Port blast victims to receive ‘divine reward of martyrs,’ Iran cleric says

Iran’s judiciary said results from its ongoing investigation into the deadly explosion and fire at Bandar Abbas’s Rajaei port will be released once expert reviews are complete.

“Extensive technical investigations are still underway, and whatever conclusion is reached will be shared with the public,” judiciary spokesperson Asghar Jahangir told reporters at a press briefing on Wednesday.

Jahangir said the judiciary launched the probe immediately after the incident, following an order from Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei to investigate any negligence or deliberate wrongdoing.

He added that prosecutors had filed cases against several individuals accused of spreading false information online, warning that media activity should not “undermine public mental security” or “play into the hands of enemies.”

Iran will hold a meeting with representatives from three European countries (the E3) – Britain, France, and Germany – prior to the fourth round of indirect nuclear talks with the United States, which is scheduled to take place in Rome.

Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, speaking on the sidelines of a cabinet meeting, announced that the next round of discussions with the US would be held in the Italian capital Rome as facilitated by Oman, the mediating country.

Araghchi added that a separate meeting with the European trio is planned for Friday.

Iran’s government said it delayed releasing full details of the Bandar Abbas port explosion to ensure unified messaging and avoid confusion, but denied imposing a news blackout.

“The decision was not about blocking information. It was about managing the flow to avoid conflicting figures being reported,” government spokesperson Fatemeh Mohajerani said, adding that “a single voice” was needed in the early aftermath.

Mohajerani acknowledged that authorities asked provincial and crisis officials not to disclose details until the cause of the blast was clarified, but stressed that the government was committed to transparency. “We have no secrets from the people. We are obligated to share the facts because the people are the true stakeholders of this government,” she said.

She also said identifying and punishing those responsible for the explosion was a priority and that rescue efforts and fire containment had taken precedence in the early days. “As soon as I receive reliable information, I will announce it,” she added.

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Mohsen Langarneshin had previously spoken of being coerced into confessing under the threat of torture and harm to his family.

Iran International reported on Monday that Langarneshin had been moved to solitary confinement, signaling the imminent execution.

Langarneshin had been arrested by security forces in Tehran on July 3, 2023 and was initially held at a Ministry of Intelligence safehouse.

He later recounted being threatened with torture on the first night of detention and said he was warned he would be subjected to severe torture unless he confessed.

“In the interrogations, they put me under so much pressure,” Langarneshin said in a voice message from prison. “They said they would arrest every member of my family and keep them until I no longer recognize them.”

He said that he was ultimately forced into making false confessions, including to buying a motorcycle equipped with a camera and transporting explosive materials.

A Revolutionary Court in Tehran accused Langarneshin of spying for Israel and sentenced him to death on charges of “waging war against God” and “spreading corruption on Earth”, according to the judiciary’s media outlet Mizan.

Mizan said Langarneshin had been recruited by Israel's Mossad. The judiciary accused him of “supporting the assassination of a person named Sayyad Khodaei, facilitating attacks on a Defense Ministry-linked industrial site in Isfahan, and handling logistics, equipment, safehouses, and money transfers for Mossad operatives.”

In the past four decades, numerous reports have documented the torture of political detainees in Iran, often leading to severe injury or death. The Islamic Republic has consistently denied responsibility.

Forced confessions have long tainted the Islamic Republic. In March, Iran Human Rights said: "The Islamic Republic has used televised confessions as a propaganda tool aimed at creating fear and justifying the heavy sentences handed down to its political opponents and activists since its inception in 1979."

"Such confessions are extracted after physical and/or psychological torture, lengthy solitary confinement, threats or promises of reduction in the gravity of sentences and threats against family members," according to the rights group.

A leading British chemist has cast doubt on Iran’s official explanation for the deadly explosion at its largest port, saying the blast likely involved ammonium perchlorate—a highly volatile missile propellant.

Andrea Sella, a chemistry professor at University College London, said the April 26 explosion at the Rajaei port near Bandar Abbas was far too intense to have been caused by sodium perchlorate alone, as suggested by Iranian state media.

“Sodium perchlorate, on its own, to my knowledge, is not explosive and certainly doesn't detonate like that,” Sella told Chemical & Engineering News (C&EN).

He initially suspected ammonium nitrate, but now believes ammonium perchlorate—a dual oxidizer and reductant used in solid rocket fuels—is the more likely culprit due to the explosion’s intensity and visible smoke signature.

Video footage from the scene showed a distinct orange-brown plume, consistent with nitrogen dioxide, and black smoke in the early stages of the fire, indicating the combustion of organic materials. “The flame turns a bright orange as the fire intensifies, suggesting sodium is also involved,” Sella added.

Iranian officials have said the blast originated from chemical containers but have not disclosed the substances involved.

The New York Times, citing a source with ties to the Revolutionary Guards, reported the presence of sodium perchlorate, while also saying that the cargo's documentation contained “false statements” that misrepresented its hazardous nature.

“Having a single container of a material like that in the middle of a container port is absolutely shocking,” Sella said. Most international ports enforce strict segregation and safety measures for explosive materials, he added.