Sawt Falasteen - Fire blazes day after Iran port blast killed 28, injured 1,000

The blast occurred Saturday at Shahid Rajaee Port in southern Iran, near the Strait of Hormuz through which a fifth of world oil output passes.

With choking smoke and air pollution spreading throughout the area, all schools and offices in Bandar Abbas, the capital of Hormozgan province around 23 kilometres (14 miles) east, were ordered closed on Sunday to allow authorities to focus on the emergency effort, state TV said.

The health ministry urged residents to avoid going outside "until further notice" and to use protective masks.

Russia's embassy said Moscow was sending "several aircraft carrying specialists" to help fight the blaze, "at the request of Iranian partners".

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.

Defence ministry spokesman Reza Talaei-Nik told state TV that "there has been no imported or exported cargo for military fuel or military use in the area."

The port's customs office said in a statement carried by state television that the explosion probably resulted from a fire that broke out at the hazardous and chemical materials storage depot.

A regional emergency official said several containers had exploded.

Red Crescent chief Pirhossein Koolivand, in a video shared on the government's official website, gave on Sunday an updated toll of 28 people killed and more than 1,000 injured.

- Area sealed off -

Some of the injured were transferred for treatment in the capital Tehran -- more than 1,000 kilometres north -- Koolivand said.

Thick black smoke was visible in live footage from the scene aired by state TV on Sunday.

"The fire is under control but still not out," a state TV correspondent reported from the scene on Sunday.

The explosion was felt and heard about 50 kilometres away, Fars news agency reported.

Speaking Sunday at the scene, Interior Minister Eskandar Momeni said "the situation has stabilised in the main areas" of the port. He told state TV that workers had resumed loading containers and customs clearance.

Images from Iran's Tasnim news agency on Sunday showed a helicopter flying through a sky blackened by smoke to drop water on the disaster scene.

Other Tasnim images showed firefighters working among toppled and blackened cargo containers, and carrying out the body of a victim.

The authorities have closed off the roads leading to the site of the explosion, and footage from the area has been limited to Iranian media outlets.

- Mourning -

Three Chinese nationals were "lightly injured" in the disaster, China's state broadcaster CCTV reported, citing its Bandar Abbas consulate.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, who on Sunday was heading to the port blast area according to state TV, earlier said he had "issued an order to investigate the situation and the causes".

The United Arab Emirates expressed "solidarity with Iran" over the explosion and Saudi Arabia sent condolences, as did Pakistan, India, Turkey and the United Nations as well as Russia.

Authorities declared three days of public mourning across Hormozgan province.

The explosion came as Iranian and US delegations met in Oman for high-level talks on Tehran's nuclear programme, with both sides reporting progress.

While Iranian authorities so far appear to be treating the blast as an accident, it also comes against the backdrop of years of shadow war with regional foe Israel.

According to the Washington Post, Israel in 2020 launched a cyberattack targeting the Shahid Rajaee Port.

F.AbuZaid--SF-PST