A massive explosion and fire rocked a port Saturday in southern Iran purportedly linked to a shipment of a chemical ingredient used to make missile propellant, killing five people and injuring more than 700 others.
Mehrdad Hasanzadeh, a provincial disaster management official, gave the updated casualty figure in an interview on state television. The previous toll was four dead and more than 500 others injured.
The blast at the Shahid Rajaei port happened as Iran and the United States met Saturday in Oman for the third round of negotiations over Tehran’s rapidly advancing nuclear programme.
While no one in Iran outright suggested that the explosion came from an attack, even Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, who led the talks, on Wednesday acknowledged that “our security services are on high alert given past instances of attempted sabotage and assassination operations designed to provoke a legitimate response”.
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Author: Marty Kaufmann
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