MUSCAT, Oman — 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 14 individuals and injuring greater than 700 others.
Mehrdad Hasanzadeh, a provincial catastrophe administration official, gave the up to date casualty determine in an interview on state tv. The earlier toll was 4 useless and greater than 500 others injured.
The blast on the Shahid Rajaei port occurred as Iran and america 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 led the talks, on Wednesday acknowledged that “our safety providers are on excessive alert given previous situations of tried sabotage and assassination operations designed to impress a professional response.”
Port reportedly obtained chemical for missile gas
For hours, authorities in Iran supplied no clear rationalization for what brought on 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 gas” in March, the personal safety agency Ambrey mentioned. The gas is a part of a cargo from China by two vessels to Iran first reported in January by the Monetary Occasions. The gas was going for use to replenish Iran’s missile shares, which had been depleted by its direct assaults on Israel through the struggle with Hamas within the Gaza Strip.
“The fireplace was reportedly the results of improper dealing with of a cargo of stable gas meant to be used in Iranian ballistic missiles,” Ambrey mentioned.
Ship-tracking information 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 did not instantly reply to a request for touch upon Saturday.
It is unclear why Iran would not have moved the chemical substances from the port, notably after the Beirut port blast in 2020. That explosion, brought on by the ignition of tons of of tons of extremely explosive ammonium nitrate, killed greater than 200 individuals and injured greater than 6,000 others. Nevertheless, Israel did goal Iranian missile websites the place Tehran makes use of industrial mixers to create stable gas.
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 implies a chemical compound being concerned within the blast.
“Get again get again! Inform the gasoline (truck) to go!” a person in a single video shouted simply earlier than the blast. “Inform him to go, it’ll blow up! Oh God, that is blowing up! Everyone evacuate! Get again! Get again!”
On Saturday evening, the state-run IRNA information company mentioned that the Customs Administration of Iran blamed a “stockpile of hazardous items and chemical supplies saved within the port space” for the blast, with out elaborating.
Port a serious vacation spot for Iranian cargo
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 concentrating 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 at the least one hospital, with ambulances arriving as medics rushed one particular person by on a stretcher.
Hasanzadeh, the provincial catastrophe administration official, earlier informed state tv 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 supplied.
The Inside Ministry mentioned that it launched an investigation into the blast. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian additionally supplied his condolences for these affected within 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 slim mouth of the Persian Gulf by which 20% of all oil traded passes.
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