 "Iran: Fire blazes day after port blast killed 40, injured over 1,000")
Fires raged into Sunday at Iran’s Shahid Rajaee Port, more than 24 hours after a massive explosion purportedly linked to a shipment of a chemical ingredient used to make missile propellant, killed at least 40 people and injured over 1,000, according to the Red Crescent.
The blast occurred Saturday at the southern port near the vital Strait of Hormuz, a key artery for global oil shipments.
“For the moment, 40 people have lost their lives as a result of injuries caused by the explosion,” Hormozgan provincial official Mohammad Ashouri told state television after the Saturday blast in Shahid Rajaee Port near the strategic Strait of Hormuz.
Amid heavy smoke and rising air pollution, authorities shut all schools and offices in nearby Bandar Abbas, 23 kilometers east, to prioritise emergency operations, state media reported. The health ministry urged residents to stay indoors and wear masks.
Helicopters and aircraft continued aerial firefighting efforts overnight into Sunday. The explosion coincided with US-Iran nuclear talks in Oman, although no Iranian official directly blamed sabotage. Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said security forces remain on alert due to past sabotage and assassination attempts aimed at provoking Iran.
Pezeshkian heads to site of port blast
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian was travelling on Sunday to the site of a deadly port blast in the country’s south, according to state media.
“The president is heading to the region to review the latest situation regarding the explosion at Shahid Rajaee Port in Bandar Abbas,” state TV reported.
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.
Impact Shorts
More ShortsSocial 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!”
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.
The explosion came as Iranian and US delegations met in Oman for high-level talks on Tehran’s nuclear programme, with both sides reporting progress.
While Iranian authorities so far appear to be treating the blast as an accident, it also comes against the backdrop of years of shadow war with regional foe Israel.
According to the Washington Post, Israel in 2020 launched a cyberattack targeting the Shahid Rajaee Port.
With inputs from agencies
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