Latest news with #MohammadAshouri
The National
29-04-2025
- Business
- The National
Iran port explosion: Customs back to normal as victims' families set to receive compensation
Authorities at Iran's Shahid Rajaee port said that customs procedures were 'back to normal' on Tuesday after a large explosion and fire on Saturday killed at least 70 people and wounded 1,000 others. Ninety per cent of the storage and containers for loading and offloading are operational, the state news agency Irna reported. The Chief Justice of Hormozgan province, Mojtaba Ghahremani, said families of the victims will receive financial compensation in the coming 48 hours. 'The names of 25 victims whose identities have been identified have been given to insurance companies,' the semi-official Tasnim news agency reported him as saying, adding that the remaining victims' families will receive the same treatment once they have been identified. In a bid to resume operations, employees at the port returned to work with visible bruises, Irna said. Only one pier of the port's 23 suffered heavy damage as a result of the explosion, Irna said. Meanwhile an official at the regulatory Central Insurance of Iran said an assessment of the coverage has been done and damage to vehicles will be compensated. The port of Shahid Rajaee lies near the major coastal city of Bandar Abbas on the Strait of Hormuz, a waterway through which one-fifth of global oil output passes. The explosion took place on the same day as indirect US-Iran nuclear talks which were held in Oman on Saturday. State news outlets however warned against jumping to assumptions on the cause of the incident, given its timing. Hormozgan provincial governor Mohammad Ashouri ruled out sabotage. 'The set of hypotheses and investigations carried out during the process indicated that the sabotage theory lacks basis or relevance,' he told state television on Monday. Instead, Interior Minister Eskandar Momeni blamed the explosion on 'negligence'. – With reporting from wires
Yahoo
29-04-2025
- Yahoo
Iran says fire contained after deadly blast at key port
Firefighters have brought under control a blaze at Iran's main port, following a deadly explosion blamed on negligence, authorities in the Islamic republic said. The explosion, heard dozens of kilometres (miles) away, hit a dock at the southern port of Shahid Rajaee on Saturday. At least 70 people were killed and more than 1,000 others suffered injuries in the blast and ensuing fire, which also caused extensive damage, state media reported. Red Crescent official Mokhtar Salahshour told the channel late Monday that the fire had been "contained" and a clean-up was under way. State television aired live footage on Tuesday showing thick smoke rising from stacked containers. Iran's customs authority said port operations had returned to normal, according to the IRNA news agency. The port of Shahid Rajaee lies near the major coastal city of Bandar Abbas on the Strait of Hormuz, a waterway through which one-fifth of global oil output passes. Hormozgan provincial governor Mohammad Ashouri ruled out sabotage. "The set of hypotheses and investigations carried out during the process indicated that the sabotage theory lacks basis or relevance," he told state television late Monday. The port's customs office said the blast may have started in a depot storing hazardous and chemical materials. Interior Minister Eskandar Momeni said there were "shortcomings, including noncompliance with safety precautions and negligence". A committee assigned to investigate the blast cited similar factors as the likely cause. rkh/dv
Shafaq News
28-04-2025
- Politics
- Shafaq News
Iran's port explosion: Over 60 dead
Shafaq News/ The death toll from the Shahid Rajaee Port explosion in Bandar Abbas, southern Iran, has risen to 65, an Iranian official announced on Monday. The governor of Hormozgan province, Mohammad Ashouri, reported that search operations remain underway to locate victims trapped under the debris. Clearing the damaged containers could take up to two weeks due to the extent of the destruction caused by the blast, he added. Earlier on Monday, Interior Minister Eskandar Momeni confirmed that several officials linked to the incident had been identified and arrested, following findings of "negligence in handling the situation." He indicated that Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei had ordered an investigation into the explosion. Momeni estimated that around 1,000 people sustained injuries, with most discharged after receiving treatment. Only 120 injured individuals remain in hospitals. Regarding the fire, Momeni stated that it is now under control but warned that smoke emissions from hazardous chemicals could persist over the coming days. The cause of the explosion has not yet been definitively determined, although the port's customs office indicated it likely started with a fire in a warehouse storing hazardous chemicals. The blast, which struck on Saturday near the strategically vital Strait of Hormuz, caused extensive damage to one of Shahid Rajaee Port's 23 piers. Several countries have expressed solidarity with Iran and offered their assistance.
LBCI
28-04-2025
- LBCI
Death toll rises to 65 in Iran port explosion: State media
A huge explosion at Iran's largest commercial port has killed 65 people, the provincial governor told state media on Monday, revising earlier tolls for the blast. "The death toll has reached 65 in this horrific incident" at Shahid Rajaee Port, said Mohammad Ashouri, governor of the southern Iranian province of Hormozgan where the port is located, adding that the fire caused by the explosion on Saturday has not yet been fully extinguished. AFP
New Indian Express
28-04-2025
- Politics
- New Indian Express
Iran minister blames 'negligence' for port blast that killed 65
TEHRAN: Iran's interior minister on Monday blamed "negligence" for a The blast occurred on Saturday at the Shahid Rajaee Port in Iran's south, near the strategic Strait of Hormuz, a waterway through which one-fifth of global oil output passes. "The death toll has reached 65 in this horrific incident," Mohammad Ashouri, governor of the southern Hormozgan province where the port is located, told state television, adding that the fire has not been fully extinguished yet. Officials have said more than 1,000 people were injured. The province's crisis management director, Mehrdad Hassanzadeh, said most had already been released after treatment. On Monday, Interior Minister Eskandar Momeni told state TV that "culprits have been identified and summoned", and that the blast was caused by "shortcomings, including noncompliance with safety precautions and negligence". Momeni, who has been in the area since hours after the blast, stated that the "investigation is still underway". Iran's state TV showed images of firefighters still dousing the flames Monday, and said the damage would be assessed after the fire was fully brought under control. Heavy charcoal-black smoke continued to billow over low flames at part of the site, above which a firefighting helicopter flew, pictures from the Iranian Red Crescent showed. Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has ordered a probe into the incident. Smoke, then a fireball It was not immediately clear what caused the explosion but the port's customs office said it likely resulted from a fire that broke out at the hazardous and chemical materials storage depot. CCTV images on social media showed it began gradually, with a small fire belching orange-brown smoke among a few containers stacked outside, across from a warehouse. A small forklift truck drives past the area and men can be seen walking nearby. About one minute after the small fire and smoke become visible, a fireball erupts as vehicles pass nearby, with men running for their lives. President Masoud Pezeshkian visited hospitals treating the wounded on Sunday in the nearby city of Bandar Abbas. Since the explosion, authorities have ordered all schools and offices in the area closed, and have urged residents to avoid going outside "until further notice" and to use protective masks. The New York Times quoted a person with ties to Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss security matters, as saying that what exploded was sodium perchlorate -- a major ingredient in solid fuel for missiles. Defence ministry spokesman Reza Talaei-Nik later told state TV that "there has been no imported or exported cargo for military fuel or military use in the area". Iran's ally Russia has dispatched specialists to help battle the blazes. Authorities have declared Monday a national day of mourning, while three days of mourning began Sunday in Hormozgan province. The blast occurred as Iranian and US delegations were meeting in Oman for high-level talks on Tehran's nuclear programme. 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 launched a cyberattack targeting the Shahid Rajaee Port in 2020.
