By Ahmad Rafat
On April 26, an explosion rocked Bandar Abbas, one of Iran’s key commercial ports, in the southern province of Hormozgan. The blast claimed more than 100 lives and left more than 1,400 people injured.
Yet Iranian authorities have not officially confirmed the death toll, nor have they clarified the cause of the disaster.
The Iranian government has yet to provide an official explanation and seems to be actively seeking individuals or groups to blame.
Meanwhile, speculation continues to swirl around the incident.
Several factors contribute to the absence of an official narrative.
While many reports in the Islamic Republic of Iran tend to be unreliable, one possibility is the illegal storage of military-grade containers among civilian goods — a violation of the regime’s own laws.
Independent sources and international media have suggested that the explosion was triggered by a shipment of sodium perchlorate, a chemical recently imported from China.
Sodium perchlorate is commonly used in solid fuel for ballistic missiles.
In response to these claims, spokespersons for Iran’s Defense Ministry and the National Security and Foreign Policy Commission of the Majlis (Iranian Parliament) quickly denied the storage of military-grade materials at the port.
Aside from the quick dismissal before any investigation was conducted, the incident at Shahid Rajaei Port in Bandar Abbas appears to have either been an accident due to negligence of basic safety and security protocols or deliberate sabotage.
If it was sabotage, factions within the regime or a foreign power could have carried it out.
To date, the Islamic Republic has not officially accused any foreign state of being involved, but there seems to be a push to shape public opinion toward the idea that a foreign government — likely Israel — was responsible.
A regime-affiliated news agency, Rajanews, which has ties to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), published a report that was later deleted, claiming that the fire at Bandar Abbas had destroyed enough fuel to power 250 ballistic missiles.
Without providing any evidence, Mohammad Siraj, a member of Parliament for Tehran and surrounding areas, alleged that the explosion “was caused by explosives pre-positioned in containers and detonated remotely.”
Those who suspect Israeli involvement cite remarks made by Amir Avivi, a retired Israeli brigadier general in the Israel Defense Forces, who suggested that “the attack on the missile fuel reserves was a deliberate operation, not an accident.”
Israel’s Ministry of Defense has denied involvement, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office has yet to comment on the incident in response to Reuters inquiries.
The execution of Mohsen Langarneshin, a 34-year-old internet security expert, on April 29, shortly after the explosion, is further fueling speculation about the incident.
Langarneshin was accused of espionage for Israel and involvement in the assassination of IRGC Qods Force commander Colonel Hassan Sayyad Khodaei, who was killed in Tehran on May 22, 2022, in an attack attributed to Israel.
Death Toll From Bandar Abbas Port Explosion Continues to Rise
The timing of the explosion in Bandar Abbas, which coincided with the third round of negotiations between the Islamic Republic and the United States in Oman, has also sparked other theories.
Some speculate that internal opponents of the talks within the Iranian regime could have been behind the disaster.
These opponents can be divided into three distinct groups.
The first consists of individuals who have profited significantly from circumventing sanctions through oil sales and imports and stand to lose these profits if sanctions are lifted.
The second group includes elements of the IRGC who fear that a deal would severely limit their influence, particularly in regional operations.
The third group comprises those who believe that any rapprochement with the U.S. would undermine the legacy of Ruhollah Khomeini, the founder of the Islamic Republic.
This faction has a history of violent actions, including the Cinema Rex fire in Abadan, in the southwestern province of Khuzestan, on August 19, 1978, which killed 630 people.
The perpetrators of that massacre, Khomeini’s supporters, blamed the former regime and used the event to incite a workers’ strike in the oil industry, which helped bring about the success of the Islamic Revolution in 1979.
Mohammad Mehdi Shahriari, a member of the National Security and Foreign Policy Commission of the Majlis, commented: “This explosion could be linked to negotiations between Iran and the U.S., with those opposed to these talks potentially behind the attack.”
“However, I do not believe it will impact the outcome, as the regime is determined to see the negotiations through to completion,” he added.
