At least 25 people have been killed and 800 injured in a massive explosion and subsequent fire at a port in southern Iran.
The explosion on Saturday was reportedly linked to a shipment of a chemical component used to make rocket fuel.
Helicopters began dropping water on the fire hours after the first blast, which occurred at the Shahid Rajaee port as Iran and the United States held a third round of talks on Tehran's fast-growing nuclear programme in Oman.
No one in Iran suggested the blast was an attack, but Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, who is leading the talks, said on Wednesday that “our security services are on high alert due to previous sabotage attempts and operations aimed at provoking a legitimate response.”
State media reported the casualties, saying authorities had only identified 10 of the dead, including two women.
There is little information about the cause of the fire near Bandar Abbas, which continued until Saturday evening and caused other containers to explode.
According to private security company Ambrey, the port received a shipment of “sodium perchlorate rocket fuel” in March.
The fuel is part of a shipment sent from China in two ships to Iran, first reported by the Financial Times in January.
It was intended to be used to replenish Iran's missile stockpiles, which had been depleted by direct attacks on Israel during the conflict with Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
“The fire was reportedly caused by mishandling of a batch of solid fuel intended for Iranian ballistic missiles,” Embry said.
Embry also noted that vessel traffic data showed that one of the ships believed to be carrying the chemical was nearby in March.
Iran has not confirmed receipt of the cargo, and Iran's mission to the United Nations did not respond to a request for comment on Saturday.
It is unclear why Iran has not removed the chemicals from the port, especially after the Beirut port explosion in 2020.
The blast, caused by hundreds of tons of highly explosive ammonium nitrate, killed more than 200 people and injured more than 6,000.
Sourse: breakingnews.ie
