TEHRAN: Firefighters in Iran battled raging fires on Monday at the country’s largest commercial port, two days after a massive explosion killed at least 40 people, state TV reported.
The blast took place on Saturday at Shahid Rajaee Port in Iran’s south near the strategic Strait of Hormuz, a waterway through which one-fifth of global oil output passes.
It killed at least 40 people and injured more than 1,000 others, officials said, after triggering smaller explosions and fires in nearby containers.
Iran’s state TV showed images of firefighters dousing the flames, and said the damage will be assessed after the fire is fully brought under control.
Thick, swirling plumes of smoke rose over the stacked containers at the site, the TV images showed.
It was not immediately clear what caused the explosion but the port’s customs office said it likely resulted from a fire that broke out at the hazardous and chemical materials storage depot.
Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei ordered a probe into the incident to determine if there were “any negligence or intent.”
CCTV images on social media showed the incident began gradually, with a small fire and orange-brown smoke before a fireball erupted.
The images appeared to show the small fire starting among a few containers stacked outside across from a warehouse. A small forklift truck drove past the smoking area and men walked nearby.
About one minute and eight seconds after the small fire and smoke were visible, a fireball erupted as vehicles passed nearby. Men ran for their lives.
President Masoud Pezeshkian on Sunday visited hospitals treating the wounded in the nearby city of Bandar Abbas.
Since the explosion, authorities have ordered all schools and offices in the area closed and urged residents to avoid going outside “until further notice” and to use protective masks.
The New York Times quoted a person with ties to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss security matters, as saying that what exploded was sodium perchlorate — a major ingredient in solid fuel for missiles.
Defense ministry spokesman Reza Talaei-Nik later told state TV that “there has been no imported or exported cargo for military fuel or military use in the area.”
Russia dispatched specialists to help battle the blazes.
Authorities have declared Monday a national day of mourning, while three days of mourning began Sunday in Hormozgan province, where the port is located.
The blast occurred as Iranian and US delegations met in Oman for high-level talks on Tehran’s nuclear program, with both sides reporting progress.
While Iranian authorities so far appear to be treating the blast as an accident, it also comes against the backdrop of years of shadow war with regional foe Israel.
According to the Washington Post, Israel launched a cyberattack targeting the Shahid Rajaee Port in 2020.
Fires rage 2 days after Iran port blast killed 40
https://arab.news/jjeg4
Fires rage 2 days after Iran port blast killed 40
- The explosion ripped through the port as Iranian and US delegations were meeting in Oman for high-level talks on Tehran’s nuclear program
- While Iranian authorities appear to be treating the blast as an accident, it also comes against the backdrop of years of shadow war with Israel
Syrian government and SDF agree to de-escalate after Aleppo violence
- Turkiye views the US-backed SDF, which controls swathes of northeastern Syria, as a terrorist organization and has warned of military action if the group does not honor the agreement
DAMASCUS: Syrian government forces and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces agreed to de-escalate on Monday evening in the northern city of Aleppo, after a wave of attacks that both sides blamed on each other left at least two civilians dead and several wounded.
Syria’s state news agency SANA, citing the defense ministry, said the army’s general command issued an order to stop targeting the SDF’s fire sources. The SDF said in a statement later that it had issued instructions to stop responding to attacks by Syrian government forces following de-escalation contacts.
The Syrian health ministry said two people were killed and several were wounded in shelling by the SDF on residential neighborhoods in the city. The injuries included two children and two civil defense workers. The violence erupted hours after Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said during a visit to Damascus that the SDF appeared to have no intention of honoring a commitment to integrate into the state’s armed forces by an agreed year-end deadline.
Turkiye views the US-backed SDF, which controls swathes of northeastern Syria, as a terrorist organization and has warned of military action if the group does not honor the agreement.
Integrating the SDF would mend Syria’s deepest remaining fracture, but failing to do so risks an armed clash that could derail the country’s emergence from 14 years of war and potentially draw in Turkiye, which has threatened an incursion against Kurdish fighters it views as terrorists.
Both sides have accused the other of stalling and acting in bad faith. The SDF is reluctant to give up autonomy it won as the main US ally during the war, which left it with control of Islamic State prisons and rich oil resources.
SANA, citing the defense ministry, reported earlier that the SDF had launched a sudden attack on security forces and the army in the Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafiyah neighborhoods of Aleppo, resulting in injuries.
The SDF denied this and said the attack was carried out by factions affiliated with the Syrian government. It said those factions were using tanks and artillery against residential neighborhoods in the city.
The defense ministry denied the SDF’s statements, saying the army was responding to sources of fire from Kurdish forces. “We’re hearing the sounds of artillery and mortar shells, and there is a heavy army presence in most areas of Aleppo,” an eyewitness in Aleppo told Reuters earlier on Monday. Another eyewitness said the sound of strikes had been very strong and described the situation as “terrifying.”
Aleppo’s governor announced a temporary suspension of attendance in all public and private schools and universities on Tuesday, as well as government offices within the city center.
