The death toll in a blast at a key Iranian port rose to at least 25 with over 1,000 wounded, authorities said Sunday, as an individual tied to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps reportedly confirmed the explosion occurred in a shipment of a chemical used to produce missile fuel.
Helicopters and aircraft dumped water and firefighting materials from the air as the fire still raged Sunday morning at the Shahid Rajaei port.
Iran’s health ministry urged residents of Hormozgan province, where the port is located, to avoid going outside “until further notice” and to use protective masks.
The port’s customs office said in a statement carried by state television that the explosion probably resulted from a fire that broke out at the hazardous and chemical materials storage depot. A regional emergency official said several containers had exploded.
The New York Times quoted an individual with ties to Iran’s IRGC, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss security matters, who said that sodium perchlorate had exploded. The compound is a major ingredient in solid fuel for missiles.
The port had taken in a shipment of the chemical in March, the private security firm Ambrey said a day earlier. The fuel was part of a shipment from China by two vessels to Iran, first reported in January by the Financial Times.
A handout picture provided by the Iranian Red Crescent (RCS) on April 27, 2025, shows the devastation at the scene of an explosion that took place a day earlier at the Shahid Rajaee port dock southwest of Bandar Abbas in the Iranian province of Hormozgan (Iranian Red Crescent / AFP)
It was unclear why Iran wouldn’t have moved the chemicals from the port, particularly after the Beirut port blast in 2020. That explosion, caused by the ignition of hundreds of tons of highly explosive ammonium nitrate, killed more than 200 people and injured more than 6,000 others.
However, Israel has targeted Iranian missile sites where Tehran uses industrial mixers to create solid fuel, including during its response to a massive Iranian missile barrage launched at Israel last October.
An Israeli official was quoted by Hebrew media Saturday as saying Israel had no part in the blast at the port.
A handout picture provided by the Iranian Red Crescent (RCS) on April 27, 2025, shows rescuers working at the scene of an explosion that took place a day earlier at the Shahid Rajaee port dock southwest of Bandar Abbas in the Iranian province of Hormozgan. (Iranian Red Crescent / AFP)
Authorities declared three days of public mourning across the province, and state TV reported all schools in offices in the provincial capital of Bandar Abbas, near the port, were ordered closed to allow authorities to focus on the emergency effort.
The port is located on the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of the world’s oil output passes.
The blast came shortly after Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and US special envoy SteveWitkoff commenced their third round of nuclear talks in Oman on Saturday.
A handout picture provided by the Iranian Red Crescent (RCS) on April 27, 2025, shows members of a rescue team arriving by helicopter at the scene of an explosion that took place a day earlier at the Shahid Rajaee port dock southwest of Bandar Abbas in the Iranian province of Hormozgan (Iranian Red Crescent / AFP)
Ahead of the nuclear negotiations, Tehran, whose leaders are sworn to destroy Israel, said the Islamic Republic’s missiles were “off the agenda” for the talks, which aim to curb Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for softening of US sanctions.
Though Iran says its nuclear program is peaceful, the country enriches uranium to a level just short of weapons-grade, far above what is necessary for civilian use.
Blast heard 50 kilometers away, fire ‘still not out’
Live footage from the port on Sunday showed thick smoke still visible at the scene of the explosion.
“The fire is under control but still not out,” a state TV correspondent reported from the site around 20 hours after the blast.
Footage captures a Red Crescent helicopter assisting the firefighting operation at Shahid Rajaee Port in southern Iran, dropping fire-extinguishing powder.
Follow: https://t.co/7Dg3b41hTx pic.twitter.com/sNOkHVl2hu
— PressTV Extra (@PresstvExtra) April 27, 2025
The explosion was so powerful that it was felt and heard about 50 kilometers (30 miles) away, Fars news agency reported.
Speaking Sunday at the scene, Iran’s Interior Minister Eskandar Momeni said that “the situation has stabilized in the main areas” of the port. He told state TV that workers had resumed loading containers and customs clearance.
Images from news agency IRNA on Saturday showed rescuers and survivors walking along a wide boulevard carpeted with debris after the blast at Shahid Rajaee, more than 1,000 kilometers (621 miles) south of Tehran.
Flames could be seen engulfing a truck trailer and blood stained the side of a crushed car, while a helicopter dropped water on massive black smoke clouds billowing from behind stacked shipping containers.
“The shockwave was so strong that most of the port buildings were severely damaged,” Tasnim news agency reported.
Insane view of the first moments when a fire started at Shaheed Rajaee port near Bandar Abbas in southern Iran today. The fire produced a massive explosion that reportedly killed at least five people and injured 700. pic.twitter.com/tdKyVhukAj
— Joe Truzman (@JoeTruzman) April 26, 2025
Citing local emergency services, state TV reported that hundreds of casualties were taken for medical treatment, while the provincial blood transfusion center issued a call for donations.
Saturday is the start of the working week in Iran, meaning the port was busy with employees.
Three Chinese nationals were “lightly injured,” China’s state broadcaster CCTV reported, citing its Bandar Abbas consulate.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian expressed sympathy for the victims of the deadly blast, adding he had “issued an order to investigate the situation and the causes.”
The United Arab Emirates expressed “solidarity with Iran” over the explosion and Saudi Arabia also sent condolences.
Russian President Vladimir Putin expressed his “deepest condolences for the loss of life and extensive damage,” and offered to send help in a message to Iran’s leaders.
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