Human error blamed for deadly port blast

The temperature at the site of the Rajaei port explosion reached 1,400 degrees Celsius, making water immediately evaporate and ineffective in extinguishing the container fires, the head of Tehran's fire department said on Sunday.

Ghodratollah Mohammadi told ISNA that the fires in the incident occurred within closed containers holding various materials, including food, car parts, and bitumen.

Mohammadi said that firefighters had to open the containers to control the blaze, adding that using water on a container filled with bitumen, for example, was not feasible.

Twenty-five people injured in the explosion at Rajaei port remain hospitalized, according to the head of Hormozgan University of Medical Sciences on Sunday.

Pejman Shahrokhi told the Iranian Students' News Agency (ISNA) that a total of 1,566 people sought medical attention following the blast. Five of those admitted to hospitals have died.

Shahrokhi added that 193 surgical procedures have been performed on the injured.

Sahel Nasiri and his friend Benyamin Gholami were approached by police for a body search and an attempt to confiscate their motorcycle on Friday evening at Zibakenar Beach in Iran’s Gilan province, Hengaw’s report said, according to local sources.

When Nasiri resisted and tried to mount the vehicle, officers shot him twice in the head at close range, killing him.

Nasiri’s body was transferred to the local police station that night, and his friend Gholami was taken into custody, the report said.

Gilan province police said Nasiri and another motorcyclist had been carrying crystal meth, marijuana, and hashish. They said he tried to disarm officers and was “neutralized” after a warning shot failed to stop him.

Nasiri’s death triggered protests by residents of Zibakenar, who set fire to banners on the local police station, according to Hengaw.

The rights group said the demonstrations ended after security forces stormed the area and clashed with protesters.

Nasiri’s body was handed over to his family following hours of protests and threats from authorities and was buried in his hometown on Saturday, the group added.

Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei commented on the recent Rajaei port explosion, describing it as a common occurrence for institutions and urging bereaved families to "be patient."

During a meeting with Hajj pilgrimage organizers on Sunday, Khamenei said, "Various incidents happen to institutions: earthquakes, fires, deliberate and unintentional destruction, all kinds happen and are compensated."

He added, "Here too, if a problem has occurred for the institutions, God willing, it will be compensated with urgency, with power, with the ability of our lively, capable, and young executive agencies."

Khamenei called on the families of the victims “to be patient so that they may receive a reward thousands of times greater in value and importance than the bitterness of that calamity."

Iranians in nine Canadian cities held candlelight vigils on Saturday to express solidarity with the families of victims of the Bandar Abbas explosion.

Hamed Esmaeilion, who lost his wife and daughter when Iran's Revolutionary Guards shot down a Ukrainian passenger plane in 2020, addressed a Toronto vigil attended by politicians and Iranian-Canadian cultural figures.

Esmaeilion criticized Iranian officials for downplaying the severity of the port disaster, saying that change would not come through sorrow but through protest.