Iran's president visits those injured in the port explosion that killed
at least 40 people
[April 28, 2025]
By JON GAMBRELL
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iran's president on Sunday visited
those injured in a huge explosion that rocked one of the Islamic
Republic's main ports, a facility purportedly linked to an earlier
delivery of a chemical ingredient used to make missile propellant.
The visit by President Masoud Pezeshkian came as the toll from
Saturday's blast at the Shahid Rajaei port outside of Bandar Abbas in
southern Iran's Hormozgan province rose to 40 dead with about 1,000
others injured.
While Iran's military sought to deny the delivery of ammonium
perchlorate from China, new videos emerged showing an apocalyptic scene
at the still-smoldering port. A crater that appeared meters (yards) deep
was surrounded by burning smoke so dangerous that authorities closed
schools and businesses in the area.
Containers appeared smashed or thrown as if discarded toys, while the
burned carcasses of trucks and cars sat around the site.
“We have to find out why it happened,” Pezeshkian said during a meeting
with officials aired by Iranian state television.
Iran's Supreme Leader, the 86-year-old Ayatollah Ali Khamenei,
separately offered his condolences over the blast — and left open the
possibility that sabotage caused the explosion.
“It is the duty of security officials and judicial authorities to
conduct a thorough investigation to detect if there’s been any
negligence or deliberate acts that have caused this and to follow this
up according to regulations,” a statement in his name said. “All
officials must know it’s their duty to prevent bitter, damaging events.”
Fire at Shahid Rajaei port burns through the day
Authorities described the fire as being under control, saying emergency
workers hoped that it would be fully extinguished later Sunday.
Overnight, helicopters and heavy cargo aircraft flew repeated sorties
over the burning port, dumping seawater on the site. Satellite pictures
taken Sunday by Planet Labs PBC and analyzed by The Associated Press
showed a huge plume of black smoke still over the site.
Provincial Gov. Mohammad Ashouri gave the latest death toll, Iranian
state TV reported. Pir Hossein Kolivand, head of Iran’s Red Crescent
society, said that only 190 of about 1,000 injured remained hospitalized
on Sunday, according to a statement carried by an Iranian government
website. The governor declared three days of mourning.
[to top of second column]
|
This satellite photo from Planet Labs PBC shows the Shahid Rajaei
port near Bandar Abbas, Iran, Sunday, April 27, 2025. (Planet Labs
PBC via AP)
Private security firm Ambrey says the port received missile fuel
chemical in March. It was part of a shipment of ammonium perchlorate
from China by two vessels to Iran, first reported in January by the
Financial Times. The chemical used to make solid propellant for
rockets was going to be used to replenish Iran’s missile stocks,
which had been depleted by its direct attacks on Israel during the
war with Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
Ship-tracking data analyzed by the AP put one of the vessels
believed to be carrying the chemical in the vicinity in March, as
Ambrey said.
“The fire was reportedly the result of improper handling of a
shipment of solid fuel intended for use in Iranian ballistic
missiles,” Ambrey said.
Military denies blast involved missile fuel, but offers no
explanation for explosion
In a first reaction on Sunday, Iranian Defense Ministry spokesman
Gen. Reza Talaeinik denied that missile fuel had been imported
through the port.
“No sort of imported and exporting consignment for fuel or military
application was (or) is in the site of the port,” he told state
television by telephone. He called foreign reports on the missile
fuel baseless — but offered no explanation for what material
detonated with such incredible force at the site. Talaeinik promised
authorities would offer more information later.
It’s unclear why Iran wouldn’t have moved the chemicals from the
port, particularly after the Beirut port blast in 2020. That
explosion, caused by the ignition of hundreds of tons of highly
explosive ammonium nitrate, killed more than 200 people and injured
more than 6,000 others. However, Israel did target Iranian missile
sites where Tehran uses industrial mixers to create solid fuel —
meaning potentially that it had no place to process the chemical.
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, like in the Beirut explosion.
Meanwhile on Sunday, Russian President Vladimir Putin deployed
several emergency aircraft to Bandar Abbas to provide assistance.
All contents © copyright 2025 Associated Press. All rights reserved |
