logo
What Caused Massive Blast At Iran's Bandar Abbas Port That Killed Over 20

What Caused Massive Blast At Iran's Bandar Abbas Port That Killed Over 20

NDTV27-04-2025

Tehran:
At least 25 people were killed and hundreds of others were injured in a massive blast that rocked the Iranian port city of Bandar Abbas on Saturday. The explosion, which hit the Shahid Rajaee section of the port, occurred probably due to the poor storage of chemicals in containers, according to officials.
"The total number of people killed is at least 25," Tasnim news agency reported, citing Hormozgan province's head of the judiciary, Mojtaba Ghahremani.
The explosion occurred near the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of the world's oil output passes. The timing of the blast raised eyebrows as it occurred when Iran began a third round of nuclear talks with the United States in Oman, but there was no indication of a link between the two events.
What Caused The Blast
Hossein Zafari, a spokesperson for Iran's crisis management organisation, appeared to blame the explosion on poor storage of chemicals in containers at Shahid Rajaee.
"The cause of the explosion was the chemicals inside the containers," he told Iran's ILNA news agency.
"Previously, the Director General of Crisis Management had given warnings to this port during their visits and had pointed out the possibility of danger," Zafari said.
Meanwhile, the port's customs office said in a statement carried by state television that the explosion probably resulted from a fire that broke out at the hazardous and chemical materials storage depot. A regional emergency official said several containers had exploded.
Quoting a person with ties to Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the New York Times reported that what exploded was sodium perchlorate -- a major ingredient in solid fuel for missiles.
However, an Iranian government spokesperson said that although chemicals had likely caused the blast, it was not yet possible to determine the exact reason.
Probe Ordered
Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian has ordered a probe into the incident and sent his interior minister, Eskandar Momeni, to the explosion site. Momeni said efforts were continuing to extinguish the fire and prevent it from spreading to other areas.
Speaking Sunday at the scene, Momeni said that "the situation has stabilised in the main areas" of the port. He told state TV that workers had resumed loading containers and customs clearance.
Iran's official news channels aired footage of a vast black and orange cloud of smoke billowing up above the port in the aftermath of the blast, and an office building with its doors blown off and papers and debris strewn around.
Fars news agency reported that the explosion was so powerful that it was felt and heard about 50 kilometres (30 miles) away.
"The shockwave was so strong that most of the port buildings were severely damaged," Tasnim news agency reported.
Located near the strategic Strait of Hormuz, Shahid Rajaee port is Iran's biggest container hub, handling a majority of the country's container goods, according to state media.
Blast Adds To The Series Of Deadly Events
A series of deadly incidents has hit Iranian energy and industrial infrastructure in recent years, with many, like Saturday's blast, blamed on negligence.
They have included refinery fires, a gas explosion at a coal mine, and an emergency repair incident at Bandar Abbas that killed one worker in 2023.
Iran has blamed some other incidents on its arch-foe Israel, which has carried out attacks on Iranian soil targeting Iran's nuclear programme in recent years and last year bombed the country's air defences.
Tehran said Israel was behind a February 2024 attack on Iranian gas pipelines, while in 2020, computers at Shahid Rajaee were hit by a cyberattack. The Washington Post reported that Israel appeared to be behind that incident as retaliation for an earlier Iranian cyberattack.
Israel has indicated it is nervous about the outcome of US-Iran talks, demanding a full dismantlement of Iran's nuclear programme. Tehran says the programme is used solely for peaceful purposes, while international observers say it is getting closer to being able to build a bomb.

Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Iran Executes 9 People Arrested Over Planned Islamic State Attack
Iran Executes 9 People Arrested Over Planned Islamic State Attack

NDTV

time3 hours ago

  • NDTV

Iran Executes 9 People Arrested Over Planned Islamic State Attack

Dubai: Iran executed nine people it said were members of the Islamic State, state media reported on Tuesday, after their arrest in early 2018 during clashes in which three members of the Revolutionary Guards were killed. The nine detainees, whose nationalities were not given, were accused of "moharebeh" -- an Islamic term meaning waging war against God - armed uprising and possession of weapons of war. State media said they were part of a team of several Islamic State fighters tracked by Revolutionary Guards after they crossed Iran's western border in view of carrying out attacks on Iranian territory. The arrests had taken place months after a deadly Islamic State attack on the Iranian parliament in Tehran and the mausoleum of the Islamic Republic's founder Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. While the threat of attacks from the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria has significantly decreased since the group's defeat, Iran has seen recent deadly attacks from the Islamic State's Afghanistan branch. According to the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, the number of people executed in Iran rose to at least 901 in 2024, the highest number since 2015.

Iran-US to hold nuclear deal talks round 6 in Muscat Sunday
Iran-US to hold nuclear deal talks round 6 in Muscat Sunday

United News of India

time4 hours ago

  • United News of India

Iran-US to hold nuclear deal talks round 6 in Muscat Sunday

Tehran/Washington/Muscat, June 10 (UNI) The sixth round of indirect nuclear talks between Tehran and Washington are scheduled to take place in Oman on Sunday, said Iran's Foreign Ministry Tuesday. Iran and the United States have held five rounds of talks so far, three of which were held in Muscat and two in Rome since the beginning of Tehran's talks with the US on coming to a possible deal on its nuclear programme and the lifting of sanctions. The fifth round was held on May 23 in Rome. In late May, the United States presented a proposal to Tehran through Oman for a potential nuclear deal with Iran. While both sides have acknowledged some progress, a decisive breakthrough has yet to be achieved, due to disagreements on uranium enrichment. While Iran views it as critical to its programme, the US is staunchly against any uranium enrichment on Iranian soil. Amid the ongoing negotiations, the US has called for the dismantling of all Iranian infrastructure built for the process, while Iran has denied American demands, insisting the programme will continue. Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said he does not expect talks with the US to yield results and asserted that Iran 'needs no one's permission' to enrich uranium, reports Turkish agency Anadolu Ajansi. Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said the US proposal was not the outcome of the previous rounds of negotiations, and Iran would submit its proposal to the United States through Oman, according to Xinhua. He stressed that any proposal disrespecting Iran's national rights, including its right to the peaceful use of nuclear energy and effective sanctions relief, is unacceptable. Baghaei said Iran's forthcoming proposal would be "reasonable, logically sound, and balanced," urging the United States to consider it seriously. "Accepting this proposal serves the interests of the United States," he added. UNI ANV SSP

Bold prediction! Astrologer Greenstone Lobo picks winner of Australia vs South Africa WTC Final 2025
Bold prediction! Astrologer Greenstone Lobo picks winner of Australia vs South Africa WTC Final 2025

Time of India

time5 hours ago

  • Time of India

Bold prediction! Astrologer Greenstone Lobo picks winner of Australia vs South Africa WTC Final 2025

Putin To Deploy Nuke Bombs In Iran? Russia Sends Big Help | Shockwaves In US, Israel; '8 Plants...' Iran's top nuclear official has confirmed that Russia is set to build eight nuclear power plants in Iran under an existing bilateral agreement, according to the state-run IRNA news agency. Mohammad Eslami, head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI), shared the update on Monday during a visit by members of the Iranian parliament's national security and foreign policy committee to the AEOI headquarters in Tehran. Eslami revealed that four of the planned reactors will be built in the southern province of Bushehr, marking a significant expansion of Iran's nuclear energy infrastructure in cooperation with Moscow. 110 views | 2 hours ago

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into the world of global news and events? Download our app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store