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The blast happened at the Rajaei port just outside of Bandar
Abbas, a major facility for container shipments for the Islamic
Republic that handles some 80 million tons (72.5 million metric
tons) of goods a year.
Social media videos showed black billowing smoke after the
blast. Others showed glass blown out of buildings kilometers
(miles) away from the epicenter of the explosion.
Authorities have offered no cause for the explosion yet.
Industrial accidents happen in Iran, particularly at its aging
oil facilities that struggle for access to parts under
international sanctions. But Iranian state TV specifically ruled
out any energy infrastructure as causing or being damaged in the
blast.
Mehrdad Hasanzadeh, a provincial disaster management official,
told Iranian state TV that first responders were trying to reach
the area while others were attempting to evacuate the site.
Hasanzadeh said the blast came from containers at Rajaei port in
the city, without elaborating. State TV also reported there had
been a building collapse caused by the explosion, though there
were no immediate other details offered.
Rajaei port is some 1,050 kilometers (652 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.
The blast happened as Iran and the United States met Saturday in
Oman for the third round of negotiations over Tehran's rapidly
advancing nuclear program.
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