Report: Huge Blast at Iran’s Key Port as Chinese Shipment of Missile Fuel Goes up in Flames
UK’s Financial Times reported previously that two “Iranian cargo vessels carrying a crucial chemical ingredient for missile propellant” were sailing “from China to Iran.”
A massive explosion at Iran’s largest commercial port killed several people and destroyed shiploads of ballistic missile fuel from China, news reports suggest. “A huge blast probably caused by the explosion of chemical materials killed at least 18 people and injured more than 700 on Saturday at Iran’s biggest port, Bandar Abbas,” Reuters reported, citing Iranian regime-run media.
The exploding rocket fuel sent out a huge plume, unleashing a shock wave spanning several miles. “Iran’s official news channels aired footage of a vast black and orange cloud of smoke billowing up above the port in the aftermath of the blast,” the news agency added. “The blast shattered windows within a radius of several kilometres and was heard in Qeshm, an island 26 kilometres (16 miles) south of the port, Iranian media said.”
A video shared on social media shows the moment a huge explosion struck Rajaei port in southern Iran and the powerful blast wave that followed. pic.twitter.com/DLZYqt0Cyv
— Iran International English (@IranIntl_En) April 26, 2025
The blast may be connected to a large missile fuel shipment originating from China. The British newspaper Financial Times had noted earlier this year that “[t]wo Iranian cargo vessels carrying a crucial chemical ingredient for missile propellant” were sailing “from China to Iran.”
A mysterious explosion of sodium perchlorate at Shahid Rajaei port, Iran. This chemical used for rocket fuel was imported from China to replenish the impotent mullah’s ballistic missile stockpile. pic.twitter.com/2yszk8CYdW
— Avi Kaner ابراهيم אבי (@AviKaner) April 26, 2025
The port is attached to a naval base belonging to Iran’s Islamic Guard (IRGC), the regime’s international terrorist arm. “Bandar Abbas also houses a major Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps naval base, from which IRGC forces have launched past seizures of vessels in the Strait of Hormuz,” the Israeli media outlet Ynet News noted.
The Associated Press reported the details:
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 14 people and injuring around 750 others.
Helicopters and aircraft dumped water from the air on the raging fire through the night into Sunday morning at the Shahid Rajaei port. The explosion occurred just as Iran and the United States met Saturday in Oman for the third round of negotiations over Tehran’s rapidly advancing nuclear program. (…)
State media offered the casualty figures. But there were few details on what sparked the blaze just outside of Bandar Abbas, causing other containers to reportedly explode.
Ship-tracking data analyzed by The Associated Press put one of the vessels believed to be carrying the chemical in the vicinity in March, as Ambrey said. Iran hasn’t acknowledged taking the shipment. (…)
🚀 IRAN
— Middle East Observer (@Mid7East) April 26, 2025
Rocket fuel purchased from China for the Iranian army, which was stored in the port of Bandar Abbas, could have exploded as a result of sabotage, local media reported. pic.twitter.com/kixdeXzR9k
Iran and its terrorist proxies have a history of hoarding explosives and weaponry at commercial ports and airports, putting civilian lives at risk. In August 2020, over 200 people were killed and thousands injured when Hezbollah’s stash of highly-explosive ammonium nitrate exploded at the Beirut port. Civilian airports in Syria and Lebanon have been used by Iran to store explosives and armament meant for terrorist groups.
The Mullah regime is clueless about the nature of the blast and initially blamed the incident on ‘negligence’ in handling a ‘chemical’ shipment. “The Iranian government has not yet specified the exact cause of the explosion, though it suspected combustible chemicals to be behind the blast,” the UK-based Guardian reported.
While the Iranian regime downplays any outside involvement, the Israeli government did not offer any comments on the incident.”There was no response from the Israeli military or Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office when asked for comment on whether Israel was in any way involved in the explosion,” The Times of Israel reported. “An Israeli official quoted by Channel 12 news denied any Israeli involvement in the explosion.
Iran ran out of missile fuel after carrying out two waves of aerial strikes on Israel in April and October 2024. The strikes turned out to be expensive fireworks for the regime, with Israel, backed by the U.S. and allies, intercepting almost all drones and missiles before they could even reach Israeli airspace. “The fuel was going to be used to replenish Iran’s missile stocks, which had been depleted by its direct attacks on Israel during the war with Hamas in the Gaza Strip,” the UK’s Daily Mail reported.
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Comments
Is this another “Paging Abdul” feel good story?
Well, for me, it’s close, but the pager thingy was briilliant.
My very first thought!!
I would not put this possibility outside of the capability and/or intent of ID.f
Jeeez… I just hate it when that happens.
First Hamas lost all those munitions in that port explosion in Lebanon in 2020
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2020_Beirut_explosion
“The blast released energy comparable to 1.1 kilotons of TNT, ranking it among the most powerful non-nuclear explosions ever recorded and the largest single detonation of ammonium nitrate”
And now the Iranians go oopsie with Hamas’ rocket fuel.
😛I sure hope they aren’t as careless with their nuclear sites😛
It would be a shame if while assembling a nuclear device they experience a spontaneous criticality event. Such an event would likely just produce a “fizzle,” and not cause a lot of blast/thermal damage, but would make a mess that would be extraordinarily expensive to clean up. Just sayin’.
not to mention the delay in their “programme”
Couldn’t happen to a nicer bunch of…. well……, something.
Or Iran’s own rocket fuel. Don’t forget that TWICE since 10/7 they launched massive air attacks against Israel from Iran, with hundreds or thousands of missiles. And by true open miracles, Israel emerged essentially unscathed.
Ain’t that a shame.
Not really. Pulling on my heartstrings doesn’t work any more.
Sure, let me get out my 2 inch violin! Hard to keep the grin off my face….
Well, how ’bout that?
I wonder if they paid cash.
Absolutely. Would any sane company accept a credit shipment from Hamas? Cash before shipment, paid in paper bills or irrevocable money transfers, and verified before the first gram of rocket fuel is loaded.
Paper bills?
Pfft. Silver or gold or other commodity.
It would seem the chinese vessel is a total or near total loss. Serves ‘e, right for supplying these troublemakers with the materiel they need to work their wanton destruction. Maybe de chynee won’t be so eager to supply such corrupt people with the means to kill maim and destroy
Was this accident Israeli-assisted? Inquiring minds want to know. 🙂
“It’s never an accident.” — Mossad
This is really #3. The Tianjin explosion in 2015(?) was IMHO composed of lots of 107mm rocket motors destined for Iran and ultimately Israel. If you watch the explosion it is clearly large chunks of burning rocket fuel vs loose powder based on the long streamers. Loose powder explosions ten to be symmetric and without streamers (Beirut, PEPCON, Henderson, NV.) Watch any solid fuel rocket motor explosion and you see the same pattern. Of course this is never mentioned because then the Chinese would have to actually admit what they were doing and who they were doing it with.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=993wlZ6XFSs&t=55s
Warning, turn sound low as BBC drowns out swearing ( cause they are C words)
The will of Allah?
Hmmm I wonder if the Mullahs might ever allow that thought and then blow themselves up.
Careless handling of Sodium Perchlorate?
Yeah, and my ass is a moon pie.
Good job, IDF as perchlorate takes a primary explosion to produce a self-sustaining flame propagation, something careless handling cannot do.
Maybe Iran didn’t account for all of those pagers. Just sayin’
I hear what you’re saying, but there’s another saying:
Nothing is foolproof because fools are so inventive.
Maybe their was a container of blasting caps (or something else similarly dangerous and potentially unstable) stored in the area. We are talking about something that happened an area of the world controlled by people with a spotty safety record when it comes to handling missile fuel and components, and other explosives.
“there was”
Sheesh.
Strageically placed blasting caps.
fify.
“Oops! Did I leave those there?”
Next time they won’t put the rocket fuel on the same boat as a container load of pagers destined for the same location.
I love the smell of burnt missile fuel in the morning.
It’s a mystery,
Not if someone said, “Oopsy daisy” just before it happened.
How DO you say “Oopsy daisy” in Yiddish?
I thought it WAS Yiddish!
(Cue the Philip Roth anecdote about “spatula” from Portnoy’s Complaint.)
Try
Oy Vey
or
Oy Gevalt
Or maybe China had a clever idea about how to sell twice as much rocket fuel to Iran. No refunds.
That’s not a bad theory. I can see China slip a time bomb into the shipment and be assured of repeat business. Only works once or twice, though.
How can they deliver it if the port is damaged.
not to mention the issue of the vessel being severely damaged. Not 100% clear whether all that rocket fuel had been debarked or how close the ship was to its cargo. I would not cry very much if the chinese vessel suffered some significant damage from the blast.
They build ships and ports, too. Fast.
Someone ignored the no smoking light?
Nothing so nice as to read the morning news, and getting a big ole smile on my face.
It’s like the Hindenburg matchbook covers: for God’s sake close cover before striking.
It’s an arid area. Low humidity and a small static discharge from an ungrounded anything would set it off. Ya think they’ll learn from this experience? Prob’ly not.
.
Boom goes the missile fuel.
The wheels on the missile go ’round and ’round… (as it goes bumping over the Iraqi desert…)
Can you say “Mossad”?
Sure you can.
I liked this:
”There was no response from the Israeli military or Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office when asked for comment on whether Israel was in any way involved in the explosion,”
No response? Not even a denial? Tell me you did it without telling me you did it.
Watch closely.. you might notice the slight smirk on the faces of some of the officials.