Death toll rises to 25 in massive explosion at Iran’s largest port

Iranian rescue workers continued battling fires Sunday as the death toll from a devastating explosion at the country’s largest commercial port climbed to 25, according to local media reports.

“The total number of people killed is at least 25,” Hormozgan province’s head of the judiciary, Mojtaba Ghahremani, told the Tasnim News Agency on Sunday.

The powerful blast ripped through Shahid Rajaee Port in southern Iran on Saturday, injuring at least 800 people. The port sits near the strategic Strait of Hormuz, a vital shipping lane through which approximately one-fifth of global oil output passes.

Iranian state television broadcast live footage showing thick black smoke still billowing from the scene a day after the explosion, which was reportedly felt and heard as far as 50 kilometers (30 miles) away, according to Fars news agency.

The port’s customs office stated that the explosion likely resulted from a fire that broke out at a hazardous and chemical materials storage depot.

However, The New York Times quoted a person with ties to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, speaking anonymously about security matters, who said the explosion involved sodium perchlorate—a key ingredient in solid fuel for missiles.

Among the injured were three Chinese nationals who sustained “light injuries,” according to China’s state broadcaster CCTV, which cited the Chinese consulate in Bandar Abbas.

Fires rage a day later

Iran’s state news agency IRNA released images showing rescuers and survivors navigating a boulevard covered in debris.

The photos captured the destruction: flames engulfing a truck trailer, blood staining the side of a crushed car, and helicopters dropping water on massive smoke clouds rising behind stacked shipping containers.

“The shockwave was so strong that most of the port buildings were severely damaged,” Tasnim news agency reported.

Local emergency services reported that “hundreds have been transferred to nearby medical centers,” while the provincial blood transfusion center issued an urgent call for donations.

City shut down amid emergency response

With choking smoke and air pollution spreading throughout the area, authorities ordered all schools and offices closed Sunday in Bandar Abbas, the capital of Hormozgan province, to allow officials to focus on emergency response efforts.

Officials investigate container explosion

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian expressed sympathy for the victims and “issued an order to investigate the situation and the causes.”

Interior Minister Eskandar Momeni, speaking from the scene, told state television that “all resources from other cities and Tehran have been dispatched” to assist with the emergency.

Mehrdad Hassanzadeh, head of the province’s crisis management authority, confirmed to state TV that “the cause of this incident was the explosion of several containers stored in the Shahid Rajaee Port wharf area.”

Oil facilities unaffected

The state-owned National Iranian Oil Products Distribution Company issued a statement carried by local media assuring that the explosion “has no connection” to its facilities and that “Bandar Abbas oil facilities are currently operating without interruption.”

Both the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia extended their support, with the UAE expressing “solidarity with Iran” while Saudi Arabia sent condolences.

Timing coincides with international talks

The explosion occurred on Saturday, which marks the beginning of the Iranian work week, meaning the port would have been busy with employees. It comes several months after a coal mine blast in Tabas, eastern Iran, which killed more than 50 people in one of the country’s deadliest workplace accidents in recent years.

The incident also coincided with Iranian and U.S. delegations meeting in Oman for high-level talks regarding Tehran’s nuclear program, with both sides reporting progress in the negotiations.