Blast in Iranian Port: Negligence or Sabotage?

A massive blast in the Iranian port of Shahid Rajaei, Bandar Abbas on Saturday originating from a shipping container holding a cargo of ammonium nitrate could be sabotage, according to an Iranian security expert.

However, several Iranian reports said the blast was the result of negligence of port officials who were not conversant in the handling of an easily combustible material.

The expert, FarzinNadimi told Iran International that the possibility of an act of sabotage cannot be ruled out in the port blast in southern Iran.

"The type of fire and smoke confirms that the explosive material was a derivative of sodium, and that a container is by no means a suitable vessel for storing sodium perchlorate, as the heat inside a container cannot be controlled."

He said it did not appear that the containers were refrigerated, and the rise in temperature could have been one of the factors triggering the reaction and fire.

“If someone wanted to cause such a reaction leading to a fire, it would be very easy to set off an explosion in such a shipment. It did not seem that there were any serious security measures in place beyond surveillance cameras," Nadimi said regarding the possibility of an act of sabotage.

According to the expert, either a person or an aerial device could have been responsible.

Nadimi added: “In the video, we did not see anything hitting the container from the sky, but on the ground, a very small and simple explosive device could have triggered the initial fire.”

Videos posted on social media showed orange smoke, likely nitrogen dioxide, being produced by a fire interacting with a still unknown chemical can be seen right before the explosion occurs; chemical compounds that would produce such smoke as well as the blast include ammonium nitrate, nitrogen tetroxide and nitric acid, all of which are likely to have been stored at Bandar Abbas.

NASA updates the UN that it has detected on its radars: "Three unusual heat spots were observed in the Bandar Abbas area. There is concern that an underground nuclear facility in the area may have been damaged."

The port incident comes at a time when Iran is engaged in nuclear talks with the U.S., a development disliked by Israel which wants a military solution to degrade Iran's ability to develop nuclear weapons.