MUSCAT, Oman (AP) — A large explosion and fireplace rocked a port Saturday in southern Iran purportedly linked to a cargo of a chemical ingredient used to make missile propellant, killing 4 folks and injuring greater than 500 others.
The blast on the Shahid Rajaei port occurred as Iran and the US met Saturday in Oman for the third spherical of negotiations over Tehran’s quickly advancing nuclear program.
Whereas nobody in Iran outright prompt that the explosion got here from an assault, even Iranian Overseas Minister Abbas Araghchi, who’s main 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.”
For hours, authorities in Iran provided no clear clarification for what precipitated the blast on the port, which is simply exterior of Bandar Abbas, although they did deny that the explosion had something to do with the nation’s oil business.
Nevertheless, the port took in a cargo of “sodium perchlorate rocket fuel” in March, the personal safety agency Ambrey mentioned. The gasoline is a part of a cargo from China by two vessels to Iran first reported in January by the Monetary Occasions. The gasoline was going for use to replenish Iran’s missile shares, which had been depleted by its direct assaults on Israel throughout the battle with Hamas within 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 mentioned.
Ship-tracking knowledge analyzed by The Related Press put one of many vessels believed to be carrying the chemical within the neighborhood in March, as Ambrey mentioned. Iran hasn’t acknowledged taking the cargo. The Iranian mission to the United Nations didn’t instantly reply to a request for touch upon Saturday.
It’s unclear why Iran wouldn’t have moved the chemical substances from the port, significantly after the Beirut port blast in 2020. That explosion, brought on by the ignition of lots of of tons of extremely explosive ammonium nitrate, killed greater than 200 folks and injured greater than 6,000 others. Nevertheless, Israel did goal Iranian missile websites the place Tehran makes use of industrial mixers to create strong gasoline.
Social media footage of the explosion on Saturday at Shahid Rajaei noticed reddish-hued smoke rising from the hearth simply earlier than the detonation. That means a chemical compound being concerned within the blast.
Shahid Rajaei has been a goal earlier than. A 2020 cyberattack attributed to Israel focused the port. It got here after Israel mentioned that it thwarted a cyberattack focusing on its water infrastructure, which it attributed to Iran.
Social media movies confirmed black billowing smoke after the blast. Others confirmed glass blown out of buildings kilometers, or miles, away from the epicenter of the explosion. State media footage confirmed the injured crowding into no less than one hospital, with ambulances arriving as medics rushed one individual by on a stretcher.
Mehrdad Hasanzadeh, a provincial catastrophe administration official, advised Iranian state tv that first responders had been making an attempt to succeed in the realm whereas others had been trying to evacuate the location.
Hasanzadeh mentioned that the blast got here from containers at Shahid Rajaei port within the metropolis, with out elaborating. State tv additionally reported that there had been a constructing collapse brought on by the explosion, although no additional particulars had been provided.
The Inside Ministry mentioned that it launched an investigation into 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 slender mouth of the Persian Gulf by means of which 20% of all oil traded passes.
