Saudi king sends condolences to Iran over port blast

Former Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has cautioned against seeking a nuclear agreement styled to the preferences of US President Donald Trump’s administration, warning that inconsistent nature could be detrimental to Iran.

Rouhani described Trump as unpredictable, saying, "Today he says one thing, two days later he says something else, and two weeks later he contradicts both."

Rouhani said that the US president seeks to claim any diplomatic success as his own, and that American negotiators are working toward what he called a "Trumpian agreement.”

"Our main goal in the negotiations must be to prevent war," he said. "We must not give an excuse to him and not allow Netanyahu to exploit the regional situation against the Iranian nation and the countries of the region," Rouhani said, referring to the Israeli prime minister.

Turning to US sanctions, Rouhani said they remain a major burden on the Iranian public. "Some claim sanctions are a blessing, but this so-called blessing benefits only a few dozen profiteers while harming 85 million Iranians," he said.

A Tehran lawmaker demanded strong action against those responsible for the deadly explosion at Rajaie Port near Bandar Abbas.

“Those responsible for the Bandar Abbas explosion, at any level, must be dealt with in a way that makes them deeply regret their actions,” Tehran hardline MP Amirhossein Sabeti said in parliament on Sunday.

Kayhan newspaper, managed by an appointee of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, also wrote that the incident’s scale at Iran’s largest commercial port required urgent, thorough investigation.

Kayhan called for authorities to determine whether negligence, failure to heed safety warnings, or other causes led to the blast.

The following video shows the ruins of Rajaei Port in Bandar Abbas on Sunday, following the massive explosion on Saturday.

Tehran's morning newspapers on Sunday presented divergent accounts of the explosion at Rajaei port in southern Iran, exposing political fault lines over the incident’s cause.

While conservative outlets attributed the blast to safety failures, one reformist-aligned paper warned of sabotage linked to foreign adversaries.

Read more...

Russian President Vladimir Putin offered assistance to Iran after a deadly explosion tore through Rajaie Port, state RIA news agency reported.

Putin conveyed condolences to Iran’s leadership over the casualties and pledged Russian aid to manage the aftermath, according to RIA.

The explosion hit Rajaei Port, a critical hub at Bandar Abbas, where Iranian officials said operations outside the blast zone were continuing despite the scale of destruction.

The following new video shows the moment of the explosion at the port on Saturday.

Only one area of southern Iran’s Rajaei port has been affected by a major fire, Minister of Roads Farzaneh Sadegh said, with operations continuing elsewhere.

"Loading and unloading activities are proceeding normally in other zones of Rajaei port," Sadegh said.

She added that firefighting efforts had made "good progress" and the situation was under control.

Videos published by Iranian media showed Revolutionary Guard planes dumping water on the extensive blaze.

Emergency teams have not yet fully contained the fire, which continues to threaten key parts of the port.