UPDATE: December 1, 2011; 10:00AM

Amid the tensions in Iran and the destruction of a second nuclear facility (which is detailed in the original story below), we find it necessary to present our readers with an update made available via The Daily Crux and Zero Hedge, in which Major General Zhang Zhaozhong, a professor from the Chinese National Defense University, said China “will not hesitate to protect Iran even with a third World War.”

Trillions of dollars in debt and regional energy resources are at play here. Perhaps this is the reason Iran is publicly downplaying the threat and the U.S. is overtly ignoring the latest bombing/explosion at a second Iranian nuclear facility. Not a single news report of the incident is present on the homepages of major media outlets like CNN, NBC, ABC or Fox.  For their part, Iran completely denies the explosion took place and national media agencies have reportedly pulled all references to the story, even though satellite images (detailed below) confirm it happened.

Don’t miss this Chinese news report. Like the U.S., China has its own propaganda machine and this is what their populace is being fed:

(In Chinese with English subtitles):

ORIGINAL REPORT: Covert Op Suspected as Second Iranian Nuke Site Goes Up In Flames

Either Iran’s nuclear and military  programs are headed by imbeciles or their country is under attack.

Though Iran completely denied the incident yesterday, The Australian reports that satellite images confirm another Iranian military site has exploded:

Satellite imagery seen by The Times confirmed that a blast that rocked the city of Isfahan on Monday struck the uranium enrichment facility there, despite denials by Tehran.

The images clearly showed billowing smoke and destruction, negating Iranian claims yesterday that no such explosion had taken place. Israeli intelligence officials told The Times that there was “no doubt” that the blast struck the nuclear facilities at Isfahan and that it was “no accident”.

The explosion at Iran’s third-largest city came as satellite images emerged of the damage caused by one at a military base outside Tehran two weeks ago that killed about 30 members of the Revolutionary Guard, including General Hassan Moghaddam, the head of the Iranian missile defence program.

Iran claimed that the Tehran explosion occurred during testing on a new weapons system designed to strike at Israel. But several Israeli officials have confirmed that the blast was intentional and part of an effort to target Iran’s nuclear weapons program.

On Monday, Isfahan residents reported a blast that shook tower blocks in the city at about 2.40pm and seeing a cloud of smoke rising over the nuclear facility on the edge of the city.

“This caused damage to the facilities in Isfahan, particularly to the elements we believe were involved in storage of raw materials,” said one military intelligence source.

He would not confirm or deny Israel’s involvement in the blast, instead saying that there were “many different parties looking to sabotage, stop or coerce Iran into stopping its nuclear weapons program”.

Iran went into frantic denial yesterday as news of the explosion at Isfahan emerged. Alireza Zaker-Isfahani, the city’s governor, claimed that the blast had been caused by a military exercise in the area but state-owned agencies in Tehran soon removed this story and issued a government denial that any explosion had taken place at all.

A government cover up? Say it ain’t so.

There’s a war on. This was no accident.

The real question is, how, if at all, will Iran respond? Are they biding their time because they are finalizing a nuclear weapon that they intend to deploy against Israel or Western targets, or has all the machisimo displayed by Iranian President Ahmadinejad in recent years been nothing but talk?

We may soon find out.

Hat tip VRF