SRINAGAR: At least five people were killed and 14 others injured in two separate explosions in Iran on Saturday, according to state and local media.
In the southwestern city of Ahvaz, a gas explosion in a residential building killed four people, the Tehran Times reported, citing the city’s fire department chief. In a separate incident in the southern port city of Bandar Abbas, one person was killed and 14 others injured, a local official told news agencies. The blast in Bandar Abbas destroyed two floors of a building, several vehicles, and nearby shops, though the cause remains unclear.
Claims on social media that a Revolutionary Guard navy commander was targeted were dismissed by the semi-official Tasnim news agency as “completely false.” Israel also denied involvement in the incidents, according to two Israeli officials.
Hormozgan province’s director general of crisis management, Mehrdad Hassanzadeh, told the official IRNA news agency that the cause of the Bandar Abbas explosion was under investigation and that the injured had been taken to hospital by emergency responders.
State television footage showed the facade of the building blown out, exposing parts of the interior and scattering debris across the area. Other Iranian media outlets provided similar reports without specifying the cause of the blast.
The explosions occurred amid rising tensions between Tehran and Washington, following a crackdown on large-scale protests in Iran over the past three years and ongoing Western concerns about the country’s nuclear programme. The protests, which began in December over economic hardship, reportedly left at least 5,000 people dead, including 500 security personnel, an Iranian official told Reuters.
US President Donald Trump said on Thursday that a military “armada” was heading toward Iran, and sources reported on Friday that he was considering options including targeted strikes on Iranian security forces. In response, Iran’s army chief, Amir Hatami, warned the United States and Israel on Saturday that the country’s armed forces were on high alert following Washington’s military deployments in the Gulf.
