Dubai: The death toll from a huge explosion that rocked one of Iran’s main ports rose Monday to 46, authorities said, as reports from the site raised more questions about the cause of the blast.
Iranian state television reported the toll from the blast at Shahid Rajaei port near Bandar Abbas, citing local officials.
The fire still burned at the site, some two days after the initial explosion Saturday, just as Iran began a third round of negotiations with the United States over its rapidly advancing nuclear program. Over 1,000 people suffered injuries in the blast.
Authorities still haven’t offered an explanation for the explosion.
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.
The Iranian military denied receiving the chemical shipment.
Social media footage of the explosion 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 2020 Beirut port explosion.
Late Sunday, Iran’s semiofficial ILNA news agency quoted Saeed Jafari, the CEO of a marine services company working at the port, as saying there were false statements about the cargo that detonated, which he called “very dangerous.”
“The incident happened following a false statement about the dangerous goods and delivering it without documents and tags,” Jafari said.
Another report by the semiofficial ISNA news agency claimed the cargo that caused the blast was not reported to customs authorities as well.
Only high-level authorities in Iran, such as its paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, could circumvent normal procedures at the port.
PTI