Two people were injured in an explosion at an oil refinery in southern Iran on Thursday, state media reported after initially saying several people had been killed in the blast.
The semi-official Mehr news agency reported that a fire began in a furnace at the Aftab oil refinery in Bandar Abbas shortly before noon local time. Two personnel were lightly injured and the facility was not seriously damaged, according to the outlet.
Images purportedly showing the fire circulated on Iranian social media.
🇮🇷 The Aftab oil refinery in Bandar Abbas, Hormozgan, earlier today: IRIB https://t.co/EJylMXSGyD pic.twitter.com/K2syEskFoq
— Nader Itayim | نادر ایتیّم (@ncitayim) March 7, 2024
Mehr did not name the cause of the fire. Other state media outlets reported that the fire broke out during a maintenance activity and that the incident is being investigated.
Iran’s official Islamic Republic News Agency initially reported that several people had been killed.
Why it matters: Mysterious fires, explosions and outages, including at energy facilities, occur regularly in Iran. In December, service disruptions hit more than 70% of Iranian fuel stations. Officials blamed an “enemy conspiracy.”
Some of the incidents have been blamed on sabotage. In February, two Iranian gas pipelines exploded. The New York Times later reported that Israel was behind the blasts.
Know more: Bandar Abbas, located on the Strait of Hormuz, has both economic and security significance for the Islamic Republic. The city has a major seaport and is home to an Iranian navy base.
In December of 2022, China opened a consulate in Bandar Abbas, its first in the country, China’s official news agency Xinhua reported at the time. The People’s Republic was previously represented solely by its embassy in Tehran.
The city also forms part of the International North-South Transport Corridor, is a shipping, rail and road network between India and Russia. The route goes through Iran and seeks to rival the Suez Canal. Bandar Abbas’ port and railway station have been used for shipping along the corridor, though progress on the project remains erratic, Sabena Siddiqui reported for Al-Monitor last July.
