The massive explosion in Bandar Abbas—which, according to Iranian regime outlets, “reached temperatures of up to 1,400 degrees Celsius,” and which The Washington Post estimated to have had the power of “50 tons of TNT”—not only claimed the lives of hundreds of Iranians, but once again exposed the anti-people nature of the mullahs’ regime.
This explosion showed that in order to continue his ominous policy of “warmongering”—which is necessary for the regime’s survival—regime supreme leader Ali Khamenei both spends the nation’s wealth on missiles and nuclear activities and turns various parts of Iran into death traps by stockpiling explosive materials and rocket fuel.
“Silenced Tragedy: The Bandar Abbas Explosion and the Iranian Regime’s Denial and Suppression”
Now, after the explosion, the Iranian regime—terrified of public outrage over the increasing exposure of this reality—shamelessly referred to the disaster as “an incident that can happen anywhere,” and attempted to downplay its scale by saying “be patient.”
Following the statements of Khamenei, the regime’s prosecutor in Hormozgan province reduced the already-downplayed death toll from 70 to 46 and stated that 11 people were missing. However, even at that time, the regime-affiliated Entekhab news website reported that in just one instance, “30 to 40 people whose family members went missing after the explosion at Rajaei Port gathered at the entrance of the port.”
The official death toll of 46 comes while witnesses told Simaye Azadi (the opposition-run satellite channel) the following:
- “Easily over 300 to 400 corpses burned on the docks and there’s no trace of them.”
- “Among them were 15 or 16 people I personally knew, and there’s no trace of them.”
- “Many Baluch people who entered through the back gate without documents and worked there were all burned.”
- “I can easily say the number of dead is 400, 500, 600—it may be higher, but absolutely not lower.”
Regarding the wounded, eyewitnesses describe the intensity of the blast as so severe that “many had their eyes blown out of their sockets.”
What further intensified public outrage in Iran toward the IRGC and Khamenei after this tragedy was their role in smuggling rocket fuel, which, according to international news agencies like Associated Press, had been stockpiled at the port under the supervision of the IRGC and sanctioned companies.
