Iran arrests two over deadly port blast that killed 57, injured 1,000
Listen to article
Iranian authorities arrested two people including a government official in connection with a deadly explosion last month at the country's main commercial port, state television reported on Sunday.
The April 26 blast at a dock in the southern port of Shahid Rajaee killed at least 57 people and injured more than 1,000, officials said, revising down an earlier death toll.
The judiciary on Sunday said the toll had been revised because 'it was determined that some of the bodies considered separate were in fact one body', adding that it could still change.
At the time of the blast, Interior Minister Eskandar Momeni blamed 'shortcomings, including noncompliance with safety precautions and negligence'.
Shahid Rajaee is near Iran's coastal city of Bandar Abbas on the Strait of Hormuz, a waterway through which one-fifth of global oil output passes.
'A government manager and another from the private sector have been arrested,' state television said on Sunday, citing a report from the investigating committee.
The committee announced on Monday that 'false declarations (of goods) were made in some cases'.
It said on Sunday that 'suspects have been identified and the summoning process is underway', without elaborating.
The New York Times has 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.
Iran's defence ministry spokesman Reza Talaei-Nik later told state television that 'there has been no imported or exported cargo for military fuel or military use in the area'.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Business Recorder
8 hours ago
- Business Recorder
Governor for forging unity of Ummah
LAHORE: Governor Punjab Sardar Saleem Haider Khan stated that the unity and solidarity of the Muslim Ummah is crucial in countering efforts to destabilize Islamic countries. He made these remarks during a meeting with Consul General of Islamic Republic of Iran, Mehran Mowahid Far, at the Iranian Consulate in Lahore. The governor offered 'fateha' for those martyred in the Israeli aggression and paid tribute to the martyrs. The Iranian Consul General thanked the Pakistani government and nation for their support against the Israeli aggression. He also expressed his condolences over the loss of precious human lives due to the recent rains and floods. 'Pakistan has a deep bond of love with Iran and the relations between the two countries are rooted in shared religion, culture and history,' he said and emphasized to boost trade relations between Pakistan and Iran. He expressed his determination to take the bilateral relations with the Islamic Republic of Iran to new heights. He added that Pakistan has always raised its voice for the sovereignty and geographical integrity of Islamic countries at every forum on the global level. The governor commended Iran's befitting response to Israeli aggression demonstrating its determination and resilience. Copyright Business Recorder, 2025
Express Tribune
8 hours ago
- Express Tribune
US imposes sanctions targeting Iran oil trade
The US imposed sanctions on Thursday against a network that smuggles Iranian oil disguised as Iraqi oil, and on a Hezbollah-controlled financial institution, the Treasury Department said. A network of companies run by Iraqi-British national Salim Ahmed Said has been buying and shipping billions of dollars worth of Iranian oil disguised as, or blended with, Iraqi oil since at least 2020, the department said. "Treasury will continue to target Tehran's revenue sources and intensify economic pressure to disrupt the regime's access to the financial resources that fuel its destabilizing activities," Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said. The US has imposed waves of sanctions on Iran's oil exports over its nuclear program and funding of militant groups across the Middle East.
Express Tribune
8 hours ago
- Express Tribune
Putin tells Trump he won't back down from goals in Ukraine
According to the Financial Times, Trump and Zelenskiy are expected to discuss the recent halt in key US weapons deliveries to Kyiv. PHOTO:FILE Russian President Vladimir Putin told US President Donald Trump in a phone call on Thursday that Moscow wants a negotiated end to the Ukraine war but will not step back from its original goals, a Kremlin aide said. In a wide-ranging conversation that also covered Iran and the Middle East, Trump "again raised the issue of an early end to military action" in Ukraine, the aide, Yuri Ushakov, told reporters. "Vladimir Putin, for his part, noted that we continue to seek a political and negotiated solution to the conflict," Ushakov said. Putin briefed Trump on the implementation of agreements reached between Russia and Ukraine last month to exchange prisoners-of-war and dead soldiers, Ushakov said, and told him that Moscow was ready to continue negotiations with Kyiv. "Our president also said that Russia will achieve the goals it has set: that is, the elimination of the well-known root causes that led to the current state of affairs, to the current acute confrontation, and Russia will not back down from these goals," he added. There was nothing in the Kremlin readout to suggest that Putin had made any shift in Moscow's position during the conversation with Trump, who took office with a promise to end the war swiftly but has voiced frequent frustration with the lack of progress between the two sides. The phrase "root causes" is shorthand for the Kremlin's argument that it was compelled to go to war in Ukraine to prevent the country from joining NATO and being used by the Western alliance as a launch pad to attack Russia. Ukraine and its European allies say that is a specious pretext for what they call an imperial-style war, but Trump in previous public comments has shown sympathy with Moscow's refusal to accept NATO membership for Ukraine. Putin and Trump did not talk about the US decision to halt some shipments of critical weapons to Ukraine, Ushakov said. On Iran, he said, "the Russian side emphasised the importance of resolving all disputes, disagreements and conflict situations exclusively by political and diplomatic means". Trump last month sent US military bombers to strike three Iranian nuclear sites, in a move condemned by Moscow as unprovoked and illegal.
