On Saturday, April 25, a powerful explosion at the facilities of Rajaee Port in Bandar Abbas caused heavy tremors across the city and surrounding areas. According to state-controlled media, the intensity of the explosion was such that the sound was heard for several kilometers and the ground shook.
According to the regime’s Director General of Crisis Management for Hormozgan Province, the number of those injured in the explosion at Rajaee Port in Bandar Abbas has surpassed seven hundred, with the possibility of the casualty count increasing.
It is reported that so far, five people have been killed in this incident.
Tasnim News Agency, affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), reported quoting Mehrdad Hassanzadeh, the Director General of Crisis Management of Hormozgan Province, that all the injured have been transferred to hospitals across Bandar Abbas.
State television reported that multiple other explosions were also heard from the port, and thick smoke has engulfed the area’s sky. Local witnesses reported shattered windows in buildings within several kilometers and feeling the ground shaking.
Hossein Zafari, spokesperson for the regime’s crisis management organization, confirmed that the explosion was powerful enough for the ground tremors to be felt within a fifty-kilometer radius.
According to government reports, the site of the incident was part of the Sina container yard, affiliated with Iran’s Ports and Maritime Organization. Reports suggest that the explosion was caused by the storage of hazardous goods and chemicals, though the exact cause is still under investigation. Tasnim News Agency also raised the possibility that the explosion may have involved a fuel tank or sensitive petroleum products.
Less than a month prior to the explosion at Rajaee Port, reports had surfaced about the arrival of a vessel named “Jeyran” at the port; this ship was accused of transporting components related to the Iranian regime’s missile program from China to Iran.
On March 31, Newsweek, quoting the Maritime Executive website, reported that the cargo ship JAIRAN, which has been sanctioned by the United States, docked at Bandar Abbas after departing from China and was suspected of carrying chemical materials used in the production of solid-fuel missiles.
