A massive explosion rocked a port in southern Iran on Saturday, killing five people and injuring more than 700 others, according to media reports.
The blast at the Shahid Rajaee port happened as Iran and U.S. officials met in Oman for the third round of negotiations over Tehran’s nuclear program. There was no indication of a link between the two events.
The explosion at the port near the Iranian city of Bandar Abbas shattered windows of nearby office buildings and caused the roof of at least one building to collapse, the BBC reported.
Reports indicated that the blast likely was caused by the explosion of chemical materials stored at the port. The BBC reported witnesses saying the explosion occurred after a fire broke out and spread to unsealed containers storing flammable materials. The Associated Press referred to a chemical ingredient used to make missile propellant.
“The source of this incident was the explosion of several containers stored in the Shahid Rajaee Port wharf area,” a crisis management official in the region said, according to the BBC report.
The fire was the result of “improper handling of a shipment of solid fuel intended for use in Iranian ballistic missiles,” according to Ambrey Intelligence, a global maritime risk firm, quoted in the BBC report.
While there was no evidence that the explosion was the result of an attack, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on Wednesday had acknowledged that “our security services are on high alert given past instances of attempted sabotage and assassination operations designed to provoke a legitimate response,” according to the AP report.
Iran’s national oil production company said the explosion had “no connection” to the country’s oil refineries, fuel tanks and pipelines, local media reported.
Late Saturday, the state-run IRNA news agency said the Customs Administration of Iran blamed a “stockpile of hazardous goods and chemical materials stored in the port area” for the blast, without elaborating, the AP reported.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian expressed “deep regret and sympathy” for the victims of the blast and announced a government investigation, according to the reports.
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