Iranian officials investigating the massive explosion at a strategic port in southern Iran said they found “false statements” in documents of cargo that are believed to have caused the explosion.
Local authorities say the explosion at Iran's largest port of Shahid Rajay caused a fire that lasted several hours, releasing towering pillars of black smoke.
A statement released Monday by the government committee that investigated the blast said evidence was found that “they were unable to comply with safety principles.” He added that investigators are trying to identify the people behind what is described as “false statements” in the cargo document.
An Iranian official told the state's media that the cargo should be identified as cargo holding dangerous material. Instead, authorities said the cargo was classified as a port and stored as a container holding ordinary goods.
Iranian authorities have so far released little information about where the shipment arrived, which material arrived on the cargo, and which ships brought the goods to port.
A person with ties to Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Security Forces Corps told the New York Times last week that the burning of chemical sets is sodium perchlorate, a major component of the missile's solid fuel. The person spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss security issues.
Saturday's explosion was so strong that forensic experts were still working to identify the bodies of 22 people, 70 people who died, the governor told the official communications agency IRNA on Monday. According to state media, around 1,200 people have been injured, but about 120 are still undergoing treatment in hospitals.
Shahid Rajaee ports processed 85% of Iran's transportation container traffic last year, according to national statistics. It is located in the southern region of Iran along the Strait of Hormuz, where the Persian Gulf meets the Gulf of Oman. It is one of the most important shipping vehicles in the world for oil and gas.
In the past, ports have been targets for foreign attacks. Israel launched a cyberattack in 2020, blocking operations at the port as part of a long shadow war with Iran. Neither Israelis nor Iranian authorities have issued a statement to show that last week's explosion was the result of the attack.
In a television interview on Monday, Ebrahim Azitzi, chairman of the Iranian parliament's Security and Foreign Policy Committee, declined to mention the attack. He also did not respond to interviewers' speculations as to whether the importer's false documents were an attempt to save money.
In that statement, the committee vowed to make the results of the investigation public “as soon as possible” on Monday.
