A massive explosion at an Iranian port linked to missile fuel shipment kills 5, injures over 700

A massive explosion and fire rocked a port Saturday in southern Iran purportedly linked to a shipment of a chemical ingredient used to make missile propellant killing eight people and injuring around others Helicopters dumped water from the air on the raging fire hours after the initial explosion which happened at the Shahid Rajaei port just as Iran and the U S met Saturday in Oman for the third round of negotiations over Tehran s rapidly advancing nuclear venture IRAN US BEGIN NEGOTIATIONS OVER TEHRAN'S ADVANCING NUCLEAR PROGRAMNo one in Iran outright suggested that the explosion came from an attack However even Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi who led the talks on Wednesday acknowledged that our prevention services are on high alert given past instances of attempted sabotage and assassination operations designed to provoke a legitimate response Iranian Interior Minister Eskandar Momeni gave the casualty figure in an interview on state television But there were inadequate details on what sparked the blaze just outside of Bandar Abbas which burned into Saturday night causing other containers to reportedly explode The port took in a shipment of sodium perchlorate rocket fuel in March the private guard firm Ambrey reported The fuel is part of a shipment from China by two vessels to Iran first broadcasted in January by the Financial Times 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 development of improper handling of a shipment of solid fuel intended for use in Iranian ballistic missiles Ambrey announced Ship-tracking evidence analyzed by The Associated Press put one of the vessels thought to be carrying the chemical in the vicinity in March as Ambrey disclosed Iran hasn't acknowledged taking the shipment The Iranian mission to the United Nations didn't respond to a request for comment on Saturday It's unclear why Iran wouldn't have moved the chemicals from the port particularly after the Beirut port blast in That explosion caused by the ignition of hundreds of tons of highly explosive ammonium nitrate killed more than people and injured more than others However Israel did target Iranian missile sites where Tehran uses industrial mixers to create solid fuel 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 being involved in the blast like in the Beirut explosion Get back get back Tell the gas truck to go a man in one video shouted just before the blast Tell him to go it s going to blow up Oh God this is blowing up Everybody evacuate Get back Get back On Saturday night the state-run IRNA news agency declared that the Customs Administration of Iran blamed a stockpile of hazardous goods and chemical materials stored in the port area for the blast without elaborating An aerial shot disclosed by Iranian media after the blast revealed fires burning at multiple locations in the port with agents later warning about air contamination from chemicals such as ammonia sulfur dioxide and nitrogen dioxide in the air Schools in Bandar Abbas will be closed on Sunday as well Shahid Rajaei has been a target before A cyberattack attributed to Israel targeted the port It came after Israel disclosed that it thwarted a cyberattack targeting its water infrastructure which it attributed to Iran Israeli personnel didn't respond to requests for comment regarding Saturday's explosion Social media videos exhibited black billowing smoke after the blast Others evidenced glass blown out of buildings kilometers or miles away from the epicenter of the explosion State media footage manifested the injured crowding into at least one hospital with ambulances arriving as medics rushed one person by on a stretcher Hasanzadeh the provincial mishap management official earlier informed state television that the blast came from containers at Shahid Rajaei port in the city without elaborating State TV also stated that there had been a building collapse caused by the explosion though no further details were offered The Interior Ministry declared that it launched an assessment into the blast Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian also offered his condolences for those affected in the blast Shahid Rajaei port in Hormozgan province is about miles southeast of Iran's capital Tehran on the Strait of Hormuz the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf through which of all oil traded passes