Iranian officials have raised the death toll to 46 in a massive explosion purportedly linked to a shipment of a chemical ingredient used to make missile propellant in the southern Iranian port city of Bandar Abbas.
Authorities have yet to offer a clear explanation for what caused the April 26 blast at the Shahid Rajaei port, although independent experts said it appeared to be due to the improper storage of sodium perchlorate, a component used in rocket fuel.
On April 28, state media reported that a fire triggered by the blast, which also left more than 1,000 injured, was still burning but under control.
The speaker of Iran's parliament, Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, said in a statement on April 28 that a massive investigation involving "supervisory, security, and judicial agencies and representatives of four parliamentary commissions" is being conducted to uncover any negligence or criminal intent in incident and that the findings will be made public.
The Shahid Rajaei port is Iran's busiest, processing up to 80 percent of the country's shipping traffic.
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Iran Port Fire Under Control After Dozens Killed
While a specific cause has yet to be determined, Hossein Zafari, a spokesman for Iran's crisis management organization, appeared to blame the explosion on poor storage of chemicals in containers at the port.
"The cause of the explosion was the chemicals inside the containers," he told Iran's ILNA news agency on April 27.
"Previously, the director general of crisis management had given warnings to this port during their visits and had pointed out the possibility of danger," Zafari said.
According to the private security firm Ambrey, the port had received a shipment of “sodium perchlorate rocket fuel” in March, which was going to be used to replenish Iran’s missile stocks after being depleted by its direct attacks on Israel during the war with Hamas -- which is designated as a terrorist group by the United States and the European Union -- in the Gaza Strip.
Tehran has not acknowledged taking the shipment, but ship-tracking data obtained by the Associated Press shows vessels believed to be carrying the chemical in the vicinity of the port in March.
US-Iran Talks In Oman
The April 26 blast happened as Iran and the United States met in Oman for the third round of talks over Tehran's rapidly advancing nuclear program. A fourth round is scheduled for May 3. although the location has not been confirmed.
While no Iranian officials have suggested the explosion was due to an attack, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi, who lead Tehran's delegation in Oman, said last week before the incident that "our security services are on high alert given past instances of attempted sabotage and assassination operations designed to provoke a legitimate response."
Deadly incidents have hit Iranian energy and industrial infrastructure in recent years -- such as gas explosions and oil refinery fires -- with many blamed on negligence.
SEE ALSO: Can Israel Destroy Iran's Nuclear Program?Tehran, however, has also blamed some incidents on its arch-foe Israel, which has carried out attacks on Iranian soil targeting the country's nuclear program. Last year, Israel also bombed Iran's air defenses.
Iran accused Israel as being behind a February 2024 attack on Iranian gas pipelines, as well as a major cyberattack on the Shahid Rajaei port in May 2020, causing transport chaos for days after crashing the facility's computer system.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on April 27 repeated his calls for "all of" Iran's nuclear infrastructure to be dismantled.
"We are in close contact with the United States. But I said, one way or the other, Iran will not have nuclear weapons," Netanyahu told a news conference.
The Shahid Rajaei port mainly handles large volumes of container traffic and also has oil tanks and other petrochemical facilities.
The port is some 1,050 kilometers southeast of the capital Tehran, on the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf where 20 percent of all oil traded globally passes through.