TEHRAN, Iran — A massive explosion suspected to have been caused by improperly stored chemical materials killed at least five people and injured more than 700 on Saturday at Iran’s busiest port, Bandar Abbas, state media reported.
The blast struck the Shahid Rajaee terminal, a vital hub for Iranian container shipping, sending a towering black and orange plume into the sky. The explosion occurred as Iran engaged in a third round of sensitive nuclear negotiations with the United States in Oman, though authorities stressed there was no evidence linking the two events.
Hossein Zafari, a spokesperson for Iran’s Crisis Management Organization, pointed to poor chemical storage practices as a likely cause. “The cause of the explosion was the chemicals inside the containers,” Zafari told Iran’s semi-official ILNA news agency. He added that previous warnings about safety lapses at Shahid Rajaee had gone unheeded.
An Iranian government spokesperson, however, cautioned that while chemicals likely triggered the blast, a full investigation would be needed to determine the precise cause. President Masoud Pezeshkian ordered a comprehensive inquiry and dispatched his Interior Minister to Bandar Abbas, where emergency crews battled to control the fire and prevent it from spreading further.
State television broadcast scenes of devastation: office buildings with doors blown off their hinges, streets littered with debris, and thick smoke choking the sky. The explosion was so powerful that it shattered windows across several kilometers and was heard on Qeshm Island, roughly 26 kilometers (16 miles) south of the port.
Located near the strategic Strait of Hormuz, the Shahid Rajaee port handles the majority of Iran’s containerized cargo, according to state media. Following the explosion, all port operations were suspended as customs officials evacuated trucks from the area and warned that the damaged container yard stored “dangerous goods and chemicals.”
The semi-official Tasnim News Agency published video footage showing injured men lying along the roadside as first responders scrambled to provide aid amid chaotic scenes. State TV also reported that improper handling of flammable materials was a “contributing factor” to the blast.
A Pattern of Deadly Incidents
Saturday’s explosion fits into a broader pattern of deadly industrial accidents in Iran, many attributed to negligence or insufficient safety standards. Recent years have seen refinery fires, a gas explosion at a coal mine, and an emergency maintenance accident at Bandar Abbas itself that killed a worker in 2023.
While negligence has been blamed for many domestic incidents, Iran has also pointed fingers at Israel for attacks on sensitive infrastructure. Tehran accused Israel of orchestrating the February 2024 attack on its gas pipelines and a 2020 cyberattack that paralyzed computers at Shahid Rajaee port. The Washington Post reported that Israeli forces likely carried out the 2020 cyberattack as retaliation for an Iranian cyberoffensive.
Israel, wary of U.S.-Iran nuclear talks, has consistently demanded the complete dismantlement of Iran’s nuclear program. Tehran maintains that its nuclear activities are for peaceful purposes, though international monitors have expressed increasing concerns that Iran’s program is nearing the capability to develop a nuclear weapon.
There was no immediate response from Israel’s military or from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office when asked whether Israel had any involvement in Saturday’s explosion.
Despite the scale of the blast, Iranian authorities emphasized that no oil facilities had been affected. The National Iranian Petroleum Refining and Distribution Company released a statement clarifying that the explosion had “no connection to refineries, fuel tanks, distribution complexes, and oil pipelines.”
As the investigation continues, Bandar Abbas remains a scene of recovery and uncertainty, with the blast highlighting long-standing vulnerabilities in Iran’s critical infrastructure at a tense moment in its international relations.
