Iran port blast toll rises to 46

DUBAI — Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian on Sunday visited those injured in a huge explosion that rocked one of the country's main ports, as the death toll rose to 46.

New videos showed an apocalyptic scene at the still-smoldering Shahid Rajaee port outside Bandar Abbas in southern Iran's Hormozgan Province.

A crater that appeared meters deep was surrounded by burning smoke so dangerous that authorities closed schools and businesses in the area. Containers appeared smashed or thrown as if discarded toys, while the burned carcasses of trucks and cars sat around the site.

"We have to find out why it happened," Pezeshkian said during a meeting with officials aired by state television.

Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei separately offered his condolences over the blast — and left open the possibility that sabotage caused the explosion.

"It is the duty of security officials and judicial authorities to conduct a thorough investigation to detect if there's been any negligence or deliberate acts that have caused this and to follow this up according to regulations," a statement in his name said.

Mehrdad Hassanzadeh, the crisis management director for Hormozgan Province, gave the latest death toll, the official IRNA news agency reported.

Officials have said more than 1,000 people were injured, with Hassanzadeh noting most had since been released after treatment.

Only "120 wounded are still in hospital", Interior Minister Eskandar Momeni, who is in the area, told state TV on Monday.

Blamed on 'negligence'

He added that "culprits have been identified and summoned", and that the blast was caused by "shortcomings, including noncompliance with safety precautions and negligence".

Previously, 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".

Agencies via Xinhua