Arabia.

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  Iran floats Hormuz transit tolls as Persian Gulf states warn of military response

Strike seen as blow to state-linked networks

Some messages sent to Iran International framed the attack as a setback for institutions tied to the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps.

“Israel, by hitting South Pars, saved us from more theft… the money was turned into bullets fired at our children,” one citizen wrote.

Another, who said he had worked on projects in the field, downplayed the long-term impact.

“Even with the complete destruction of all 24 gas refineries… they will return to production in less than three months,” he wrote, adding that supply lines from offshore platforms would shut automatically and protect reserves.

A separate message from an engineer challenged concerns about offshore facilities.

“The platforms are not even fully operational because of sanctions… after the Islamic Republic, they can be rebuilt better,” he wrote, contrasting them with higher-quality installations on the Qatari side.

Others shifted the focus away from infrastructure entirely.

“The main infrastructure was the young people they took from us… the rest can be rebuilt with better technology.”

Social media posts echoed that line in sharper language. “Don’t worry about infrastructure,” one post read. “What infrastructure are you talking about? What life was left that needed infrastructure?” it added.

Concerns over civilian impact

Other messages cautioned that strikes on energy infrastructure would translate directly into hardship for civilians.

“Don’t look at infrastructure so simply,” one user wrote. “Lack of electricity and gas means death – cold, hunger, medicine shortages.”

Another post rejected attacks on non-military targets. “Hitting Iran’s infrastructure by any side is condemnable. It belongs to all Iranians,” the message read.

Some called for limiting strikes strictly to military-linked targets. “Please just hit those responsible and leave non-military infrastructure alone.”

One message also questioned the timing. “Hitting South Pars at this moment is not the last and best solution,” it read.

Back to corruption and rebuilding

Even among those critical of the strike, some framed the debate through long-standing economic grievances.

“If infrastructure belonged to the people, no one would be searching in trash for food.”

Another argued that damaged facilities could ultimately be replaced. “That worn-out infrastructure… will be rebuilt better – but those lives won’t return,” the user wrote referring to thousands of people killed during the January protests.

Others pointed to historical reconstruction. “Germany and Japan were flattened in World War II – where are they now?” one user said.

Across the exchanges, a recurring thread linked both support for and opposition to the strike back to mistrust of the Islamic Republic, with many portraying the country’s energy wealth as mismanaged or diverted, and arguing that any future recovery depends less on infrastructure than on political change.