[45738] 14 killed in ammunition explosion among IRGC forces in Iran's Zanjan province

A deadly incident among Revolutionary Guard forces in Zanjan

On Friday, May 1, 2026, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard forces in Zanjan province announced the deaths of 14 personnel from the "Ansar al-Mahdi Unit's Explosives Battalion" and the injury of two others. According to reports cited by the IRNA News Agency, which is affiliated with the regime, the incident occurred during operations to neutralize bombs and ammunition that failed to explode following "enemy airstrikes."

According to an announcement by Sepah Ostan-e Zanjan, the airstrikes carried out by "enemy aircraft" included the use of cluster bombs and aerial mining, which endangered approximately 1,200 dunams of agricultural land in the area. The explosives units claimed that they had managed to identify and neutralize over 15,000 items of ammunition so far, but one mission ended in a deadly explosion.

While official media outlets in Iran described those killed as "dedicated forces and martyrs," opposition elements presented a different narrative. The Cafe Politics channel, known for its critical and hostile stance toward the regime, described the event with scorn, claiming it was the result of incompetence while linking the incident to internal repression in Iran. Other channels such as Shab-Nameh referred to the event in terms of "eradication" (destruction/elimination) of forces identified with the Revolutionary Guards.

Reports of the incident appeared on a variety of platforms, with Deutsche Welle (Persian version) noting that this involves ammunition remaining from airstrikes attributed to the U.S. and Israel. The event highlights the ongoing security tensions and the consequences of military confrontations on the ground and the civilian population in friction zones in Iran.