A massive explosion and fire rocked a port Saturday in southern Iran purportedly linked to a shipment of a chemical ingredient used to make missile propellant, killing five people and injuring more than 700 others.
Mehrdad Hasanzadeh, a provincial disaster management official, gave the updated casualty figure in an interview on state television. The previous toll was four dead and more than 500 others injured.
The blast happened as Iran and the United States met in Oman for the third round of negotiations over Tehran’s rapidly advancing nuclear programme.
The incident happened at the Shahid Rajaei port just outside Bandar Abbas, a major facility for container shipments for the Islamic Republic that handles some 80 million tons of goods a year.
Social media videos showed black billowing smoke after the blast.
While no one in Iran outright suggested that the explosion came from an attack, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, who was leading Saturday’s talks, on Wednesday acknowledged that “our security services are on high alert given past instances of attempted sabotage and assassination operations designed to provoke a legitimate response”.
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