Saturday, April 26, 2025

WATCH: Explosion rocks Iran's Bandar Abbas port near IRGC base, eight killed, over 700 wounded - Danielle Greyman-Kennard, Maya Gur Arih, Reuters

 

by Danielle Greyman-Kennard, Maya Gur Arih, Reuters

The explosion reportedly occurred near an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps naval base, Army Radio reported.

 

   

A large explosion rocked Shahid Rajaee port in the southern Iranian city of Bandar Abbas, semi-official Tasnim news agency reported on Saturday.

At least five were killed and more than 700 people were wounded and rushed to a nearby hospital for treatment, and it is unclear whether there are fatalities, Reuters reported.

The explosion reportedly occurred near an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) naval base, Army Radio reported.

The explosion, which hit the Shahid Rajaee section of the port, occurred as 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.

The IDF has denied any involvement in the explosion, Maariv reported, citing sources within the military.

 

Footage online shows large mushroom clouds emerging from the site of the explosion.

"The source of this incident was the explosion of several containers stored in the Shahid Rajaee Port wharf area. We are currently evacuating and transferring the injured to medical centers," a local crisis management official told state TV.

Reuters said that efforts were ongoing to extinguish a significant fire, with the port's customs saying that trucks were being evacuated from the area and that the container yard where the explosion occurred likely contained "dangerous goods and chemicals."

State TV said "negligence in handling flammable materials was a contributing factor" in the explosion.

Oil facilities were not affected by the blast as the National Iranian Petroleum Refining and Distribution Company issued a statement saying, "The explosion and fire in Shahid Rajaee Port have no connection to refineries, fuel tanks, distribution complexes, and oil pipelines related to this company."

The large blast shattered windows within a radius of several kilometers, Iranian media said, with footage shared online showing a mushroom cloud forming following the explosion.

Hossein Zafari, a spokesperson for Iran's crisis management organization, 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.

However, an Iranian government spokesperson said that although chemicals had likely caused the blast, it was not yet possible to determine the exact reason.

Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian ordered an investigation of the incident and sent his minister of interior, who said efforts were still ongoing to extinguish the fire and prevent it from spreading to other areas.

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.

Conflict between Tehran and Israel

The explosion came amid nuclear talks with Washington after concerns that Tehran was illegally enriching uranium to a level capable of producing nuclear weaponry.

Since the Israel-Hamas war ignited in 2023, Tehran and Jerusalem have launched direct attacks against each other. Tehran first launched an aerial attack across Israel in April, and tensions have continued to escalate.

 

Danielle Greyman-Kennard, Maya Gur Arih, Reuters

Source: https://www.jpost.com/breaking-news/article-851578

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