MISSILE FUEL MAY HAVE IGNITED DEADLY IRANIAN PORT EXPLOSION: REPORT

Mon 28 April 2025:

An explosion that rocked the Shahid Rajaee Port in the Iranian city of Bandar Abbas on Saturday may have been caused by the ignition of solid missile fuel, the New York Times reported.

The paper quoted informed sources as saying that sodium perchlorate, a key component of solid missile fuel, was the substance that caused the explosion.

Spokesperson of the Iranian Foreign Ministry, Fatemeh Mohajerani, said the large explosion was caused by chemicals stored at the port, however, the exact cause can only be identified once the fire caused by the blast is completely extinguished.

She added that the incident was being investigated and urged media and the public to avoid premature speculation until the official investigation is completed.

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The death toll from Saturday’s massive explosion at Shahid Rajaei Port rose to 28, Red Crescent chief Pirhossein Koolivand said on Sunday, updating earlier figures reported by state media, as firefighters continued with their efforts to put out the fire.

“Unfortunately, 28 people have so far died,” Koolivand said in a video published on the Iranian government’s official website, adding that some of the more than 1,000 injured in the Shahid Rajaee Port blast had been transferred to the capital Tehran for treatment.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian expressed sympathy for the victims of the deadly blast, adding he had “issued an order to investigate the situation and the causes”.

The country’s national emergency agency told Tasnim that at least five of the victims had been transferred to the city of Shiraz for further treatment.

“The fire is under control but still not out,” a state TV correspondent reported from the site about 20 hours after the explosion.

Entekhab news website quoted the national crisis management agency as saying that 80 percent of the fire has been put out, adding that most of the people taken to medical facilities for treatment had been discharged.

The explosion took place on Saturday near the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of the world’s oil output passes.

The port’s customs office said in a statement, carried by state television, that the explosion probably resulted from a fire that broke out at the hazardous and chemical materials storage depot.

The explosion was so powerful that it was felt about 50km (30 miles) away, Fars news agency reported.

The explosion comes several months after one of Iran’s deadliest work accidents in years.

The coal mine blast in September, caused by a gas leak, killed more than 50 people at Tabas in the east of the country.

The incident took place as Iranian and US delegations met in Oman for high-level talks on Tehran’s nuclear programme, with both sides reporting progress.

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

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