VIDEO: Huge explosion at Iran port kills 8, injures over 700
- 26 Apr 2025
A huge blast probably caused by the explosion of chemical materials killed at least eight people and injured more than 700 on Saturday at Iran's biggest port, Bandar Abbas, Iranian state media 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.
Hossein Zafari, a spokesperson for Iran's crisis management organisation, 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 to the site his interior minister, who said efforts were still continuing to extinguish the fire and prevent it from spreading to other areas.
Social media footage of the explosion on Saturday at Shahid Rajaei saw reddish-hued smoke rising from the fire just before the detonation. That suggests a chemical compound being involved in the blast.
Shahid Rajaei has been a target before. A 2020 cyberattack attributed to Israel targeted the port. It came after Israel said that it thwarted a cyberattack targeting its water infrastructure, which it attributed to Iran.
Social media videos showed black billowing smoke after the blast. Others showed glass blown out of buildings kilometers, away from the epicenter of the explosion.
State media footage showed the injured crowding into at least one hospital, with ambulances arriving as medics rushed one person by on a stretcher.
Mehrdad Hasanzadeh, a provincial disaster management official, told Iranian state television that first responders were trying to reach the area while others were attempting to evacuate the site.
Hasanzadeh said that the blast came from containers at Shahid Rajaei port in the city, without elaborating.
State television also reported that there had been a building collapse caused by the explosion, though no further details were offered.
The Interior Ministry said 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 narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf through which 20% of all oil traded passes.
Agencies