CNN
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Iranian authorities said they “could not observe safety principles” at Bandar Abbas port, which killed dozens of people in the explosion on Saturday, but tests will be needed to determine the cause of the explosion.
Eyewitness accounts and videos show that chemicals in the area of the transport container cause fires and causes much larger explosions. The death toll has skyrocketed, with one official informing Iranian state media on Monday that at least 70 people had died.
At least 1,000 people have been reportedly injured, citing television in Iran’s provinces. Of the injured, 190 remain in the hospital, said Pill Hossein Koliband, head of Iran’s Red Crescent Association.
One surveillance video distributed by Fars News Agency shows a small fire between containers, with many workers moving away from the scene.
The committee that investigated the port explosion issued a statement that, according to the state-affiliated outlet Mehr News, said it had “failed to observe safety principles” before the explosion.
“Determining the definitive cause of this incident requires a complete and comprehensive investigation of various aspects that require technical and laboratory processes, depending on the requirements of experts,” the statement continued.
The statement also mentioned “contradictions” in the statements given to the committee, but did not elaborate on what these were or their sources.
CNN previously reported that hundreds of tons of critical chemicals to fuel Iran’s ballistic missile program arrived at the port in February. Another shipment is reported to have arrived in March.
Home Minister Escandar Momeni said on Monday that the authorities “are aware of some of the shortcomings at the port.”
“Safety precautions and passive defenses were not implemented or taken seriously at the port,” he was quoted as saying in the semi-official Tasnim News, adding that the fire is in control.
Some people had been summoned as part of the investigation, he said.
The state-run Islamic Republic News Agency quoted officials saying it said it said it didn’t identify the chemical, although it was likely that the explosion would be caused by a container of chemicals. The agency said late Saturday that Iran’s customs agency had blamed the explosion on “stockpiling of dangerous goods and chemicals stored in port areas.”
Iran’s national oil company said the explosion at the port “has nothing to do with refineries, fuel tanks or oil pipelines.”
Iranian officials denied that military documents were held at the port. Ebrahim Rezai, a spokesman for the Iranian parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Committee, said in a post on Sunday X, that the explosion “has nothing to do with Iran’s defense sector.”
According to state media, Iranian President Masuud Pezeshkian arrived in Bandar Abbas on Sunday afternoon to investigate the situation and oversee the relief efforts. The president also met those injured in the explosion yesterday.
“We have to find out why that happened,” Pezeshkian said during a meeting with officials aired on Iran’s provincial television.
Regional governor Mohammad Ashuli declared three days of mourning.
The explosion comes at a time of ongoing talks between Iran and the US over Tehran’s nuclear program, with high tensions in the Middle East, but senior Iranians have not suggested that the explosion is an attack.
Some of the scene’s videos and images have been geolocated by CNN, with orange brown smoke rising from some of the ports where containers are stacked. Such colours suggest that chemicals such as sodium and ammonia were involved.
“With connections with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Security Forces Corps, it said that the explosion was sodium perchlorate, a major component of the missile’s solid fuel. People spoke about security issues on condition of anonymity.”
CNN is unable to see what was stored in the area at the time of the explosion, and it is unclear why such chemicals are kept in ports for a long time.
Other experts suggested that more commonplace chemicals might explain the huge explosion.
“This takes on the character of ammonium nitrate explosion. Ammonium nitrate is a widely used commodity chemical as a fertilizer and is used as an industrial explosive, but it is well known that inadequate storage can significantly increase the risk of explosion in the event of a fire,” said Andrea Cera, professor of chemistry at the University of London.
“The material ignites violently within a minute after a devastating explosion, and burns out. It’s the ultrasonic pressure wave that crushed the window.”
However, chemical weapons expert Dan Cacheta, who reviewed the video from the scene, said the sodium perchlorate report “can provide an explanation of how the explosion began, as perchlorates are used in materials such as rocket propellants and fireworks.”
“Ammonium nitrate is difficult to explode on its own without other chemicals being part of the reaction,” he told CNN.
In February, CNN reported that the first of the two vessels carrying 1,000 tonnes of Chinese-made chemicals, which could become a key component of the fuel in Iran’s military missile program, was secured outside the Bandar Abbas.
Two European intelligence sources who spoke to CNN said the ship loaded a Chinese port in January with a large portion of 1,000 tonnes of sodium perchlorate in January.
According to intelligence sources, sodium perchlorate can allow for the production of sufficient propellant for about 260 solid rocket motors for Iranian Cabal Shekan missiles or Haji Kasem ballistic missiles.
“China consistently adheres to dual-use export restrictions in accordance with international obligations and domestic laws and regulations,” the Chinese Foreign Ministry told CNN in February.