A large explosion struck Iran’s capital Tehran on Friday at a square filled with demonstrators, Iranian state television reports.
The explosion hit Ferdowsi Square, just down Enghelab Street from Tehran University, the epicenter of ongoing Quds Day, or Jerusalem Day, demonstrations. The area is home to many government buildings.
Video published by the semiofficial Tasnim news agency shows a plume of gray smoke rising as demonstrators screamed “Death to Israel!” and “Death to America!”
Footage from Ferdowsi Square showed people shouting “God is the greatest!” as smoke rose.
The strike comes as Iranian media published videos showing top members of the country’s theocracy at the demonstration in Tehran, including security official Ali Larijani and Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejehi, the hard-line cleric who heads the country’s judiciary.
The cause of the blast is not immediately known, and there is no immediate comment from the IDF or Iranian authorities.
We can't do this work alone.
The war with Iran has been draining for all of us in Israel. But when I heard about a high casualty incident – ballistic missile impacts in Arad and Dimona that left nearly 200 people wounded – I drank a cup of coffee, packed a bag, and headed south.
There, I spoke with Shilgit, the head of an after-school program for underprivileged youth. Standing outside her destroyed center, Shilgit said it was a miracle that no children were hurt and spoke about the community coming together in the hours since.
As a Times of Israel reporter, I’m committed to telling stories of resilience like Shilgit’s. But my colleagues and I can't do this alone. If you value work like this, please consider joining our reader support group, The Times of Israel Community. Your financial support is essential to keep real human reporting like this going.
— Stav Levaton, military reporter
Yes, I'll join
Yes, I'll join
Already a member? Sign in to stop seeing this
You're a dedicated reader
We’re really pleased that you’ve read X Times of Israel articles in the past month.
That’s why we started the Times of Israel - to provide discerning readers like you with must-read coverage of Israel and the Jewish world.
So now we have a request. Unlike other news outlets, we haven’t put up a paywall. But as the journalism we do is costly, we invite readers for whom The Times of Israel has become important to help support our work by joining The Times of Israel Community.
For as little as $6 a month you can help support our quality journalism while enjoying The Times of Israel AD-FREE, as well as accessing exclusive content available only to Times of Israel Community members.
Thank you,
David Horovitz, Founding Editor of The Times of Israel
Join Our Community
Join Our Community
Already a member? Sign in to stop seeing this
From the Liveblog of
Friday, March 13, 2026
