Several unidentified flying objects have crashed in and around the northern Iranian city of Gorgan, IRGC-linked Fars News Agency reported on September 18.

No casualties have been reported, and local police have since shipped the metal detritus out of the city. Video reports from the city show significant damage to the area, including commercial and residential apartments, with shrapnel hitting the roofs of buildings.

Several video reports from the city show projectiles falling from the sky, hitting both urban and rural areas around Gorgan.

Despite reports from certain news agencies, including IRNA suggesting the crashed unidentified aerial projectile (UAP) was a drone, several later reports suggest the remains look similar to a Shahab-3 rocket.

Following the explosion of an unidentified flying object in Gorgan, the Chief of the Golestan Judiciary, Heydar Asiyabi, announced the initiation of a judicial investigation into the incident.

Asiyabi, accompanied by the provincial prosecutor and the military prosecutor of Golestan, promptly arrived at the scene shortly after the event.

He stated that necessary judicial orders regarding the matter have been swiftly issued.

To ensure procedural consistency and unity, it has been decided that the prosecutor and military officers will coordinate all matters with the provincial military prosecutor.

A later photograph from the scene shows a missile in one of Gorgan's forests in what appears to be multiple crash landings of rockets in the area.

The Chief of the Golestan Judiciary confirmed that a judicial case has been opened at the Gorgan Military Court. The case is currently under review by a special prosecutor from the military judicial organisation of the armed forces of Golestan province.

Field observations indicate that parts of the object fell at multiple locations within the city, causing damage to buildings. Necessary orders for compensation of the damages have been issued.

The cause of the Gorgan incident, as described by the spokesperson for the Ministry of Defence, is yet to be disclosed.

General Talaei Nik, the spokesperson for the Ministry of Defence, addressed the morning incident in Gorgan, clarifying that during a routine test of drone and missile systems in a desert region, one of the systems experienced a technical malfunction.

This led to it deviating from its intended path, resulting in parts of the system crashing in various areas of Gorgan city.

He assured that dedicated rescue and operational teams are currently on-site, collecting the fallen debris.

Highlighting that such drone system tests are routinely conducted in desert regions within the country, Talaei Nik noted that technical malfunctions during such tests are not uncommon and occur globally.

Talaei Nik said that one of these systems experienced a fault, leading to parts of it falling in and around Gorgan.