Update: Massive Explosion at Iran Port Kills 25, Injures Over 800
Update: Massive Explosion at Iran Port Kills 25, Injures Over 800
Update:
A massive explosion and fire rocked a port Saturday in southern Iran purportedly linked to a shipment of a chemical ingredient used to make missile propellant, killing 25 people and injuring around 800 others.
Helicopters and aircraft dumped water from the air on the raging fire through the night into Sunday morning at the Shahid Rajaei port. The explosion occurred just as Iran and the United States met Saturday in Oman for the third round of negotiations over Tehran’s rapidly advancing nuclear program.
No one in Iran outright suggested that the explosion came from an attack. However, even Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, who led the talks, on Wednesday acknowledged that “our security services are on high alert given past instances of attempted sabotage and assassination operations designed to provoke a legitimate response.”
State media offered the casualty figures, saying authorities identified only 10 of the dead, including two women.
Meanwhile, state TV reported the fire was under control and will be fully extinguished later Sunday. It also said activities have resumed at the port, showing footage of containers of a commercial ship being unloaded.
There were few details on what sparked the blaze just outside of Bandar Abbas, causing other containers to reportedly explode.
Private security firm Ambrey says the port received missile fuel chemical in March. It is part of a shipment of ammonium perchlorate from China by two vessels to Iran, first reported in January by the Financial Times. The chemical used to make solid propellant for rockets was going to be used to replenish Iran’s missile stocks, which had been depleted by its direct attacks on Israel during the war with Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
“The fire was reportedly the result of improper handling of a shipment of solid fuel intended for use in Iranian ballistic missiles,” Ambrey said.
In a first reaction Sunday, the spokesman of Iran’s defense ministry Gen. Reza Talaeinik, denied reports that missile fuel had been imported through the port.
“No sort of imported and exporting consignment for fuel or military application was (or) is in the site of the port,” he told state TV by phone. He called foreign reports on the missile fuel baseless.
Ship-tracking data analyzed by The Associated Press put one of the vessels believed to be carrying the chemical in the vicinity in March, as Ambrey said. Iran hasn’t acknowledged taking the shipment.
It’s unclear why Iran wouldn’t have moved the chemicals from the port, particularly after the Beirut port blast in 2020. That explosion, caused by the ignition of hundreds of tons of highly explosive ammonium nitrate, killed more than 200 people and injured more than 6,000 others. However, Israel did target Iranian missile sites where Tehran uses industrial mixers to create solid fuel.
Social media footage of the explosion on Saturday at Shahid Rajaei saw reddish-hued smoke rising from the fire just before the detonation. That suggests a chemical compound being involved in the blast, like in the Beirut explosion.
“Get back, get back! Tell the gas (truck) to go!” a man in one video shouted just before the blast. “Tell him to go, it’s going to blow up! Oh God, this is blowing up! Everybody evacuate! Get back! Get back!”
On Saturday night, the state-run IRNA news agency said that the Customs Administration of Iran blamed a “stockpile of hazardous goods and chemical materials stored in the port area” for the blast, without elaborating.
An aerial shot released by Iranian media after the blast showed fires burning at multiple locations in the port, with authorities later warning about air pollution from chemicals such as ammonia, sulfur dioxide and nitrogen dioxide in the air. Schools and offices in Bandar Abbas will be closed Sunday as well.
Port is a major destination for Iranian cargo
Shahid Rajaei has been a target before. A 2020 cyberattack attributed to Israel targeted the port. It came after Israel said that it thwarted a cyberattack targeting its water infrastructure, which it attributed to Iran. Israeli officials didn’t respond to requests for comment regarding Saturday’s explosion.
Social media videos showed black billowing smoke after the blast. Others showed glass blown out of buildings kilometers, or miles, away from the epicenter of the explosion. State media footage showed the injured crowding into at least one hospital, with ambulances arriving as medics rushed one person by on a stretcher.
Hasanzadeh, the provincial disaster management official, earlier told state television that the blast came from containers at Shahid Rajaei port in the city, without elaborating. State television also reported that there had been a building collapse caused by the explosion, though no further details were offered.
The Interior Ministry said that it launched an investigation into the blast. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian also offered his condolences to those affected in the blast.
Shahid Rajaei port in Hormozgan province is about 1,050 kilometers (650 miles) southeast of Iran’s capital, Tehran, on the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf through which 20% of all oil traded passes.
Army Suspends Blackhawk Flights to Pentagon After New Scare
May 6, 2025
2 min
Newark Airport Lost Radar and Radio Communication with Pilots for 90 Seconds
May 6, 2025
3 min
Brian Kemp Won’t Run for US Senate in 2026
May 6, 2025
2 min
Trump to Super-Charge Deportations Using Local Cops
May 6, 2025
2 min
Mike Myers, Michael B. Jordan First Celebs Named in Diddy Trial
May 6, 2025
3 min
Trump Bans Federal Funding for Gain-of-Function Research
May 6, 2025
1 min
Signal Clone Used by Govt Officials Hacked
May 6, 2025
4 min
Trump Offers Illegal Aliens $1,000 to Self Deport
May 5, 2025
1 min
Israel to Capture All of Gaza, Officials Say
May 5, 2025
1 min
Trump Announces 2027 NFL Draft Will Be in Washington
May 5, 2025
1 min
Mike Pence Receives JFK Courage Award for Jan 6
May 5, 2025
3 min
DOGE, Treasury Discover $334M in Improper Payment
May 5, 2025
2 min
Trump Orders 100% Tariff on Foreign-Made Movies
May 5, 2025
2 min
Antarctica Gains Ice for First Time in Decades: Study
May 5, 2025
1 min
Virginia GOP Rocked by Gay-Porn Scandal
May 5, 2025
3 min
Putin, Xi to Sign 'Series' of Deals in Moscow Summit
May 5, 2025
2 min
Trump Orders Reopening of Alcatraz Prison
May 5, 2025
2 min
Update: Israel Readying Massive Response to Houthis and Iran After Airport Missile Attack
May 5, 2025
1 min
Mexico President Rejects Trump Offer to Send Troops to Stop Drug Cartels
May 5, 2025
2 min
Dozens Rescued from Sinking Yacht Off Miami Beach
May 5, 2025
<1 min