90% of port fire contained, Bandar Abbas mayor says

The death toll from the explosion at Iran’s Rajaei Port rose to 46, Hormozgan province’s crisis management chief said.
Firefighters have yet to contain the blaze, with 138 people still hospitalized, added Mehrdad Hassanzadeh. Authorities say that 1,072 injured individuals were treated and discharged.

Iran’s ILNA news agency removed a report from its website that said the “very dangerous” cargo which exploded at Rajaei port had been imported and stored under the label of “ordinary goods.” The report, published earlier, did not specify the origin or nature of the cargo but highlighted apparent misclassification. ILNA gave no explanation for the removal. The explosion at the port has raised questions among Iranian citizens, some drawing comparisons to the 2020 Beirut port blast, which was caused by improperly stored ammonium nitrate.

Iran does not permit the import of ammonium nitrate due to its explosive properties, said Sayyad Farhadi, head of the country’s fertilizer producers association.
“This chemical is not allowed to be imported, and the small amount produced domestically is supervised by the Ministry of Defense,” Farhadi told Mehr News Agency.
He said domestic needs for ammonium nitrate are fully met through local production.
The 2020 Beirut port explosion, widely compared by Iranians to the recent Rajaei port fire, was caused by the unsafe storage of 2,750 tons of ammonium nitrate for six years at the port.

A technical team from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has arrived in Tehran and will hold discussions today with officials from Iran's Atomic Energy Organization, according to Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei.

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"One of the most widespread and complex cyber attacks against the country's infrastructure was identified and preventive measures were taken," IRGC-affiliated Tasnim News quoted Behzad Akbari, CEO of Iran’s Telecommunications Infrastructure Company and Deputy ICT Minister as saying on Monday.

Akbari did not provide further details on the origins of the hack.

Only in September, Iran's Cybersecurity Strategic Management Center announced a state of cyber-readiness, issuing a red alert for financial, monetary, and communication sectors, and an orange alert for other sectors, according to Iranian media reports.

"Organizations are advised to maintain round-the-clock availability of technical teams and rapid response units due to the potential for cyber attacks," it said.

In the past Iran has blamed Israel for cyber attacks. A cyberattack that 70% of Iran's petrol stations in December 2023 was claimed by Gonjeshk-e-Darande or Predatory Sparrow, a hacking group that Iran has previously accused of having links to Israel.

In October 2021, Iran experienced a cyberattack that disrupted its fuel distribution system, affecting approximately 4,300 gas stations. Gholamreza Jalali, head of Iran’s civil defense organization, attributed the attack to foreign actors, specifically accusing the United States and Israel.

The cyberattack came just one day after Tehran and Washington concluded a third round of nuclear talks on Saturday in Oman.

Meanwhile, emergency services were fighting the fallout of a deadly explosion in Iran’s Rajaei Port in Bandar Abbas, with authorities yet to disclose the cause.

Emergency support was sent from Tehran's allies in Moscow to fight the disaster which saw at least 40 killed and hundreds more injured, according to Iran's official figures.

However, one worker at the port contacted Iran International saying that at least 23 women were killed in their office alone.