The Islamic Republican Guard Corps Amateur Handling of Explosives

"Two conservative [Iranian] newspapers have suggested a possible link between the port explosion and the nuclear talks."

"Jomhuri-ye Eslami daily on April 28, 2025, wrote, “The coincidence of the explosion at Shahid Rajaei Port with one of the most sensitive periods of negotiations between Iran and the United States in Oman cannot be unrelated to the positive developments that have emerged in our country’s foreign policy”."

"Established and supported by the office of Supreme Leader, the paper accused Israel of seeking to derail the negotiations but also questioned who would take responsibility for the incident, warning that blame likely would be evaded, as usual."

"In an editorial, the Sobh-e No daily also noted that although the cause of the blast remains officially undetermined, its timing—alongside nuclear talks and heightened Israeli threats—raises the possibility of targeted sabotage."

Mardo Soghom, Middle East Forum

The explosion at the Bandar Abbas port happened during U.S.-Iran nuclear talks. Shutterstock

"The fire was reportedly the result of improper handing of a shipment of solid fuel intended for use in Iranian ballistic missiles."

"[The port took in a shipment of] sodium perchlorate rocket fuel."

Private security firm Ambrey 

"Our security forces are on high alert given past instances of attempted sabotage and assassination operations designed to provoke a legitimate response."

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi

Heavy smoke rises at the scene of an explosion at the Shahid Rajaee port dock, southwest of Bandar Abbas.  Meysam Mirsadeh/Tasnim News/AFP via Getty Images

The massive explosion and fire Saturday in southern Iran that has destroyed a major part of Iranian shipping has been linked to a shipment of a chemical that is used in in the manufacture of missile propellant. The blast killed 70 people, while more than ten times that number were injured. The Shahid Rajaci port will be out of business for a very long time. While reaction to the blast and fire has been restrained in the sense that there have been no official statements suggesting this was the result of an attack, the thought is there, albeit for the present, submerged.

 

The expression of the country's foreign minister was as close a warning in its reminder of previous Israeli attacks on Iranian weapons facilities and the assassinations of some of the country's top nuclear scientists  as it's likely to be, at this stage. Few details have emerged on what caused the blaze close to Bandar Abbas, a conflagration that burned into Saturday night, when other containers began exploding, adding fuel to the fire.

 

The fuel in question formed part of a shipment from China shipped in two vessels to Iran back in January. The chemicals were meant to be used to replenish Iran's missile stocks, depleted through its direct attacks on Israel during its war with Hamas in the Gaza Strip. One of the vessels is believed to have carried the chemical in the area back in March, according to ship-tracking data. Iran has held back from acknowledging taking possession of the shipment. 

What is puzzling, given the obvious danger of storing and stocking such flammable explosives is why the chemicals would not have been moved out of the port. The situation resembles the Beirut port blast that took place in 2020 when that explosion, the result of  the ignition of hundreds of tons of highly explosive ammonium nitrate, killed over 200 people, injuring more than 6,000. Suspicion would, of course, naturally fall on Israel which has targeted Iranian missile sites where industrial mixers to create solid fuel are used by Tehran.

 

Thick black smoke was still towering above the port on Sunday   Getty Images

"Get back, get back! Tell the gas [truck] to go!"

"Tell him to go, it's going to blow up!"

"Oh God, this is blowing up!"

Everybody evacuate!

"Get back! Get back!" 

Reddish-black smoke was seen rising at Shahid Rajaei on social media footage Saturday from the fire, immediately prior to the explosion. The state-run IRNA news agency stated that the Customs Administration of Iran cast blame on a "stockpile of hazardous goods and chemical material stored in the port area", which caused the blast. A surveillance video distributed by the Fars news agency is that of a small fire appearing among containers, and alerted workers moving away from the area in a panic, before a huge explosion erupted. 

"[Prior to the blast there had been a] failure to observe safety principles [according to state-affiliated outlet Mehr News]."

"Determining the definitive cause of this incident requires a complete and comprehensive investigation of its various aspects, which, due to expert requirements, requires technical and laboratory processes."

"[There were] discrepancies [in a statement given to the committee which did not elaborate on what these might be or their source]."

Iranian Investigating Committee

Charred merchandise and containers lie at the site of the deadly port explosion.

Meysam Mirsadeh/Tasnim News/AFP via Getty Images