Two held in Iran after deadly port explosion: state TV

TEHRAN: Iranian authorities arrested two people including a government official in connection with a deadly explosion last month at the country’s main commercial port, state television reported on Sunday.

The April 26 blast at a dock in the southern port of Shahid Rajaee killed at least 57 people and injured more than 1,000, officials said, revising down an earlier death toll.

The judiciary on Sunday said the toll had been revised because “it was determined that some of the bodies considered separate were in fact one body”, adding that it could still change.

At the time of the blast, Interior Minister Eskandar Momeni blamed “shortcomings, including noncompliance with safety precautions and negligence”.

Shahid Rajaee is near Iran’s coastal city of Bandar Abbas on the Strait of Hormuz, a waterway through which one-fifth of global oil output passes.

Iran minister blames ‘negligence’ for port blast that killed 65

“A government manager and another from the private sector have been arrested,” state television said on Sunday, citing a report from the investigating committee.

The committee announced on Monday that “false declarations (of goods) were made in some cases”.

It said on Sunday that “suspects have been identified and the summoning process is underway”, without elaborating.

The New York Times has 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.

Iran’s defence ministry spokesman Reza Talaei-Nik later told state television that “there has been no imported or exported cargo for military fuel or military use in the area”.