This could just be an accident, but with what's going on between Israel and Iran and the timing, I'm holding my breath.
Massive explosion at Iranian port kills 14 and injures hundreds
https://www.cnn.com/2025/04/26/middleeast/iran-bandar-abbas-port-explosion-intl/index.html
At least 14 people have been killed and 750 injured in a huge explosion at the port of Bandar Abbas in southwestern Iran, according to official Iranian media citing the country’s interior ministry.
The explosion sent a huge plume of thick, gray smoke from the Shahid Rajaee part of the port complex, according to videos geolocated by CNN, with the government saying the blast was likely linked to chemicals being stored.
Iran’s Minister of Interior Eskandar Momeni said six people remain missing as firefighters continue to work to extinguish the blaze, despite challenges posed by high winds, Iranian media reported.
No cause has been given for the explosion. A government spokeswoman, Fatemeh Mohajerani, said it would take some time to establish the cause “but so far what has been determined is that containers were stored in a corner of the port that likely contained chemicals which exploded.
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Iran claims blast linked to shipment of chemicals used to make fuel for ballistic missiles; coincides with US-Iran nuclear talks; same port hit by suspected Israeli cyber attack in 2020
https://www.timesofisrael.com/major-blast-at-south-iran-port-injures-more-than500/
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In March, the port took in a shipment of “sodium perchlorate rocket fuel,” the private security firm Ambrey said. The fuel is part of a shipment from China by two vessels to Iran, first reported in January by the Financial Times. The fuel was going to be used to replenish Iran’s missile stocks, which had been depleted by its direct attacks on Israel during the war with Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
“The fire was reportedly the result of improper handling of a shipment of solid fuel intended for use in Iranian ballistic missiles,” Ambrey said.
Ship-tracking data analyzed by The Associated Press put one of the vessels believed to be carrying the chemical in the vicinity in March, as Ambrey said. Iran hasn’t acknowledged taking the shipment. The Iranian mission to the United Nations didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment on Saturday.
It is unclear why Iran would not have moved the chemicals from the port, particularly after the Beirut port blast in 2020, in which more than 200 people were killed in a chemical explosion. 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.
