Iran says Rajaee Port explosion unrelated to defense sector
Western media reports claim the explosion, which has killed at least 36 and injured over 1,000, was caused by Iran's mishandling of fuel used for ballistic missiles
Iranian government officials said on 27 April that the massive explosion at Shahid Rajaee Port was not connected to any Iranian military activities and that media reports making opposite claims are part of an enemy psychological operation.
Ebrahim Rezaei, the spokesperson for the Iranian Parliament's National Security and Foreign Policy Commission, said on Sunday that preliminary reports suggest that what caught fire at Shahid Rajaee Port and caused the explosion had nothing to do with the Iranian defense sector.
The death toll from Saturday's massive explosion has risen to 36, while over 1,100 people have been injured.
Israeli media reported that the Iranian Defense Ministry spokesman also denied any connection to Iran's military activities.
"There was no military-use explosive device in Rajaee port. Reports published by foreign media outlets in this context are part of a psychological operation carried out by the enemy," the spokesman said.
Earlier, the AP quoted security firm Ambrey as claiming that the fire at Rajaee Port may have been caused by improper handling of solid fuel intended for use in ballistic missiles.
In addition, Ambrey claimed that the port received a shipment of a chemical used in rocket fuel last March. The company claimed that the fuel that arrived at Rajaee Port is part of a shipment of ammonium perchlorate that Iran received from China.
On Saturday night, the state-run IRNA news agency said that the Customs Administration of Iran blamed a "stockpile of hazardous goods and chemical materials stored in the port area" for the blast.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has called for a probe into the incident and dispatched Interior Minister Eskandar Momeni to the disaster site.
Shahid Rajaee Port is a major commercial hub in Iran, handling container traffic and also featuring oil tanks and other petrochemical facilities.
While there is no evidence yet of what caused the explosion, Iran expert Trita Parsi speculated the explosion may have been an act of sabotage carried out by Israel to derail nuclear negotiations between the US and Iran, which are taking place in Oman.
“If evidence emerges that Israel was behind it, it should be well understood that this was not an act targeting Iran as much as it was targeting Trump and seeking to sabotage his efforts to get a peaceful, nuclear deal that would prevent getting the US into yet another forever war in the [West Asia],” Parsi wrote on X.
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