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Death Toll From Blast at Iran’s Bandar Abbas Port Rises to 40
An aerial view shows plumes of smoke rising, following a suspected explosion of chemical materials which killed multiple people and injured many others, in Bandar Abbas, Iran, in this screengrab obtained from a social media video released on April 27, 2025. Photo: Social Media/via REUTERS
The death toll from a powerful explosion at Iran’s biggest port of Bandar Abbas has risen to at least 40, with more than 1,200 people injured, state media reported on Sunday, as firefighters worked to fully extinguish the fire.
Saturday’s blast took place in the Shahid Rajaee section of the port, Iran’s biggest container hub, shattering windows for several kilometers around, tearing metal strips off shipping containers and badly damaging goods inside, state media said.
The incident occurred as Iran held a third round of nuclear talks with the United States in Oman.
Fires kept breaking out in different parts of the affected area as of Sunday night, according to state media, with helicopters and fire fighters continuing efforts to extinguish them.
Chemicals at the port were suspected to have fueled the explosion, but the exact cause was not clear and Iran’s Defense Ministry denied international media reports that the blast may be linked to the mishandling of solid fuel used for missiles.
A spokesperson for the ministry told state TV the reports were “aligned with enemy psyops,” saying that the blast-hit area did not contain any military cargo.
The Associated Press cited British security firm Ambrey as saying the port in March had received sodium perchlorate, which is used to propel ballistic missiles and whose mishandling could have led to the explosion.
The Financial Times newspaper reported in January the shipment of two Iranian vessels from China containing enough of the ingredient to propel as many as 260 mid-range missiles, helping Tehran to replenish its stocks following its direct missile attacks on its arch-foe Israel in 2024.
DEADLY INCIDENTS
Plumes of black smoke rose above the site on Sunday and pieces of twisted metal and debris lay scattered across the blast site.
By early afternoon, the head of Iran’s Red Crescent Society told state media the fire was 90% extinguished and officials said port activities had resumed in unaffected parts of Shahid Rajaee.
A spokesperson for the country’s crisis management organization appeared on Saturday to blame the explosion on poor storage of chemicals in containers at Shahid Rajaee, adding that earlier warnings had highlighted potential safety risks.
Government spokesperson Fatemeh Mohajerani cautioned against “premature speculation,” saying final assessments would be shared after investigations.
Negligence has often been blamed in a series of deadly incidents that have hit Iranian energy and industrial infrastructure in recent years.
“Did we really have to hold the container here for 3-4 months… until we had 120-140 thousand containers stored in this place?” Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian said after arriving in Bandar Abbas on Sunday.
Incidents in the country have included refinery fires, a gas explosion at a coal mine, and an emergency repair incident at Bandar Abbas that killed one worker in 2023.
Iran has blamed some other incidents on Israel, which has carried out attacks on Iranian soil targeting Iran’s nuclear program in recent years and last year bombed the country’s air defenses.
The post Death Toll From Blast at Iran’s Bandar Abbas Port Rises to 40 first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Iran’s Supreme Leader Says Trump Is Lying When He Speaks of Peace
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei speaks during a meeting with government officials in Tehran, Iran, April 15, 2025. Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader/WANA (West Asia News Agency)/Handout via REUTERS/File Photo
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei accused Donald Trump on Saturday of lying when the US president said during his Gulf tour this week that he wanted peace in the region.
On the contrary, said Khamenei, the United States uses its power to give “10-ton bombs to the Zionist (Israeli) regime to drop on the heads of Gaza’s children.”
Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One after departing the United Arab Emirates on Friday that Iran had to move quickly on a US proposal for its nuclear program or “something bad’s going to happen.”
His remarks, said Khamenei, “aren’t even worth responding to.” They are an “embarrassment to the speaker and the American people,” Khamenei added.
“Undoubtedly, the source of corruption, war, and conflict in this region is the Zionist regime — a dangerous, deadly cancerous tumor that must be uprooted; it will be uprooted,” he said at an event at a religious center in Tehran, according to state media.
Earlier on Saturday, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said Trump speaks about peace while simultaneously making threats.
“Which should we believe?” Pezeshkian said at a naval event in Tehran. “On the one hand, he speaks of peace and on the other, he threatens with the most advanced tools of mass killing.”
Tehran would continue Iran-US nuclear talks but is not afraid of threats. “We are not seeking war,” Pezeshkian said.
While Trump said on Friday that Iran had a US proposal about its nuclear program, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi in a post on X said Tehran had not received any such proposal. “There is no scenario in which Iran abandons its hard-earned right to (uranium) enrichment for peaceful purposes…” he said.
Araqchi warned on Saturday that Washington’s constant change of stance prolongs nuclear talks, state TV reported.
“It is absolutely unacceptable that America repeatedly defines a new framework for negotiations that prolongs the process,” the broadcast quoted Araqchi as saying.
Pezeshkian said Iran would not “back down from our legitimate rights”.
“Because we refuse to bow to bullying, they say we are source of instability in the region,” he said.
A fourth round of Iran-U.S. talks ended in Oman last Sunday. A new round has not been scheduled yet.
The post Iran’s Supreme Leader Says Trump Is Lying When He Speaks of Peace first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Hamas Confirms New Gaza Ceasefire Talks with Israel in Qatar on Saturday
Doha, Qatar. Photo: StellarD via Wikimedia Commons.
A new round of Gaza ceasefire negotiations between Hamas and Israel is underway in Qatar’s Doha, Hamas official Taher al-Nono told Reuters on Saturday.
He said the two sides were discussing all issues without “pre-conditions.”
Nono said Hamas was “keen to exert all the effort needed” to help mediators make the negotiations a success, adding there was “no certain offer on the table.”
The negotiations come despite Israel preparing to expand operations in the Gaza Strip as they seek “operational control” in some areas of the war-torn enclave.
The return to negotiations also comes after US President Donald Trump ended a Middle East tour on Friday with no apparent progress towards a new ceasefire, although he acknowledged Gaza’s growing hunger crisis and the need for aid deliveries.
The post Hamas Confirms New Gaza Ceasefire Talks with Israel in Qatar on Saturday first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Report: ICC’s Khan Goes on Administrative Leave Amid Sexual Misconduct Probe
International Criminal Court Prosecutor Karim Khan speaks during an interview with Reuters in The Hague, Netherlands, Feb. 12, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Piroschka van de Wouw
i24 News – Chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court Karim Khan has stepped down temporarily as an investigation into his alleged sexual misconduct by United Nations investigators is nearing its final phase, Reuters reported on Friday citing sources from the international court.
Khan allegedly forced sexual intercourse upon a member of staff on multiple occasions, the Wall Street Journal reported last week, linking the allegations to Khan’s decision to issue arrest warrants for Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and then-defense minister Yoav Gallant.
A statement is expected later today announcing that Khan is going on administrative leave, according to a source in the prosecutor’s office.
The post Report: ICC’s Khan Goes on Administrative Leave Amid Sexual Misconduct Probe first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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