Iran's Pezeshkian visits injured victims of port blast that killed 40

Regime denies military cargo was being stored at harbour where fire broke out

Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian on Sunday visited injured victims of a port blast that killed at least 40 people, as Tehran denied a military cargo was being stored at the harbour.

Three days of mourning were declared after the blast at Bandar Abbas in southern Iran, home to the country's biggest commercial port. Officials said several containers had exploded after what they believed to be a fire at a chemical depot.

Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei told officials on Sunday to “thoroughly investigate” the blast. He said in a message carried by state television that they should follow up on any “negligence or intent” they uncover.

Fires continued to rage on Sunday, as schools and offices were closed in Bandar Abbas to allow authorities to focus on the emergency response. People were told to avoid going outside “until further notice” and to wear protective masks as plumes of black smoke rose above the blast site.

State media reported late on Sunday that the death toll had risen from 28 to 40. More than 1,000 people sought treatment in the wake of the blast, some of them airlifted to Shiraz and Larestan cities for further care.

Mr Pezeshkian arrived in Bandar Abbas on Sunday to “closely monitor the handling” of the explosion and meet some of the wounded in hospital, official media said.

“We will try to take care of the families who lost their loved ones, and we will definitely take care of the dear people who got injured,” Mr Pezeshkian said. He had previously ordered an investigation into the cause of the explosion.

“We have to find out why it happened,” Mr Pezeshkian said during a meeting with officials aired by state television.

Russia's embassy in Iran said Moscow was sending multiple aircraft carrying “specialists” to help fight the blaze. President Vladimir Putin offered condolences over the loss of life, the Kremlin said.

The Russian emergency ministry said a Beriev Be-200 amphibious aircraft specialising in firefighting, as well as an Ilyushin Il-76 military transport plane, would be sent to Iran to help out.

The blast occurred on Saturday at Shahid Rajaee Port in southern Iran, near the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of world oil output passes.

Chemical depot

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 exploded.

Iran's Defence Ministry said there were “no military-related export or import cargoes” at the port. Brig Gen Reza Talaei-Nik dismissed reports to the contrary as “targeted misinformation and propaganda”.

“Based on investigations and documented evidence, there were and are no import or export shipments related to fuel or military use in the area affected by the fire at the port,” he said. He offered no explanation for what material detonated with such spectacular force, but said more information would be provided later.

“The public can rest assured that whatever the cause of the incident, we will announce it,” Interior Minister Eskandar Momeni said on state television. “We will take action against those responsible and anyone who was negligent.”

Video showed thick black smoke over the scene. All operations were suspended at the port as firefighters battled to extinguish the flames.

Explosion rocks Iran's Bandar Abbas port – in pictures

“The fire is under control but still not out,” a state TV correspondent said from the site about 20 hours after the blast.

The explosion was so powerful it was felt and heard about 50 kilometres away, Fars news agency said. It caused extensive damage in the area, with the roof of one building collapsing on employees. The blast shattered windows within a radius of several kilometres, Iranian media reported.

Speaking on Sunday at the scene, Interior Minister Mr Momeni said “the situation has stabilised in the main areas” of the port. He told state TV that workers had resumed loading containers and customs clearances.

Images from Irna on Saturday showed rescuers and survivors walking along a wide boulevard carpeted with debris after the blast.

Flames could be seen engulfing a lorry's trailer, while a helicopter dropped water through vast black smoke clouds billowing from behind stacked shipping containers.

Quoting emergency services, state TV said hundreds of casualties “have been transferred to nearby medical centres”, while the provincial blood transfusion centre issued a call for donations.

Three Chinese citizens were “lightly injured”, China's state broadcaster CCTV reported, citing its Bandar Abbas consulate. Mr Pezeshkian said he had “issued an order to investigate the situation and the causes”.

With smoke and air pollution spreading throughout the area, all schools and offices in Bandar Abbas were ordered to be closed on Sunday.

The state-owned National Iranian Oil Products Distribution Company said in a statement that the explosion “has no connection” to its facilities, reporting no interruption to its work in Bandar Abbas.

US talks

The blast came as Iranian and US delegations met in Oman for high-level talks on Tehran's nuclear programme on Saturday, with both sides reporting progress.

While Iranian authorities so far appear to be treating the blast as an accident, it comes against the backdrop of years of shadow war with regional foe Israel.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, who is leading the talks with the US, had said on Wednesday that “our security services are on high alert given past instances of attempted sabotage and assassination operations designed to provoke a legitimate response”.

In 2020, computers at the same port were hit by a cyber attack that caused traffic jams on waterways and roads leading to the base.

Hossein Zafari, a spokesman for Iran's crisis management organisation, appeared to blame Saturday's explosion on the poor storage of chemicals in containers.

“The cause of the explosion was the chemicals inside the containers,” he told the Irna 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.”

Another crisis management official told state TV “the cause of this incident was the explosion of several containers stored in the Shahid Rajaee port wharf area”.

An Iranian government representative said that, although chemicals had probably caused the blast, it was not yet possible to determine the exact reason.

The UAE's Foreign Ministry issued a statement expressing solidarity with Iran and its people, wishing a speedy recovery for all the injured, state news agency Wam reported. Saudi Arabia also sent condolences.

Bandar Abbas, the capital of Hormozgan province, is Iran's main southern port city and is vital to the global oil industry.

The port handles a significant portion of Iran's container traffic and is equipped to accommodate large vessels.