Four dead and more than 500 injured after massive port explosion

A massive explosion and fire rocked a port in southern Iran this morning, killing four people and injuring more than 500 others.

The blast at the Shahid Rajaei port happened as Iran and the United States met on Saturday in Oman for the third round of negotiations over Tehran’s rapidly advancing nuclear programme.

Social media videos showed black billowing smoke after the blast – others showed glass blown out of buildings miles away from the epicentre of the explosion.

State media footage showed the injured crowding into at least one hospital, with ambulances arriving as medics rushed one person by on a stretcher.

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 is involved in the blast, and Shahid Rajaei has been a target before. In 2020, Israel targeted the port after claiming Iran orchestrated a cyber attack targeting its water infrastructure.

Black smoke was seen billowing after the explosion (Picture: AFP) Hundreds are injured and four are confirmed dead (Picture: AFP)

For hours, Iranian authorities didn’t explain the massive blast, but denied it had anything to do with the country’s oil market.

In March, private firm Ambrey confirmed the port had taken a shipment of ‘sodium perchlorate rocket fuel’ from China, which is highly explosive.

The fuel 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 fire was reportedly the result of improper handling of a shipment of solid fuel intended for use in Iranian ballistic missiles,’ Ambrey said.

No one in Iran has outright suggested that the explosion came from an attack, but Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi, who is leading the talks, said earlier this week that Iranian security services were on ‘high alert’.

Iran has not acknowledged taking the shipment of rocket fuel, and the Iranian mission to the United Nations did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

It is unclear why Iran would not 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.

The smoke was initially reddish, which indicates a chemical fire (Picture: Getty) Damage is extensive around the port (Picture: AFP)

The Interior Ministry said that it launched an investigation into the blast.

Shahid Rajaei port in Hormozgan province is about 1,050 kilometres (650 miles) southeast of Iran’s capital, Tehran, on the Strait of Hormuz.

The Strait of Hormuz is a narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf through which 20% of all oil trade passes.

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