A large explosion rocked Shahid Rajaee port in the southern Iranian city of Bandar Abbas, Tasnim news agency reported on Saturday, citing a local official who said the cause of the incident was not yet known.
According to Fars News Agency, initial estimates indicate that the explosion has left 47 people injured. Meanwhile, the National Iranian Oil Refining and Distribution Company said the blast did not affect any energy facilities.
The blast occurred as Iran began a third round of nuclear talks with the United States in Oman, although the cause of the explosion was not immediately clear.
“The cause of this incident was the explosion of several containers stored in the Shahid Rajaee Port wharf area. We are currently evacuating and transferring the injured to medical centres,” a local crisis management official told state TV.
Tasnim news agency added that the port’s activities were suspended to extinguish the fire and that considering the large number of port employees “many people were probably injured or even killed in the incident.”
The blast shattered windows within a radius of several kilometres, Iranian media said, with footage shared online showing a mushroom cloud forming following the explosion.
In 2020, computers at the same port were hit by a cyberattack that caused massive backups on waterways and roads leading to the facility. The Washington Post had reported that “Israel” appeared to be behind that incident.
