Chemical Container Blast at Iran’s Largest Port Kills 25, Injures Hundreds
A powerful explosion ripped through the Shahid Rajaee section of Bandar Abbas port—Iran’s largest container hub—on Saturday afternoon, killing at least 25 people and wounding more than 700, state media reported. The blast, which scattered debris over several kilometres and shattered windows as far away as Qeshm Island, was likely triggered by improperly stored chemical materials in shipping containers, officials said.
Hossein Zafari, spokesperson for Iran’s Crisis Management Organization, told the ILNA news agency that “chemicals inside the containers” appeared to have caused the blast. He added that prior safety warnings about hazardous storage had been issued to port authorities but went unheeded. A government spokesperson cautioned that while chemicals were a probable factor, investigations were ongoing to establish the precise cause.
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President Masoud Pezeshkian ordered an immediate inquiry and dispatched the interior minister to oversee rescue and firefighting operations. Video footage broadcast on state television showed towering black-and-orange smoke plumes and mangled office buildings with doors blown off and papers strewn across the ground. Emergency teams evacuated port staff and truck drivers from the danger zone and worked to prevent the fire spreading to other container stacks.
Located on the strategic Strait of Hormuz, Shahid Rajaee handles the majority of Iran’s import and export containers. Saturday’s incident is the latest in a series of fatal industrial accidents in Iran. In recent years, refinery fires, mine explosions, and infrastructure mishaps—some blamed on negligence, others attributed by Tehran to covert Israeli operations.
