Death Toll Rises to 40 in Explosion at Iran’s Largest Commercial Port

The death toll has risen to 40 following a massive explosion that rocked one of Iran’s main ports on Saturday, the 26th. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian visited the injured on Sunday, the 27th. The explosion targeted a facility linked to a warehouse storing a chemical ingredient used to manufacture missile propellant, located at the Shahid Rajaei port in Hormozgan province, southern Iran.

As Iran’s military tried to deny receiving ammonium perchlorate shipments from China, new videos emerged showing an apocalyptic scene with the port still engulfed in flames.

Several meters deep, a crater was surrounded by burning smoke so hazardous that authorities shut down schools and businesses in the area.

Containers appeared crushed or tossed aside like discarded toys, while the charred remains of trucks and cars lay scattered around the site.

“We have to find out why this happened,” Pezeshkian said during a meeting with officials broadcast by Iranian state television.

Authorities described the fire as being under control, saying emergency teams expected to extinguish it completely by Sunday.

Overnight, helicopters and heavy cargo planes repeatedly traveled over the burning port, dropping seawater onto the site. Satellite images taken on Sunday by Planet Labs PBC and analyzed by the press showed a massive cloud of black smoke still hovering above the site.

Provincial Governor Mohammad Ashouri reported the latest death toll, according to Iranian state TV. Pir Hossein Kolivand, head of Iran’s Red Crescent Society, said only 190 of the approximately 1,000 injured remained hospitalized as of Sunday, according to a statement published by an Iranian government website. The governor declared three days of mourning.

Private Firm Says Missile Fuel May Have Caused the Fire

The private security firm Ambrey reported that the port received chemical missile fuel in March. The material was part of a shipment of ammonium perchlorate from China delivered to Iran by two ships, first reported by the Financial Times in January.

The chemical, used to produce solid rocket propellant, was reportedly intended to replenish Iran’s missile stockpiles, which had been depleted following direct attacks on Israel during the war with Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

According to Ambrey, ship tracking data analyzed by the press placed one of the vessels allegedly carrying the chemical near the port in March.

“The fire is believed to have resulted from mishandling a shipment of solid fuel intended for use in Iranian ballistic missiles,” Ambrey stated.

In an initial response on Sunday, Iranian Defense Ministry spokesperson General Reza Talaeinik denied that missile fuel had been imported through the port.

“No imported or exported shipment for fuel or military application was (or is) at the port site,” he told state television by phone. He called foreign reports about missile fuel “baseless” but did not explain the material that detonated with such incredible force at the site. Talaeinik promised authorities would provide more information later.

It remains unclear why Iran had not removed the chemicals from the port, especially after the 2020 Beirut port explosion, which killed over 200 people and injured more than 6,000 when hundreds of tons of highly explosive ammonium nitrate ignited. However, Israel has targeted Iranian missile facilities where Tehran uses industrial mixers to create solid fuel—potentially leaving no place available to process the chemical.

Social media footage from Saturday’s explosion at Shahid Rajaei showed reddish-colored smoke rising from the fire shortly before the detonation, suggesting the involvement of a chemical compound, as was the case in the Beirut blast.

Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin dispatched several emergency aircraft to Bandar Abbas on Sunday to assist.

Source: O Estado de S. Paulo

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